Delivering smart cities with Sunshine Coast Council

Smart cities help to future proof communities by providing infrastructure that enables improved and more efficient services for residents. During the design of our Baringa community within our Aura (Qld) development, our team engaged with Sunshine Coast Council about its Smart City Program. Understanding the potential for smart cities to contribute to our objective of shaping thriving communities, we worked with Council to understand how Baringa could leverage technology for the benefit of its residents and Council.

We committed $120,000 toward the Smart City Program, prepared a smart cities masterplan and integrated the delivery of required infrastructure (e.g. pits and pipes for the fibre optic network) with existing construction activities.

The smart cities masterplan includes targeted initiatives considered to be of genuine use to the community and enabling great customer and resident experiences. Initiatives include:

Smart LED street lights - 200 LED street lights have been installed to date. These are International Dark Sky Alliance compliant and reduce light pollution, making it easier for birds and animals to navigate the night sky.

Capacity rubbish bin sensors - street bins get emptied when they are full, reducing the number of trucks on the road and reducing traffic congestion.

Community display - information collected through a number of sensors and devices in the community is displayed to notify the community of relevant information and events.

Weather stations - Real time weather information such as temperature, rainfall, storm warnings, wind speed and direction.

Environmental sensors - a number of factors including air and water quality are measured and monitored.

WiFi stations - free WiFi access for visitors at locations throughout the community.

Bluetooth speakers - free access to Bluetooth speakers within the community's parks.

Electric car charging stations - electric car charge points are provided at several locations.

Electric bike charging stations - free charging stations provided at key community locations.

We continue to investigate initiatives to help make it easier to integrate existing infrastructure with new technologies to make it easier for Baringa residents to live smart.