Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Battambang will struggle to attain smart city status without adopting far reaching master plans, according to officials tasked with implementing the program.

The brainchild of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), the smart city program seeks to link up to 26 regional hubs by getting them to work together towards a common goal of sustainable urban development enabled by technology.

But professor Tous Saphoeun, an architecture professor who also works with the Cambodia Ministry of Land Management, Urban planning and Construction, believes the program is easier said than done, and that current thinking was based on upgrading parts of a city rather than the city as a whole.

“It requires a comprehensive master plan for the whole city, not just for a few satellite cities,” he said.https://www.phnompenhpost.com/post-property/long-way-go-cambodia-gets-smart-city