The ASEAN Smart Cities Network (ASCN) is a collaborative platform that aims to unify smart city development efforts across ASEAN. The ACSN aims to facilitate cooperation on smart city development, broker smart city development projects between city government units and local private sector firms, and secure funding and support for these developments from ASEAN's external partners. The initiative was launched at the 32nd ASEAN Summit as a key deliverable of Singapore's ASEAN Chairmanship in 2018, and its Inaugural Meeting took place on 8 July 2018.
The ASCN was formed as a response to rapid urbanization throughout Southeast Asia, and aims to standardize the ongoing or upcoming developments of various metropolitan areas in the region.
Southeast Asia's growth has primarily been driven by metropolises, and an estimated 90 million people are expected to enter the region's metropolitan areas by 2030. "Middleweight cities" with populations between 200,000 and 2 million residents are expected to drive 40% of the region's urban development growth, and the ASCN aims to help ASEAN Member States plan and enact initiatives that wish to bring more cities up to the metropolitan level.
A list of the 26 Pilot Cities that have been nominated by the respective ASEAN Member States is as follows: <imagemap> File:ASCN Map.jpg|thumb|800px|Map of the 26 Pilot Cities (clickable) rect 168 568 500 665 Mandalay rect 981 616 1235 702 Hanoi rect 793 696 1260 794 Luang Prabang rect 134 723 517 820 Naypyidaw rect 846 822 1166 908 Vientiane rect 265 891 535 989 Yangon rect 1206 1003 1502 1101 Da Nang rect 1912 1026 2171 1112 Manila rect 504 1094 805 1168 Bangkok rect 922 1101 1269 1178 Siem Reap rect 890 1140 1271 1257 Battambang rect 534 1153 843 1248 Chonburi rect 678 1232 1077 1318 Phnom Penh rect 1116 1278 1614 1375 Ho Chi Minh City rect 2113 1282 2442 1379 Cebu City rect 637 1424 906 1510 Phuket rect 2221 1497 2578 1596 Davao City rect 1683 1551 2121 1637 Kota Kinabalu rect 1598 1635 2231 1733 Bandar Seri Begawan rect 474 1716 914 1813 Kuala Lumpur rect 952 1789 1334 1869 Johor Bahru rect 983 1869 1301 1950 Singapore rect 1349 1851 1638 1949 Kuching rect 1856 2223 2191 2309 Makassar rect 1144 2302 1532 2390 Jakarta rect 1540 2422 1932 2519 Banyuwangi desc bottom-left </imagemap>
The Smart City Action Plans and Priority Projects developed by the 26 Pilot Cities can be found here
Each ASEAN Member State nominates a National Representative to the Network. In addition, each city also nominates a Chief Smart City Officer (CSCO). The status of a CSCO is equivalent to that of a Chief Urban Planner or Chief Resilience Officer. CSCO's role is to attend the annual meeting, craft his or her respective cityâÂÂs action plan and discuss the ASEAN Smart Cities Framework. There is thus representation at both the national and municipal levels. The table below lists the CSCOs who are each city's main point of contact with the Network.
In March 2018, Australia announced a A$30 million fund to support smart city development in ASEAN.
In July 2018, five agreements were signed during the Opening Ceremony of the Inaugural ASCN Meeting. Among them was an agreement between the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) which expressed support for the ASCN in the context of promoting sustainable development in the Asia Pacific. An agreement was also signed between the Amata Smart City Corporation Chonburi and the Yokohama Urban Solutions Alliance.