BABLE Smart Cities

In a world where local authorities face growing pressure to maintain ageing infrastructure with limited budgets, having the right data at the right time makes all the difference. 🛣️📱

In our latest BABLE Smart Cities Newsletter, we explore how Loulé, Portugal is addressing one of the most common yet often overlooked challenges faced by road authorities: the reliance on reactive maintenance. Systematic, network-wide inspections have traditionally required specialist staff and equipment that smaller teams simply cannot sustain, leaving early signs of damage unnoticed until they become costly repairs.

The SmartRoads platform uses smartphone data and AI to monitor road conditions automatically as vehicles go about their daily routes. making a shift from reactive repairs to predictive, evidence-based maintenance that works for networks of any size.

📬 Inside this edition:
🔹 A real-world use case on data-driven road monitoring and predictive maintenance in Portugal
🔹 How everyday vehicle data is helping authorities catch road damage before it becomes costly
🔹 A conversation with Norfolk County Council's Kurt Frary on building robust digital foundations in a mixed rural region
🔹 Upcoming: Urban Future - The Better-Cities Event, Istanbul, 13–16 April 2027

👉 Read the full newsletter here: [link]

What makes a city ready for anything? And who gets to decide what a city stands for?

These are the questions taking over Istanbul next spring, from 13 to 16 April, and we are proud to return as media partners of Urban Future for yet another year.

Hosted alongside Humane Urbanism and Türkiye Design Council, this year's first programme framework explores three key themes:
🔹 Ready Cities: how do cities prepare for and recover from disruption, from floods and earthquakes to heat and housing stress?
🔹 People-Powered Cities: how do communities turn ideas into action, and how do cities build participation and trust?
🔹 Urban Branding: how do cities define who they truly are, beyond slogans, from identity to talent and investment?

With more than 2,000 attendees, 250 speakers, 150 mayors and 100 partners, Urban Future brings together the people shaping the next generation of cities. And now is the time to shape the programme.

Know a speaker, project or initiative that deserves the spotlight? Submit your recommendation and contribute to the conversations that will define Urban Future 2027.

See you in Istanbul.