A band of 40 mayors from cities around the world has joined forces to back a new global initiative to control the exploding growth of data centres and their growing influence on urban infrastructure. The Global Urban Data Centres Pact aims to tackle data centre growth, AI infrastructure, water usage and electricity demand, as well as concerns about urban sustainability, by uniting major cities, such as London, Phoenix, Melbourne, Barcelona, Chennai and Boise.

The agreement will be introduced during London Climate Action Week, and comes at a time when cities are increasingly worried about the speed of digital infrastructure growth. Alongside the growing demand for computing power arising from AI applications, governments and communities are under increasing pressure to reconcile economic benefits with the environmental and social impacts of large-scale data centre developments.

The growing need to monitor and manage the siting of data centres by cities is highlighted.Cities are increasingly seeking to control the location of data centres.

The new deal arrives on the heels of global data centre investment, which is on the rise. Many of the key drivers behind the rapid growth are cloud computing services, digital platforms and Artificial Intelligence technologies, which are demanding significant amounts of processing power.

Data centres are a vital part of today's economy and technological advances but city planners say they sometimes have developed more quickly than their planning and regulatory systems. The Global Urban Data Centres Pact aims to advance the adoption of the following common principles to promote the use of cleaner energy, enhance resource efficiency and foster greater integration of data centre projects into urban planning processes.

The framework will be flexible to allow participating cities to tailor the approach to local needs, given the wide variation in environmental conditions and infrastructure needs between regions. The project will equip local governments with more tools to enable them to permit, plan and engage in negotiations with technology companies and national authorities.

Increasing pressure on energy and water resources is being felt in Melbourne.

Melbourne is one of the cities that is putting the importance of the issue under the spotlight, with city authorities predicting substantial growth in both power and water usage associated with data centre activity in the city.

Melbourne has around 50 big data centres, says Melbourne Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece. These facilities are projected to use approximately 10 per cent of Melbourne's electricity by 2030. The rate is expected to grow and reach 20 percent by 2040, given that digital infrastructure continues to expand throughout the metro region.

Reece said that the growth of data centres was as massive as the introduction of air conditioning in the middle of the 20th century, which took decades to "alter the electrical network".

Water usage is also becoming a significant issue. The data centres in Melbourne may use almost 20 billion litres of water a year by 2040 – about four per cent of the city's drinking water. The growth of technology has sparked debate on the ability of cities to support technological development while not eroding vital public services.

Phoenix Experiences Unprecedented Demand Surge

The same concerns are being raised in Phoenix, AZ, where city officials say the number of proposals for data centre development has surged.

The Phoenix metro area now has about 225 data centers that are either already built or under construction, said Phoenix mayor Kate Gallego. Electricity demand in the region is projected to double under any of the projects in review, which are unusual in that their growth will occur over a period of just decades.

Artificial Intelligence workloads, which demand substantial computing power and uninterrupted electricity are contributing majorly to the surge in electricity needs. Noise pollution, land use alterations, battery-storing facilities and the proximity of new infrastructure projects to residential areas are also of concern within the local community.

This has led to a growing trend of data centres being considered as a public policy and community planning problem, and not just one of the technology sector.

The city of Houston is finding that community acceptance is becoming an important piece of the puzzle.

For the future, city decision-makers participating in the pact believe that data centre projects will have to be better engaged with and more transparent to garner public backing.

Many municipalities fear that the competition to offer economic benefits might result in a “race to the bottom” whereby environmental standards and the level of planning scrutiny would be reduced. The agreement also seeks to enable cities to coordinate their work and make sure the interests of local communities are taken into account in decision-making processes.

The lesson for tech firms and investors is growing by the day: community acceptance and environmental performance can be as important as financial investment and technical abilities to obtaining permits and approvals.

Technology, Climate and the balance between the two.

AI and digital infrastructure are key drivers of the future success of cities, but cities' residents want these advances responsibly, London Mayor Sadiq Khan said.

The challenge is very important. The contribution of data centres to global emissions is estimated at 2.5-3.7 percent, which is more than emissions from the aviation sector. Meanwhile, power usage by data centers is growing at a faster rate than the power demand in several areas.

The Global Urban Data Centres Pact, organized by C40 Cities, is an initiative to make cities the focus of the debate on expansion of digital infrastructure. In contrast to resisting technological advances, cities engaged in this process are looking for a model that would allow for technological growth to support climate goals while balancing resources and community wellbeing.

With a growing investment in artificial intelligence (AI) and data infrastructure, city governments are turning to the question of how the advantages of digital transformation could be shared with communities, while ensuring minimal burden on their public utilities and the environment.