The Planned Community of the Future Is Also a 'Smart City'

"Kyle Corkum imagines a 'smart city' with futuristic amenities like driverless shuttle services, heated sidewalks and a super-resilient energy grid that keeps humming through the harshest of storms," reports Lisa Prevost.

Prevost reports on the details of the Union Point development,which includes plans for "thousands of housing units and millions of square feet of high-tech commercial space on about 1,500 acres that extend into the neighboring towns of Rockland and Abington. The community’s glass towers, public plazas, clustered housing, scattered parks and retail zones will be contained within 500 acres, leaving the rest as dedicated open space." 

"So far, the community consists of about 1,200 occupied single-family homes, townhouses and apartments, as well as a nearly completed $28 million sports complex with a miniature replica of Fenway Park," adds Prevost. "A cavernous aircraft hangar will be renovated for use as the centerpiece for a downtown district with shops, restaurants and open spaces with public programming."

According to the article, Union Point's technological innovations are made possible by a partnership with General Electric to "embed smart technology into the energy, water, lighting and transportation systems that will serve the community."