Earlier this year, I took up yoga for stress and anxiety management. Getting started was the toughest thing to do as I couldn’t hold a downward dog for more than 30 seconds in a room full of people doing headstands. Fast forward to today, I can now hold a downward dog for up to 3 minutes, I still can’t do a head- or handstand but I love what the practice has done to my mind and body, and I can’t stop talking about yoga to anyone and everyone willing to listen.

So when Ricky Murray – Zpryme’s former Senior Director of Marketing – brought up intentionality (something he had learned from yoga) at Zpryme’s Texas Smart Cities Summit I started thinking about all the things yoga has taught me. Interestingly, many of these learnings are also applicable to building smarter cities.

Much like how the yoga asanas(postures) help to unlock the various chakras (energy wheels) in our body, a well-functioning smart city follows best practices to unleash the full potential of its various smart city layers and ensure they are in harmony with one another. These five learnings from yoga can help us build smarter cities and communities:

1. Intentionality: Most (if not all) yoga classes start with setting an intention for the practice. This simple exercise has taught me the valuable lesson of living life more intentionally. Communities struggle to address the big “why” – why are we collecting the data we are collecting, why are we investing in pilot A and not B or C? Cities should adopt intentionality as a guiding philosophy for selecting smart city projects. A solid foundation for a smart city project requires intention and value setting – a clearly defined purpose for pursuing a project is likely to lead to more successful outcomes for the city and its residents. The figure below shows that our philosophy, intentions, and values determine our choice and attitudes which in turn defines if we take the path of least resistance (complacency) or take multiple small but intentional actions over time that lead us to meaningful success. Tip: Use the Nine Whys and Purpose-To-Practice (P2P) activities to define the purpose and intention of your smart city work together with your team. Alternatively, use Miro’s Team Canvas template to define your team’s purpose, values, actions, and expectations.

Source: https://healthydealer.com/intentionality_model/

2. Alignment: Yoga comes from the Sanskrit word “yug” which means union. Yoga is a practice that seeks to connect and harmonize the mind, body, and soul or spirit. Much like yoga, creating smarter cities requires the union of:

    1. a. Mind – the city’s intellectual and human capital, resident data and feedback,
    2. b. Body – the digital and physical infrastructure, and
    3. c. Soul – the residents and the environment.

Building smarter cities requires achieving the alignment and union of these three elements to enhance the quality of life for its resident and preserve its environment. A recent survey found that “many people feel their city leaders are diving headlong into a tech trend without sufficiently engaging the public.” Much of the smart city narrative is focused on technology and disregards residents and the environment (the soul of cities) that are at the core of building trustworthy smart cities.

3. Consistency: The rewards of practicing yoga multiply with consistency. Being consistent and showing up every day to the studio was challenging especially as I climbed the hilly roads (pictured below) of my San Francisco neighborhood to get to the studio. Community engagement in smart cities feels like a similar endeavor full of uphill battles. Community engagement for smart city efforts is all about showing up, following up, and following through. It is the relentless compassionate pursuit of bringing everyone on board to ensure the benefits of technology are shared equitably. While the rewards of community engagement may not be obvious in the short run, they tend to multiply with consistent efforts over time. Here are two great resources on community engagement:

 

4. Awareness: During the class, we are constantly reminded to listen to our bodies and that each body is different. This is so true for cities too. There’s no one-size-fits-all as each city is unique in its culture, background, history, and trauma(s). So, if you are a city that is just joining the smart city movement you may be feeling a lot like how I felt when I started practicing yoga in a room full of people doing perfect headstands. While it’s important to learn from successful communities it’s impossible to have a blueprint of a successful smart city that will work for everyone. It is more important to build awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of your city and assess organizational and cultural readiness to pursue smart city projects that best serve your community.

5. Practice: Yoga is a practice that requires time and patience to get better at. Similarly, a smart city is not a title or a badge that can be achieved, instead, it is a practice that is built over time. It is not an end in itself; it is the means to improve residents’ quality of life and build resilient and sustainable cities.Smart cities are as much of a people issue as they are a technology issue. Focusing on the learnings of Intentionality, Alignment, Consistency, Awareness, and Practice can help communities take a holistic approach to building smarter cities.

TLDR;

Five Lessons from Yoga to Build Smarter Cities

      • Intentionality – Set the purpose or intention for your smart city project upfront.
      • Alignment – Ensure alignment of the city’s intellectual and human capital, digital and physical infrastructure, and city’s residents and environment.
      • Consistency – Community engagement for smart city projects is an uphill battle and requires consistent efforts before you can see returns.
      • Awareness – Each city is different, build awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of your city and assess organizational and cultural readiness to pursue smart city projects.
      • Practice – A smart city is not a title or a badge that can be achieved, instead it is a practice that is built over time to improve residents’ quality of life.