Shaping the urban age
Shaping the urban age
Over the past three years, my work in Southeast Asia and Japan expanded to the Global South, exploring urban development, engaging with international networks and innovation initiatives, and applying these insights locally in Brittany.
The Thailand Smart City Expo 2025 offered a concise but revealing snapshot of Southeast Asia’s race toward urban digitalization. While Bangkok showcased its Digital Twin efforts, regional players — from Japan to Taiwan — highlighted competing narratives and standards. Beneath the buzz, fragmented governance and data silos still challenge Thailand’s ability to turn smart city pilots into coherent, scalable systems.
Returning from Expo 2025 Osaka, I joined a full week of sustainability and innovation events in Kuala Lumpur—IGEM, KL Sustainable Summit, and Malaysia–Japan Environment Week—where regional leaders and ERIA partners advanced actionable strategies on energy, circular economy, and urban governance. These engagements underscored ASEAN’s growing capacity to turn sustainability dialogue into measurable impact.