Gale plans to build 'smart cities' to get mainland connected

Property developer Gale International will build a series of new 'smart cities' across the mainland in collaboration with local governments, following the ambitious Meixi Lake District project in Hunan province that it announced last year.

The large, privately held New York firm plans to team up once again with Cisco Systems, the world's biggest networking equipment supplier, to jointly design and deliver these internet-enabled, eco-friendly urban developments - each of which will be funded by the local public and private sectors.

Cisco, which entered the mainland market in 1994, is aggressively promoting 'smart and connected' urban planning, in which high-speed internet links and other key information technology systems are embedded directly into the design, building and management of a city's infrastructure.

That will pave the way for cleaner, more efficiently run urban areas with intelligent network-connected buildings and residences, transport, security, education, health care, utilities and government infrastructure.

Tom Murcott, executive vice-president and chief marketing officer of Gale, said the developer would soon make its final selection from a shortlist of 13 potential projects.

'We're looking at city-scale developments that are [about four square kilometres] or larger, so that eliminates a lot of the more densely populated areas from being viable for us,' Murcott said. 'We have entertained a number of different projects in different countries and China seems to be the best opportunity to focus on.'

More than 40 mainland municipal governments have already approached Gale to collaborate on smart city projects, according to Murcott.