The New Era of 'Cities 3.0': Just Add Infrastructure

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, the new president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, used the occasion of his inaugural speech to advocate for what he describes as "Cities 3.0," according to an article by Bob Graves.

According to Mayor Johnson, in the era of Cities 3.0, "the city is a hub of innovation, entrepreneurship and technology. It's paperless, wireless and cashless."

The point of Graves's article, however, is to discuss the support, in terms of infrastructure, that will be necessary to bring about the new era of cities.

"Whether or not this trend continues and Cities 3.0 become a reality will depend on the ability of civic leaders to effectively guide the rebuilding and enabling of existing infrastructure to meet the needs of this new and growing population."

Moreover, "[this] strategy… presents tremendous challenges from an infrastructure perspective because Cities 3.0 will be operating in the older centers of most metropolitan regions."