By Pamela Banks
President/CEO, Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle.
Seattle is not slowing down. Already one of the fastest growing large metropolitan areas, Seattle has grown by 70,000 people in the past five years alone and new people, new ideas, and new businesses continue to flood the area. While this explosive growth is a great problem to have and leading us toward ultimately becoming a “smarter” city, these growing pains strain things like public transportation and major public services. And getting lost in the waves of transition are many people from low-income and underserved minority communities.
Community leaders and local universities are looking more than ever to the power of technology and innovation to solve these problems, joining MetroLab, a national network of university-city partnerships as part of the White House Smart Cities Initiative, and participating in the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DoT) Smart City Challenge. While these efforts are commendable and important building blocks to become a smart city, more needs to be done so that no one is left disenfranchised.
The city’s Smart City Challenge proposal notes rapidly increasing housing prices in Seattle as a key challenge, forcing more and more low-income residents to move farther from downtown areas where access to high frequency public transportation is weaker. The city is notably working to mitigate transportation challenges by utilizing enhanced data, sensors, and better equipment, as well as the development of autonomous vehicles. But being a smart city is about much more than just better transportation. It is about creating a more engaged community that looks to technology as a helping hand, not one shutting the door in its face. Therefore, becoming a “smarter” city will require our city government to think more inclusively about how technology can empower all—not just some—of our communities.
While many of the changes resulting from Seattle’s growth over the past five years have been positive, we have also seen economic cycles create large disparities in our class system. Additionally, high school drop-out and incarceration rates for communities of color continue to rise. As such, much of our renewed commitment to help communities face these challenges should rest on providing an onramp to the Internet through better mobile connectivity and access. Statistically, African American and Latino communities are more dependent on smartphones. In many cases that’s their connection to the Internet because they don’t have a cable or fiber connection at home. That means they’re depending on their mobile devices to apply for jobs, complete homework assignments, and access healthcare, transportation, and other resources.
Many people are saying that 5G next-generation wireless networks will be significantly faster than what we have today and will have the capacity to power smart city and other applications that will make our neighborhoods safer and open the door to untold opportunities. Seattle’s city officials should make sure they’re doing all they can to ensure our city is covered. This means prioritizing engagement with companies and entrepreneurs who want to invest in next-generation technologies in Seattle as well as stakeholders who know these communities best, including the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle, to ensure a smooth and successful process. There is also legislation (Senate Bill 5711) currently under consideration by the State Legislature that local leaders should get behind as it will expedite the deployment of new wireless technology in Seattle and in other cities across Washington.
The ambition to close the “digital divide,” as it is commonly referred to, should be synonymous with Seattle’s ambition to become a smart city. The larger the disparities become, the harder it will be for Seattle to ensure community members from all walks of life thrive in the new age of innovation already emerging in our city.
