Globalization, climate change and aging populations are creating dramatic changes at urban level. At the same time, more than 70 percent of the world’s population will live in cities by 2050. About seven billion people on a mere 2% of the global land mass! These changes will have a profound impact on the built environment and pose tremendous challenges in the sustainability of urban infrastructure. This means that there is a need for targeted meaningful actions to improve the efficiency, adaptability and resilience of the existing urban infrastructure.

GVA takes a holistic approach to the way we can create smarter, more efficient and future-proof infrastructure for a growing urban population. For adaptable, resilient and sustainable infrastructure, GVA’s collaborative process will play an essential role. GVA works with leading investors, developers, designers, engineers as well as with non-profits, government and subject matter experts to design and build future or retrofit and upgrade existing urban infrastructure.

GVA’s goal is not only to promote sustainability at urban level but also to generate economic benefits and reduce the risks of climate change by integrating established technologies with better predictive, protective and responsive measures. Ultimately, sustainable urban infrastructure will look different in different locations because the right blend of technology solutions at each scale will depend on the area’s geography, landscape, culture, economy and resources.

In efficiency, GVA concentrates on energy and demand efficiency. GVA focuses on carbon emissions indicators, power capacity, resource provision by utilities, microgrid deployments and other proactive initiatives like demand-response mechanisms. GVA also emphasises on the adoption of renewable energy and the opportunities to produce negawatts (energy saving measures).

In being smart, GVA promotes the value of integration and collaboration, the opportunities for innovation and transformation, starting with the ICT enablers that drive smart solutions. In overall resilience, GVA weighs adaptive capacity equally with vulnerability.