40+ Smart Designs That Put These Cities Decades Ahead of the Rest

Fuel Your Inner Child

Who doesn’t get a jolt of excitement when they come across a swing? Swings were the joy of most people’s childhoods. That sensation in the pit of your stomach when you swing higher and higher and higher! It’s a magical feeling that brings out the inner child in us all. This city decided to replace the bus stop benches with swings, and we’re super jealous! Imagine how nice it’d be to swing while waiting for the bus.

Enjoy a Bud

Hollanders have found a creative way to add more public seating along bus routes, and it gives the city a decorative edge. These adorable orange flower buds fold down to provide commuters with a seat while they wait for the bus. They look far more attractive than traditional benches, and they provide solo seating for those who don’t want to sit close to others. You won’t have to worry about awkwardly taking one end of a bench while someone scoots down to the other end again with this inventive seating.

Ultimate Privacy

What’s most people’s main complaint about public restrooms? The lack of privacy! This public bathroom is making huge strides to provide people with more privacy with its simple yet effective red light/green light system. While you’re inside one of these cubicles, the light above it will turn red to indicate that it’s occupied. This is especially helpful for those with nervous bladders because you won’t have to worry about that awkward moment when someone knocks on your stall door to check if it’s clear. Instead, they’ll see the red light and go to a cubicle with a green light instead. What a great system!

Charging Tables

This is something that every city should adopt. These conveniently located tables provide you with a place to rest while charging your devices. The solar charger on the roof provides citizens with relief from the sun and an easy way to charge up their phones, laptop, tablet, or whatever else they happen to be carrying around with them. This is a great spot to meet up with friends, take a load off, and plug in your phone while enjoying some fresh air.

A Smart Way to Kill Time

Spending more time walking through your city rather than driving may be great for your health and for the environment, but it certainly comes with some drawbacks. The biggest drawback is the impatience many of us feel when waiting for the light at the crosswalk to turn green! Well, Germany decided to tackle this annoyance in style by installing these little arcade game players at crosswalks. Now, while you’re waiting for your light to turn green, you can tap the machine and choose from a list of games. Play a game of pong to kill time until it’s your turn to cross the road. If someone’s waiting on the other side, you can even play against them!

Add Some Fun Into Your Day

Have you ever gone shopping at the mall and wished there was an alternative to taking the stairs or escalator? Well, this mall in Prague decided to help shoppers put a little extra fun into their shopping days by installing this chute. Instead of climbing the stairs or slowly riding up the escalator, you can choose to shoot down the slide instead! We imagine this is incredibly popular with kids, teens, and the eternally young at heart adults whose eyes light up in excitement at the thought of going down this chute!

Motivation To Take The Stairs

Climbing the subway stairs can feel like a tedious chore, especially when you’re on your way to work or headed home after a long day of running errands. This city felt the best way to help motivate their residents to take the stairs would be by painting the number of calories burned as you walk up! Losing weight and staying in shape isn’t easy, and having a visual reminder of how many calories you’re burning is an excellent source of motivation to keep people moving.

Live Out Your Dreams

So many children have big dreams of becoming a performer. Whether you’ve always dreamed about playing an instrument or singing for an adoring audience, you’ll have the chance to live out your dreams in this city. This design will amplify the sound and ensure everyone around can hear you performing and living out your dreams! There is no need to carry around a bulky amplifier or microphone to perform on Market Street in San Francisco. All you need is your instrument, natural talent, and a bit of bravery.

Finally, A Parking System That Works

How much time do you think you’ve wasted driving in endless loops around parking garages? Sometimes, it seems as though there isn’t a single available spot in parking garages, only for you to realize there was a hidden spot on the first floor all along! Well, with the state-of-the-art parking system featured in this photo, you’ll never have to waste time cruising around a parking garage again. Indicators above each parking space show if there’s a free space. This makes finding a spot significantly easier, especially during the graveyard shift.

Soofa Benches

Have you ever been strolling down the street and wanted to take a rest? Well, rather than sitting on uncomfortable benches or steps, you can take a seat on these Soofa benches. These benches are located in several major areas, including Harvard Square, Danehy Park, Fresh Pond, and Central Square. You can sit and charge your devices while the Soofa bench collects data from the nearby area. These benches collect information on noise and air pollution to provide scientists with information that will help them find ways to keep the cities cleaner.

Smart Garbage

We all know the importance of separating through garbage. It helps prevent recyclables and compostable materials from clogging up our ever-filling landfills. However, it’s easy to miss a plastic bottle or piece of organic material when you’re sorting through multiple bags of garbage. These smart garbage cans prevent you from tossing recyclables and compostable materials with your other garbage. When you go to throw your trash away, the AI in the garbage can will detect pieces of plastic and other components and refuse to accept the waste until you pull those pieces out! It’s an excellent way to help citizens remember to recycle and sort through their waste.

Portable Libraries

Now this is a truly amazing idea! Hamburg City installed mini-libraries on their public buses to make commutes more enjoyable. You can read through a few chapters of a new novel while traveling through the city and pick it back up when you get on the bus again. This is a great idea, but it definitely has its drawbacks for true bookworms. Sometimes, you might get so into a novel that you end up missing your stop. It’s not all bad, though. At least you get to keep reading!

Flower Lights

Israel often struggles with extreme heat, and it can make walking around cities an uncomfortable experience. However, some engineers came up with an inventive way to help people see their way around town and stay cool. These street lamps are 30 feet tall and 30 feet wide. The flower blooms as people walk underneath them and send a blast of cool air as you pass by them. They also light up at night, giving the street a gorgeous glow.

Relax in Style

There’s nothing quite like spending the summers relaxing outside with your friends. It’s wonderful to hang out and soak up the fresh air and sunshine, but it can be difficult to find things to do in the city that don’t cost an arm and a leg. However, teenagers that don’t have extra pocket money will love hanging out on these safety nets. They’re the perfect place to catch up on the latest gossip, finish a good book, or get your tan on.

Smart Parking Job

Some people really struggle with parking inside the lines. Even if you don’t struggle with that, you’ve probably had the unfortunate experience of finding scratches on your car when you return to the garage. These French parking barriers prevent people from parking too close to the lines or over the lines. It also helps prevent people from opening their car doors and scratching or denting the car beside them. It’s something all parking garages could use, and it would definitely help prevent some insurance claims!

Work In A Pod

Many workplaces are trying to implement more ergonomic furniture to help boost employee morale and health. Several offices allow their employees to sit on yoga balls or use standing desks. Wayfair Canada has taken a new approach by offering these futuristic pods for employees to relax and work in. It must seriously enhance productivity when employees can chill in these little pods and feel immersed in their own world and work. In case you were wondering, the company is hiring engineers, data scientists, and experienced designers!

Reducing Their Carbon Footprint

Paris is one of the most visited cities in the world, and it’s no wonder they’re becoming concerned about their carbon footprint. With over 30 million visitors every year, this city needed to implement ways to reduce its impact on the environment. The city installed these solar trees, which allow you to charge your devices and provide you with cool drinking water, all while giving you some shade and a place to rest. It’s a genius idea that could make a big difference in many other major cities around the world.

Take A Swing

What is it about swings or hammocks that bring out the inner child in everyone? Perhaps it’s the feeling of weightlessness or the wind in your hair, but either way, it brings about a peaceful nostalgia that everyone can enjoy. This city decided to install hammocks instead of park benches to give their citizens a place to rest and relax while enjoying the fresh air. Kick off your shoes, lean back, and enjoy a peaceful afternoon swinging in your hammock or taking a little nap!

Participate In Your City

Welcome to Enfield Town, where citizens are encouraged to submit design ideas for local stores, the mall, and the town center. This town center is the perfect place to citizens to come and relax while watching their fellow residents engage in their daily activities. Citizens submitted designs for these unique benches where they’re able to stretch their legs and enjoy a leisurely day of relaxation. More towns should take input from their citizens on local designs! It’s a great way to encourage local pride and bring the community together.

Easy Parking

We’ve all fallen victim to parking lot frenzy. You know that frenzied feeling when you’re running late and desperately driving up and down all the lanes in a parking lot to search for a space, only to see someone pull out of a spot three lanes back. Then you have to circle all the way around the parking lot again to try to get into that spot before someone else takes it. Well, you can eliminate your parking lot anxiety with designs like the one in this photo. As soon as you pull up to the parking lot, you can see if there are any empty spaces. If not, you simply move onto the next parking semi-circle. This seems like a far better design idea!

Steora Benches

Smart benches have become quite a popular design throughout major cities in the world. These Steora benches are the perfect place to take a load off and charge your devices, but it also has some additional benefits. These benches offer ambient light during certain times of the day, and they can be used as a workstation. Occasionally the company runs ads on the sides of their benches, so you have something to look at while you’re waiting for your bus.

Easy Bike Rental System

This photo shows a bike rental system in Amsterdam, but this system isn’t unique to that area. The pacific northwest in the US and several areas of the world use this convienant bike rental system to allow residents and visitors to get around the city with ease. All you do is rent a bike from one of these docks, cruise around the city, and return it. Here’s the best part- you don’t have to return it to the same dock you rented it from! You can return these bikes to any docking location throughout the city, which provides you with a hassle-free bike rental you can enjoy all around the city.

Interactive Art

Art is an excellent way to bring people together and spark a conversation. These MeetWalls were installed in San Francisco as a way for people to interact with each other through the safety of art! You approach the walls, wait for the sensor to notice your presence, and then introduce yourself to the person on the other side of the wall. The beams in the wall will then twist and turn to reveal you and the other person to each other. It’s a great way to meet new people in the city or have fun with your kids!

Inspire With Advertisements

Advertisements are a part of our daily lives and they’re everywhere you look. You see ads on your devices, walking through the city, riding the bus, and shopping at the mall. Most people have become so desensitized to advertisements that they don’t even spare them a second glance. Well, some companies like IBM have decided they need to get creative to draw attention to their advertisements. That’s why IBM decided to create this ad which doubles as a protective cover from intense rain or sunshine. It draws people to the ad while they’re getting out of the weather and provides a positive impression of the company. This approach should be an inspiration to others who are looking to draw attention to their ads!

The Disappearing Act

Remember being fascinated by magic tricks as a child? Well, you can introduce your children to the love of magic with these disappearing benches! These benches are the perfect spot to stop and enjoy the weather, bring a snack, and catch up with your loved ones. Simply raise the benches up when you’re ready to sit and relax, and then lower them back down when you’re ready to leave. This is an excellent way to provide additional seating in the city without having the furniture become intrusive.

Magic Crosswalks

Many cities around the world are working on creating safer crosswalks for their residents. Some cities installed games for their residents to play while they wait for the crossing light to turn in their favor, and others have created these intricate lights. This light system is perfect for citizens who spend their time buried in their phones because all you need to do is glance over to check the color of the light. The lights also help warn oncoming drivers of pedestrians on the road. And the lights automatically adjust their brightness based on the time of day!

Charge Your Devices Here

What’s the best way for a company to endear itself to others? By offering free and valuable services, of course! AT&T took this knowledge and ran with it by installing these free charging ports all throughout New York City. You can find these charging stations all over NYC, and they provide you with a safe and free spot to charge your devices while you’re out and about. You can also enjoy free Wi-fi while you’re waiting for your devices to charge up.

Smart Bus Shelter

Waiting at the bus shelter can be a boring and uncomfortable experience, especially for those with social anxiety. However, it’s a well-known fact that music helps soothe the soul, and that’s exactly what’s happening at this bus shelter. JCDecaux came up with this awesome bus shelter where you can access your music playlist and play your music through the shelter’s speakers. Over a million people used this bus shelter and played over 110 hours of music. Waiting for your daily bus doesn’t have to be boring when you have awesome music to listen to!

Solar Powered Streetlamps

Solar power has become the new way to power machinery, homes, and even streetlamps worldwide. Many towns have begun harnessing solar energy to cut down on their electricity usage and provide their residents with an attention-grabbing feature down their streets. These solar-powered lamps shine so brightly at night that they provide the perfect spot for residents to sit and catch up with friends. It’s an excellent use of solar energy and provides a unique spot to hang in this city.

Ecoful Town

Toyota is a pioneer in the shift toward using electrical energy rather than gas-powered. They created their own Ecoful Town in Toyota City, which is a spot where citizens can find electric bikes and scooters for use. They’ll get you to the nearest public transportation, and there are also spots for you to charge your personal electric bike or scooter. It’s an excellent way to encourage citizens to cut down on their gas emissions.

Remember!

How many hours have you spent desperately searching for your car in the parking garage? People often forget which level they parked on, and management decided to help out with this unique paint job. When you park your car in this garage and go to take the elevator, you’ll see the level number and the world ‘remember’ painted on the elevator door. The high contrast will probably help you remember where you parked your car. Or, you could take a picture of the elevator to look at on your way back!

Relax in the Shade

One of the most relaxing places to visit is the beach. Feeling the sun on your face, the salty air kissing your skin, and the sound of the waves will send you into a tranquil state of relaxation. However, most people need to pack a lot of supplies to enjoy their time at the beach. You need a towel to lay on, a swimsuit, and plenty of sunscreen. So, what do you do if you forget the sunscreen? Well, take a seat on this bench overlooking the water and relax in the shade of this giant green hat! This is an awesome idea to provide beachgoers with some shade and provides them with an awesome photo opportunity!

The Smartest Bus Shelter

Bus stops can be confusing, especially if you’re unused to public transportation or got off at the wrong stop! However, this smart bus shelter will alleviate all your worries. This stop features an interactive map that will help plan your route to get you to your next location. It also acts as a charging station and has free wi-fi available. Whether you need to plan your bus route, charge your device, or research something online, this bus stop will help you get it done!

Free Community Gym

Staying fit and healthy isn’t easy in a world where many of us spend the majority of our days sitting in front of a screen. Some communities around the world have taken the initiative to help their citizens stay healthy by installing outdoor community gyms! These gyms feature all the equipment you need to get in a good workout and are 100% free to use.

Less Cars, More Bikes

Cities all over the world are putting in the effort to transition their citizens away from using their cars every day to rely more on public transportation and bicycles. It’s an excellent way to reduce the carbon and gas emissions produced, which will help sustain our environment. Many cities have created a way for people to bring their bicycles with them when using public transportation. This is an excellent way to get around town, get in some exercise, and help protect the environment.

No More Wet Benches

How many times have you eagerly approached a bench, ready to get off your feet for a few, and discovered it was soaking wet? Aside form the massive disappointment, you’re now stuck on your feet until you reach your destination or catch your bus! However, these smart benches use a simple yet clever design to prevent this annoyance. When you approach the bench and notice it’s wet, all you need to do is turn this handle. The bench will rotate and provide you with a clean, dry spot to sit!

Nature Benches

Finding a comfortable, shaded bench to sit on in the middle of a city isn’t always easy. However, this city has taken its bench game to another level with these earthy benches! Not only do you have a comfortable and shaded spot to sit, but you also get to enjoy the aroma of fresh plants! These plants soak up the water when it rains, leaving the bench perfectly dry for citizens to enjoy.

Fold-Out Balcony

Living in a big city comes with plenty of advantages, but it also has its share of drawbacks. Finding time and space to enjoy the outdoors can be a struggle, and there’s often not enough room to build full balconies on homes. An architect in this city came up with the ingenious idea of building fold-out balconies onto the roof of some homes. This allows homeowners to get a breath of fresh air during the warmer months without encroaching on their neighbors’ space.

Keep the Streets Clean

Keeping the roads clean in major cities is a major hassle, but South Korea seems to have a pretty good handle on the situation! The roads in South Korea have these little sprinklers in the center lines, which send a stream of water across the road. The pressure and friction from car tires help spread the water and keep the roads clean. It’s an excellent solution that doesn’t interfere with traffic.

Automation in Hospitals

So many industries are finding more and more roles to shift to automation. There are now self-checkouts in grocery stores, robots that clean the floors in shops, and this awesome delivery bot in hospitals! This bot takes some stress off the nurses and nursing assistants by delivering medication and food to patients. It also stores and sends documentation to the control center. This is an excellent way to help an often short-staffed profession.

Tram Bicycle Lift

Norway is a haven for bicyclists, and one of its cities, Trondheim, has made it even easier for its citizens to get around. The Cyclocable puts an end to the dreaded and exhausting uphill climb bicyclists dread in this town. Cyclists just need to rest one foot on this angled platform and then wait for it to propel them uphill. Up to five cyclists can use this transport at a time, and even people riding scooters can access this lift. What a great way to take some of the exhaustion out of their daily commute!