All our designs start from technology and the human experience and move outwards. We integrate the technology into the actual design itself so the building becomes a computer. It’s not about the internet of things it’s about the internet of buildings.

We’re bringing that to life. It’s not just doing it to be cool, it’s to build a more efficient environment, create jobs and maintain a low carbon environment.

Why build smart cities? Why change what we have?

The largest migration of humanity is coming into the urban space in the next 20 years. We don’t want slums. So, what happens when all those millions of people come into the cities

Two hundred and fifty million people are coming to the cities of China. How do you stop a tsunami of people? Well you build breakers and that’s what these smart cities are, and hopefully they can help. Also, we don’t want to drop ship a concrete jungle and have these farmers move into something totally unfamiliar. I could always tell the new people coming into Shanghai: the migrants. They would stand with disbelief as people walked in and out of modern office buildings. They couldn't’ understand how the doors could open magically, by themselves.

We’re working to design urban ruralism with these smart cities as well. How do you create clustered, dense places and still make it familiar.