At the windswept conference halls of COP29 in Baku, a quiet revolution in AI urban development was unfolding — powered not by traditional surveying techniques, but by sophisticated artificial intelligence.
IBM and Sustainable Energy for All have unveiled two groundbreaking AI solutions that promise to transform how we conceptualise and plan urban growth in the Global South. These are not mere technological curiosities, but strategic tools that could fundamentally reshape infrastructure development across emerging economies.
The Open Building Insights (OBI) platform represents a particularly elegant solution. By synthesising data from satellite imagery, electricity consumption records, and complex machine learning algorithms, OBI creates intricate, interactive maps that reveal the hidden architectural DNA of developing regions.
“At IBM, we’re proud to launch solutions that harness the power of artificial intelligence to have an impact for communities around the world,” explains John Matogo, Corporate Social Responsibility Leader for Africa & the Middle East. His words hint at a broader narrative: technology as a catalyst for meaningful social transformation.
The Modeling Urban Growth (MUG) AI model takes this vision further. Trained on data from eleven African nations, it doesn’t just map current urban landscapes — it predicts future expansion with remarkable precision. By understanding potential growth trajectories, policymakers can proactively design infrastructure, rather than perpetually playing catch-up.
Damilola Ogunbiyi from Sustainable Energy for All frames this technological intervention as more than a technical exercise. “Integrating AI in energy sector planning will go a long way in designing comprehensive solutions for many of the developmental challenges currently facing the Global South and its people,” she argues.
Launched in 2022, the IBM Sustainability Accelerator marked the beginning of a pivotal collaboration with Sustainable Energy for All, targeting environmental challenges in vulnerable communities and deploying technology where it can create meaningful social impact.
What makes these solutions truly revolutionary is their accessibility. Both the OBI platform and MUG model are publicly available, transforming advanced technological insights from exclusive resources to democratic tools of urban planning.
In Makueni County, Kenya, these AI-driven insights are already translating into tangible benefits, with projections suggesting improved infrastructure for over 1.1 million citizens by 2030.
As our planet grapples with accelerating urbanisation and climate uncertainty, these AI solutions represent more than technological innovation — they are a cartography of hope, meticulously drawn by algorithms and human imagination.