West Hollywood Aims To Get A Little Greener

WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA – The City of West Hollywood has started its Smart City Initiative, which will explore how to efficiently incorporate smart technologies into the City’s infrastructure, with a focus on projects that promote sustainability, mobility, accessibility, resiliency and transparency, the City of West Hollywood press release said. The initiative will leverage technology to improve the community with positive impacts on quality of life, health, safety, and well-being.

“Technology is evolving rapidly,” said City of West Hollywood Mayor John Heilman in a statement. “West Hollywood’s Smart City Initiative will help us to evaluate innovative approaches and implement new technologies as we maintain and improve our infrastructure over the course of the future.”

The City of West Hollywood has partnered with CitiFi, LLC to assist in developing and implementing the initiative, and to work with the City’s Innovation Division in developing the WeHo Smart City Strategic Plan. CityFi is a leader in urban change management and leads a team comprised of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM), Iteris, and Steer Davies Gleave. SOM is one of the largest and most influential architecture, interior design, engineering, and urban planning firms in the world; Iteris is a global leader in applied informatics for urban systems; and Steer Davies Gleave is one of the preeminent mobility consulting groups worldwide, according to the press release.

The City will host a WeHo Smart City Pop-Up Open House to introduce the initiative on Thursday, September 21, 2017 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at West Hollywood City Hall’s outdoor Community Plaza, located at 8300 Santa Monica Boulevard. Staff members from the City’s Innovation Division and CityFi team will be in attendance and the open house will feature interactive programming about the core values of smart city strategic planning.

• Self-guided demonstrations from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. — Smart city technologies will be on-site for demonstration
• Gallery walk from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. — Five zones will be organized by strategic plan core values, allowing attendees to walk through the space with the consultant team for a general introduction to smart city case studies. Attendees will provide feedback on strategies; and
• WeHo Smart City Talks from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. — Presentations by the project team will be followed by a Q&A.

There are other Smart City projects currently taking place in the City of West Hollywood, including the development of a municipal fiber backbone network, the acquisition and retrofit of light standards (street light poles) from Southern California Edison, and a cutting-edge Smart Bus Shelter project, the press release said. In November 2017, the City of West Hollywood will host a “WeHo Smart City Symposium” during Innovate LA 2017.

The symposium will be open to the public as part of participation in Innovate LA, which is a countywide celebration of regional innovation that consists of events, lectures, and talks throughout the Greater Los Angeles area. Details will follow as information becomes available here. For more information visit the City of West Hollywood’s Smart City Initiative website, or contact Kate Mayerson, the City of West Hollywood’s Innovation Analyst at (323) 848-6464 or at kmayerson@weho.org. For people who are deaf or hearing impaired, please call TTY (323) 848-6496.

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