As we move towards a fully connected society, we begin to see the emergence of cities deploying smart solutions to become smart cities. The “smart” in “smart cities do not refer to a characteristic that defines the city’s smartness, but to the city’s ability to create better living environment for its citizens. Smart cities utilise information and communication technology (ICT) to increase operational efficiency and to provide better quality of life to their residents. The main goals of a smart city are to improve efficiency, reduce wastage and inconvenience, improve social and economic quality, and maximize social inclusion.
With over half the world’s population currently residing in cities and this number expected to rise significantly every year, there comes a need to manage environmental, social, and economic sustainability of resources. Smart cities are built around the concept that citizens create the city, not just how citizens can benefit from the services governments can provide to them. Therefore, smart cities are important because they allow citizens and local government authorities to work together to launch initiatives and use smart technologies to manage assets and resources in the growing urban environment.
Some examples of smart cities’ use of technology are collecting real-time data about city operations, including traffic, air and water quality, waste management and energy usage. With this information, local government authorities can act immediately to solve any problem that arises before it becomes too late. This also means that living in a smart city has several advantages:
- Better Transportation System
With real-time traffic info, a smart city will be able to collect traffic information that will improve traffic flow and public transportion, reducing traffic congestion thus improving the cities productivity
- Reduced Environmental Footprint
A smart city will have energy-efficient buildings, air cleaning technology, and renewable energy sources, which will help to decrease the ecological impact we have on the environment.
- Better Job Opportunities
With smart cities usage of high-technologies, the demand for high-skilled workers increases thus helping the growth of the city with better job opportunities for the populace.
- Reduced Crime Rates
Smart cities deploys connected intelligent CCTV surveillance that can help prevent and predict crime to provide alerts for faster police response to crime and apprehension of criminals thus reducing crime. With advancement of Facial Recoginition systems, it helps law enforcement agencies to detect offenders.
- Equal Digital Access
In smart cities, public Wi-Fi can be set up throughout the city to provide internet access to all citizens, giving equal access to high-speed internet services, bridging the digital divide.
In conclusion, smart cities are made up of smart connected systems that provide a great many benefits for its citizens, not only to improve quality of life, but also to ensure sustainability and the best possible use of resources. These are just a few ways that smart cities work, and there are plenty of more examples out there. If you are interested in learning more about smart cities or their technology, ask EKTECH today!
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