Houses that think(3)

Haier's smart refrigerator, and part of the company's smart home system is displayed at an exhibition center in Shanghai. Photo provided to China Daily

Smarter cities

As homes get smarter, cities will too.

With China poised to become the world's most urbanized country by 2030, as a McKinsey Global Institute research report forecasts, that journey may have already begun.

Haier is participating in a series of "smart city" initiatives in the northwestern Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, and in the eastern coastal provinces of Jiangsu, Shandong and Fujian. The projects got off the ground last year, according to sources in the company who declined to be identified.

Xiaomi isn't in the real estate business, but it is looking to sprinkle smart cities with millions of its routers to create webs of data and devices.

Chinese-American James Jao, 57, who heads the Beijing-based Jao Design International, a private consultancy on urban planning, recommends a "built-to-last" approach to make smart cities sustainable and clutter-free.

"Whatever you do, put people first. They are the end users," he urges, in the face of the fast and furious style of some of China's property developers.