City Tech Spring 2021 Update

Cities are beginning to break COVID-19’s year-long grip on urban life. Though herd immunity remains elusive and viral variants pose uncertain risks, this spring brings hope.
 
Responsible reopening demands thoughtful commitment to integrate what we’ve learned these last 12 months. ‘Bouncing forward’ from the virus requires coordinated efforts among local, national, and global partners – for cities, this means embracing a post-COVID urban agenda  that welcomes people back to public life, invests in real-time intelligence on cities’ physical and socioeconomic health, and takes clear steps to address historical inequities that COVID laid bare.
 
Within this post-COVID frame, City Tech and our partners are deploying new solutions to help transit and public spaces resume operations safely while also improving long-term resident and visitor experiences and building resistance against future shocks.
 
April marks the two-year anniversary of City Tech’s Advanced Mobility Initiative , which expanded in 2020 to include parking innovation and has engaged 70 partners across 16 projects to create a more seamless, efficient, and accessible transportation system. 
 
We’re building new partnerships for community healthcare delivery , supporting efforts to monitor and protect physical infrastructure and our natural environment , and fostering collaborative innovation among entrepreneurs and public officials.
 
This spring’s flowers will bloom under the shadow of a half million US coronavirus deaths. As we emerge from what was, for many, a lost year, we have an opportunity to make cities more resilient to possible COVID resurgence and future disruptions – whatever they may be. We’re not out of the woods yet, but we’re beginning to see the forest as well as the trees.