“Digital District” Project Is the Latest Smart City Innovation Project In The Southeast

The historic city of Savannah might one day get a ‘digital facelift’ thanks to a group of Georgia architecture students and innovators. 

Last month, sixteen Kennesaw State University (KSU) architecture students presented their ideas for a “Digital District” along Savannah’s historic riverfront. And the smart city designs show how technology can be used to improve the lives of visitors and residents in the “The Hostess City of the South.” 

The idea for Savannah’s Digital District goes far beyond just creating a ‘live, work, play’ environment. At the core of its design, the Digital District “revolves around the development of an urban campus dedicated to innovative technologies,” said Ghazaleh Coulter, founder of Noble Arc Design and Professor of Architecture at KSU.

 

SMART CITY INNOVATION

This was a culmination of a semester of work done in collaboration with Noble Arc Design and Curiosity Lab, the ‘living lab’ for transportation and smart city innovation in Peachtree Corner, Georgia. 

During the student design expo, Brandon Branham from the Curiosity Lab, said he was “amazed how the students managed to effortlessly incorporate both sustainability and technology” into their projects.

Examples of the student projects

“They used technology pieces, such as underground delivery and drones, to be impactful systems to the overall development instead of just new “shiny” toys. It was great to see how they really pushed the limits on what is possible in building a future city.”  

It is one thing for a smart city to incorporate what’s next in innovative technology. Smart cities also has to be designed to help improve our daily lives. 

“The purpose of a “smart city” is to use technology as a tool to better improve the lives of residents, whether that’s through delivering goods more efficiently and sustainably or improving the safety of vulnerable road users like cyclists using CV2X technology,” added Branham.

Branham said that the Kennesaw State students finished their projects with a better understanding of how “environmental technologies, integrated systems, urban design, and high-performance buildings” all work together.