To help start the year off right, Smart Cities Dive has gathered insights from industry leaders to identify the trends that are expected to influence the smart city space in 2020.

1. Investors will pump more money into flying cars
The new year will likely be momentous for investments in electric vertical take-off and landing aircrafts (eVTOL)?, or "flying cars."

Uber pledged to start testing its Uber Air flying taxi service in 2020, and even projected eVTOLs will be mainstream as soon as 2023. The company's Elevate Summit in June also cemented its promise to stir things up in the industry by announcing plans to conduct public tests of the vehicles in Dallas, Los Angeles, and Melbourne, Australia, on top of showcasing its plans for "skyports" where the vehicles would land and take off.

2. Cities will see fewer scooter operators on streets as companies consolidate
The rapid descent of scooter operators on city streets will slow down in 2020. Instead, the industry should expect to experience more consolidation.

That trend is already taking shape in Washington, DC, one of the first cities to majorly embrace dockless bikes and scooters.