Today, our cities and towns operate like 18th-century mansions rewired with modern gadgets: functional in calm weather, yet lethal in storms. And as climate disasters intensify, cyber warfare evolves and AI-powered threats emerge, the "smart city" model that promised efficiency through sensors and dashboards has proven dangerously inadequate in recent years.
The path forward is not more tech — it’s new architecture. We need cities that don't just collect data, but process that data in real time to adapt, evolve and take action as unified living systems. They can’t just be “smart,” but instead must be “omni” cities: urban ecosystems with integrated AI nervous systems that coordinate every element of civic life with both precision and purpose.
THE FRAGMENTATION CRISIS
Today's cities are digital archipelagos. A drone from one vendor can't share data with a robot from another, while emergency systems speak different languages. This is not inefficiency, but a structural failure seen across virtually every U.S. metropolis.
This fragmentation has been our downfall during the greatest of tragedies. When Hurricane Helene struck in 2024, outdoor sirens stayed silent while cell networks collapsed — not because the technology failed, but because nothing was designed to work together. Several months later when California wildfires forced 200,000 evacuations earlier this year, communication breakdowns and uncoordinated shelters led to 31 preventable deaths.
Yet these communication issues are not isolated to climate disasters. In fact, they’re happening in small ways every day, from 911 dispatch failures to fractured public transport services. And as time passes, new threats are emerging faster than cities can adapt, from AI-powered cyber attacks targeting infrastructure vulnerabilities, to weaponized drone swarms exploiting communication gaps. Our fragmented civic networks don't just lag behind these challenges — they amplify them.
BEYOND ‘SMART’: THE OMNI CITY VISION
Just as smart cities promised efficiency in the 2010s, omni cities will deliver the resilience needed to face the looming threats of the next decade.
As suggested by its name, an omni city operates as a unified organism in which every component shares a common protocol for crisis response. When a wildfire approaches an omni city, the city doesn't just sound alarms — it automatically reroutes traffic, opens shelters and coordinates evacuation routes while emergency teams receive real-time data from every connected system.
This isn't science fiction; cities like Houston are already testing integrated frameworks that link climate response, public safety and mobility systems. The difference of an omni city, however, lies in treating cities as ecosystems rather than collections of isolated smart devices.
The key is interoperability — not just between machines, but between machines and humans. This requires a city-scale operating system that allows autonomous tools, public responders and ethical protocols to work in lockstep. Instead of retrofitting isolated apps, this OS treats cities like systems, linking drones, sensors, robotics, transport and emergency teams through a unified protocol layer.
When cities become more intelligent, they must also become more accountable, particularly in regards to equity. The smart city movement failed in part because it prioritized convenience for the wealthy (or those who can access technology in the first place) over resilience for everyone. Omni cities must flip this model by prioritizing resilience testing in the places most vulnerable to system failures, with the communities that legacy infrastructure has consistently ignored. This isn't charity, it's engineering. Systems that can't serve everyone can't truly serve anyone.
THE MOMENT FOR ACTION
While exploring the next iteration of a “smart city” may feel daunting, local governments don't need federal permission to begin. They can start by requiring interoperability standards for new public technology, creating transparent audit systems for automated decisions and prioritizing deployments in underserved communities. The goal isn't to build perfect cities overnight, but to create the foundations for urban systems that can evolve with emerging challenges.
The era of omni cities begins with recognizing that in a world of cascading crises, our urban infrastructure must become our first responder. Cities that understand this won't just survive — they'll define what governance means in the age of artificial intelligence.
When infrastructure thinks as fast as threats emerge, resilience becomes possible. The question is not whether cities will evolve, but which ones will evolve first.
Cesar R. Hernandez is an Equity Fellow in the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard Kennedy School.
