Pictures of the Future    Spring 2007

Livable Megacities – London

Building a Better Life in the City

Bankers, scientists, artists—London attracts skilled and talented people from all over the world. But expansion of the city’s infrastructure has not always kept up with the rapid growth in population. Siemens technology is now helping Europe’s biggest city make better use of existing infrastructures.

In around ten years, Greater London will have 15 million inhabitants, making it Europe’s largest metropolis. To help manage growth, the city plans to make its transport system more efficient

Although she lives in the city with the world’s oldest and longest (408 km) subway system, Kiki Fragkou always takes the bus to the university. "It usually takes a little less time by bus," says Fragkou, who is from Greece and is studying economics. "The subway sometimes gets stuck because of signal problems. Besides, with the bus I usually get a seat." Those who ride the Tube—as the London subway is called—are sure to sweat, as the lack of air conditioning sometimes pushes temperatures up to more than 40 °C in the summer. Despite a huge increase in London’s population over the last few decades, few new subway lines have been built. As a result, it can be hard to find a seat on the train. "London’s infrastructure has suffered greatly from three decades of under-investment," said city Mayor Ken Livingstone years ago.

In his most recent urban development strategy paper, Livingstone warned of the dire consequences further growth may have for the city. For example, London’s population is expected to grow from 7.6 million today to well over eight million by 2016. And if the suburbs are included, the population will exceed 15 million. The goal is to manage this growth so as to avoid a collapse of the transportation infrastructure while diminishing the city’s impact on the environment.

Siemens technology is already helping in many areas. For example, the company has supplied traffic guidance systems and modern trains on lines such as the Heathrow Express, which brings mostly business travelers from the airport to the city center in just 15 minutes while they watch BBC news on flat screens. Siemens has also delivered power supply systems, including state-of-the-art gas turbine power plants that provide the government district in Whitehall with electricity. In addition, the company is involved in innovative outsourcing projects in the health care sector and the city’s media industry (see box).

In other words, Siemens is implementing solutions to problems whose causes might make other big cities jealous. For example, the annoying traffic jams—the worst in Europe—are to a certain extent nothing more than the negative side of the growth and success of Britain’s capital. Bankers consider London to be the most important and best internationally networked financial hub anywhere—a city of even greater significance in this regard than New York. The crowds of financial professionals who pour out of the Bank and Canary Wharf subway stations each day come from all over the world, as do Kiki Fragkou’s fellow students at the London School of Economics.

Mayor Livingstone believes London’s success is exemplary of a "new era of economic globalization." He plans to use the 2012 Olympic Games, which will take place in London, as a vehicle for launching some of the most ambitious infrastructure projects London has seen in decades. Along with the new Olympic Park and sports facilities, event organizers plan to expand transport routes and build a press center for more than 20,000 journalists. They also plan to build apartments to accommodate up to 10,500 athletes, introduce advanced security systems, and provide state-of-the-art energy supply systems.

Massive investment program. Transport for London is spending 15 bill. € on the infrastructure over five years

Where’s the Bus? Livingstone wants to further improve traffic in London before the 2012 games by encouraging commuters to use public transit. Driving is becoming more expensive in central London, while the public transport system is being expanded and made more efficient with the help of initiatives such as the iBus project. London’s red buses transport around 1.5 billion people each year—and this figure is expected to increase by 40 % in the period from 2001 to 2011, according to the city’s transport agency, Transport for London (TfL).

To accommodate this growth, Siemens is now installing a satellite-based bus information system that will replace the current radio beacons used to track bus positions. The new system will enable private bus operators, TfL and—in emergencies—the police and other security agencies to pinpoint the precise location of each of the 8,000 buses now in service. The key here will be a combination of GPS satellite data and GPRS mobile communications technology, whereby GPS will roughly determine the location of a bus down to 100-meters. Data calculated by on-boards and transmitted every 30 seconds via GPRS specifies the position of each bus relative to the bus network. A central computer depicts the overall image derived from the data provided by all buses.

As a result, drivers will be better informed as to whether their bus is running on time. Passengers will ultimately benefit the most, however, according to Brian Higbee, manager of the Public Transport business unit at Siemens VDO, who helped develop the system. "The more precise data will enable us to intervene more quickly in the scheduling process, for example in the event of traffic jams. This will help ensure that two buses don’t run more or less together—one full and the other empty," he says. The state-of-the-art technology Siemens is providing will also help improve the punctuality of buses in coming years and keep fares down by ensuring optimal capacity utilization of the fleet. The iBus project is valued at around €175 million and is part of a huge investment program for local public transport in London that will see TfL injecting some €15 billion into the system over a five-year period. Among other things, a new bridge will be built across the Thames, the light-rail network in the city’s East End will be expanded, and the existing Tube network will be modernized.

iBus will also make one of Kiki Fragkou’s wishes come true, as an increasing number of bus stops will be equipped with electronic information boards that use the processed satellite data to provide more reliable information on when the next bus will be pulling in. "Providing modern and accurate information systems to our passengers is critical to attracting more people onto London Buses," says TfL Commissioner Peter Hendy. And even if all the separate bus lanes can’t prevent the red buses from getting caught in traffic, passengers will at least know how much longer they’ll have to wait before they’re picked up.

Coded License Plates. Quality of life in the center of London is already improving. For instance, since its introduction in 2003, the city’s Congestion Charge system has resulted in a 21 % reduction in the number of vehicles driving into the city center and a 26 % reduction in traffic jams. The toll has cut gasoline consumption by around 66 mill. l and CO₂ emissions by 150,000 t annually. A trip into town now costs 8 £ for the day. Video cameras register the license plates of the vehicles that enter and compare the numbers with a database. Anyone who doesn’t pay the charge via the Internet or by phone is heavily fined. What’s more, the area covered by the charge was expanded in February 2007, and Siemens supplied the technology for the new section. Siemens will also service the toll system until 2016. Video cameras continue to be employed in the new area. However, instead of using analog technology to transmit images to a control center (as was previously done), the new Siemens solution processes the video data in the new area on site by transforming images of license plates into digital certificates. These are then sent to the control center in encrypted form via an IP broadband network. The lower volume of data involved reduces operating costs, so that more money is left over from the toll itself. The savings will be used to further improve the local public transport system.

Automated toll collection (top) has cut traffic jams by 26 %. Security cameras (bottom) monitor central London, and Siemens building automation systems enhance safety in office complexes (right)

Taken together, these measures are expected to improve the attractiveness of life in the city center—for local residents as well as tourists, 27 million of whom flock to Europe’s largest city every year.

One of the first places many visit is the world-famous theater district in London’s West End, where Agatha Christie’s "The Mousetrap" has been running for 55 years—and where many of the old theater buildings look as if they haven’t been freshly painted in about as long. "We need to invest around 250 million pounds over the next ten years, in order to refurbish our traditional private theaters," says Richard Pulford of the Society of London Theatre. Modern building technology will be used here. Similar technology has already been used at the Prince of Wales Theatre near Piccadilly Circus, where Osram halogen lamps have been putting the Art Nouveau auditorium in the right light ever since the building was renovated in 2004. Siemens also supplies equipment that automates and controls complex winching and flying systems for props and actors. West End shows that have recently used Siemens technology include "Sinatra" and "The Sound of Music."

The Tate Modern gallery on the southern bank of the Thames also uses lighting technology from Siemens. Housed in a former power plant, the gallery has become yet another trademark of London. At night, the energy-saving, low-maintenance lights at the tip of its smokestack have the appearance of a glowing blue spaceship. Meanwhile, on the inside, Siemens fire-protection solutions ensure that visitors and artwork remain safe should a fire break out.

Detecting Suspicious Events Faster. Security technology is also becoming increasingly important—not least due to the terrorist attacks on London’s subway system and buses in July 2005. Prior to the attacks, Siemens had already installed an integrated video monitoring system for Network Rail, which operates the city’s biggest train stations (see Security). That system has since been upgraded, allowing video images to be stored on a central server, rather than on individual tapes. And thanks to its easy-to-use graphic interface, operators and authorities can analyze data faster when suspicious situations arise and thus react more rapidly. In fact, the system helped identify several of the suspects involved in the 2005 bombings.

Private companies also require comprehensive security solutions, particularly in the City, which is London’s original financial center, and at Canary Wharf, where many banks and service companies have settled since the 1990s. A former harbor site, Canary Wharf now boasts an impressive collection of skyscrapers on the banks of the Thames. It’s a "sub-center" that takes the load off the overburdened City. In the event of a fire, explosion, or similar crisis, Siemens technology will, for example, exploit intelligent fire-alarm systems to prevent the worst from happening. As the technology itself is extremely reliable, the challenge faced by Jason Matthews, service operations manager at IT Solutions and Services, is to make sure there are no false alarms, "which can end up being very expensive, especially for an investment bank. If traders have to leave their work stations and can no longer keep up with international markets, they might miss the deal of their lives."

For this reason, if an alarm does goes off in the roughly 200-m-high Citibank building, not all of the 20,000 to 30,000 employees present during the daytime will be evacuated immediately. Instead, only those located on the floors closest to where the event is believed to be will be evacuated initially. "And if there really is a fire, firefighters will get everyone else out through all different exits," says Matthews. Because video cameras monitor the movement of people fleeing from the fire, officials can guide the people being evacuated away from dangerous stairwells by making announcements over the building’s public address system.

Of course, the customer gets the most value out of such a system when disastrous events don’t occur. "In that case, bankers can concentrate on making money. As the building manager, we ensure that all the technology functions without a hitch," says Steve Savage, from Norland Managed Services at Citigroup, who is responsible for integrating Siemens solutions at Citibank in Canary Wharf.

"Siemens is a good partner," he says," and that’s important because building management is a long-term business in which reliability is of paramount importance. Siemens can also quickly adapt its solutions to changing customer requirements by tapping into knowledge from its Groups." This will be the case, for example, when the Citibank building’s video monitoring system is upgraded and integrated with its fire-protection system.

Siemens’ expertise is also sometimes channeled directly into the customer’s business processes. This is being done, for instance, with outsourcing projects carried out for the BBC (see box) and public authorities. For example, Siemens is converting 250 million paper documents into digital files for Britain’s Office for National Statistics. As a result, UK citizens will be able to trace their ancestors digitally—through birth, marriage and death certificates—all the way back to 1837.

Healthy Contract. Municipal authorities and private companies aren’t the only ones to benefit from outsourcing technological expertise to Siemens. For example, Barts Hospital and The Royal London Hospital have decided to let Siemens handle the procurement and maintenance of their medical equipment. To this end, they have signed a €445 million contract with Siemens, under the provisions of which the company will provide state-of-the-art medical devices tailored to the needs of the two hospitals, which are now being completely overhauled. The contract will run for more than 35 years—from 2009 to 2045. Paul White, CEO of both hospitals, says that Londoners will benefit greatly from the agreement. "The redevelopment of Barts Hospital and The Royal London Hospital will deliver world-class medical facilities for the people of East London—and beyond," he says. After all, London attracts people from all over the country, who go there to work or have fun.

Due to the large contribution the service sector makes to gross domestic product in the London metropolitan area, many people refer to London as the home of the "knowledge economy." That’s a fitting description given that it is at the top of the value chains of many international economic sectors in the networked global economy. Who knows, perhaps Kiki Fragkou will also stay in London after she completes her studies. "The city is certainly stressful," she says, "but it offers tremendous opportunities."
                                                                                                 Andreas Kleinschmidt