Cities had to get smarter faster than ever in the last 19 months as they faced the coronavirus crisis, the racial reckoning after the murder of George Floyd, climate-related extreme weather events and more. But these rapid operational shifts may have some long-term benefits, according to attendees at the Smart Cities Connect Conference and Expo last week outside of Washington, D.C. Smart Cities Dive editors asked attendees for their take on the pandemic's lessons or silver linings, as well as what misconceptions about the concept of the smart city remain a concern.

The responses have been edited for length and clarity.

What good, if any, has come out of this pandemic for smart cities?

"It has shown us an extra dimension that needs to be paid attention to in terms of community and public health. It's such an important aspect of things. We haven't really considered that dimension very seriously [outside of] the public health domain, but now it's front and center." — Rajaram Bhagavathula, senior research associate at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute

"The focus on the constituencies. What's best for the people? And that's a really good change as opposed to, 'What's best to my corporate constituencies?' or 'How do we make money?' I think there's a renewed focus on the citizens, and how do we hear from them, and how do we protect them, how do we get them the information that they need to make their lives better?" — Robert C. Patterson Jr., chief strategist and senior enterprise architect at Hewlett Packard Enterprise

"The ability to connect everybody and still increase efficiency and effectiveness of what services are being offered by municipalities. It has advanced connectivity, it has increased the communication and collaboration between city stakeholders, your citizen and your municipality." — Nicolette Reyhani, director of sales at Cocoflo Innovations

"We got forced to move things online. … And now people are like, 'Oh, this makes my life a lot easier, this is actually a lot more accessible, it gives me a lot of time back in my day, I want to keep doing it this way.'  … Thinking back now about how arduous it was to get dressed, get in line, wait in front of a bunch of people, fill out the clipboard … [People] just want to do it online. … And I think now that so many people want it that way, cities have no choice but to provide it." — Matt Leger, research manager at IDC Smart Cities & Communities

Read the full article about COVID-19 and smart cities by Danielle McLean and Rachel Pollack at Smart Cities Dive.