The concept of smart cities has become a key factor in the sustainable development of cities. It is a compilation of urban planning strategies with many far-reaching benefits, including effective allocation of resources, speed of policy implementation, seamless communication, and a range of environmental benefits. Nowadays, smart cities are thriving in every corner of the world, with Singapore, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, and Oslo becoming undisputed leaders in this new trend. The following are four major smart city technologies that are receiving considerable attention and are widely adopted in the modern development of smart cities.
1. Intelligent IoT devices
The novel application of the Internet of Things (IoT) has enabled the implementation of smart city practices on a global scale. This modern technology enables cities to remotely monitor, control, and manage urban facilities and equipment, and create new insights and actionable information from quantitative real-time data streams. The Internet of Things is of great significance for the overall development of smart cities, especially for enhancing urban connectivity. These IoT devices include intelligent sensors, actuators, monitoring devices, and artificial intelligence programs. Through these devices, cities can significantly improve their accessibility and mobility, promote social inclusion, improve energy efficiency, and ultimately achieve sustainable development goals.
A typical example of the Internet of Things in a smart city is the smart sensor on the Oslo Road lights. The Oslo Intelligent Street Lighting Project is a citywide plan aimed at improving the efficiency of street lighting systems. Oslo integrates street lighting in the city into a single remotely accessible network, using internet-based applications for lighting level management and monitoring. The E-Street system can adjust the light intensity according to the time of the year and the specific needs of the situation, thereby further optimizing the energy use of the city. 20000 intelligent street lights in Oslo have accumulated nearly 70% energy savings.
With the widespread use of smartphones and mobile devices, people are more encouraged to participate in urban ecology. With the gradual progress and expansion of IoT technology, citizens and governments are bound to connect in unprecedented ways。
However, challenges and controversies are accompanied by enormous benefits and opportunities, making the debate between public space and personal privacy the focus of attention. Active public data collection in smart cities may pose a threat to citizens' privacy, increasing the risk of cyber attacks, but it can also lead to high costs and data discrimination. It is estimated that over the next 20 years, cities will invest a total of approximately 41 trillion US dollars in infrastructure upgrades. Future urban planners and policymakers have no choice but to ensure to the public that the dark side of IoT technology will not affect the morality and normal operation of cities.
2. Smart Energy
Urban sustainable development is an important component of smart cities. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to invest in efficient and environmentally friendly energy management.
In recent decades, with the rapid development of urban agglomerations, the demand for energy supply has skyrocketed. Sometimes it is so high that it exceeds the availability of local resources. The long-term solution to meet the growing energy demand is the so-called smart energy chain, which relies entirely on renewable energy sources such as solar and wind energy. This system allows for the transmission of dispersed clean and sustainable energy to every corner of urban areas through intelligent digital systems.
One of the most representative and visionary examples of smart energy is the EnergyLab Nordhavn project in Copenhagen. In order to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, the city has started building a huge intelligent energy network. This initiative aims to address the issue of enhancing the flexibility of energy networks that increasingly rely on intermittent energy. To this end, it tested large batteries and electric vehicles to reduce peak load on the power grid, and deployed intelligent heating in 85 housing units to reduce the burden on heating circuits while improving indoor comfort. As of now, more than 7000 households in the urban area have benefited.
Although the concept of smart energy sounds promising, putting it into practice still faces some inevitable operational challenges. The accuracy of energy measurement smart meters is difficult to always ensure, and in most cases, this false detection may lead to long-term energy waste and violate the goal of sustainable development. In addition, integrating smart energy systems into larger urban operating mechanisms always requires high technical and financial requirements, which may make it impossible for most developing cities to achieve in the near future.
3. Intelligent travel and transportation
The third place on our list of smart city technologies is mobility, which is the heartbeat of the city. Smart city mobility and transportation networks have become a priority for many smart city plans. Urban areas such as multimodal transportation, intelligent parking, and intelligent traffic lights are typically included in this concept. This approach is based on a rethinking of the transportation infrastructure used in daily life, including not only traditional cars, electric vehicles, and public transportation, but also new and innovative forms of transportation, such as on-demand ride sharing services (Uber and Lyft) and car sharing plans. The accessibility and livability of cities can be further established through these considerations.
Singapore is in an undisputed leading position in the field of intelligent travel experiments. The city's; Intelligent Transportation 2030® It is a 15 year overall plan that outlines how the country will develop its Intelligent Transportation System (ITS). This is a complex transportation network, including highway monitoring and consultation system, green link determination system, intersection electronic eye, traffic scanning, parking guidance system, electronic road toll collection, and intelligent bus stations. The mission of this plan is to utilize the latest intelligent transportation system projects and transportation technology breakthroughs to optimize the transportation network in a sustainable manner and improve the commuting experience across Singapore.
However, for most developing cities, many people believe that the case of Singapore does not have much reference significance. Firstly, many communities lack the ability to mobilize significant funds to support infrastructure projects. Secondly, the planning and implementation of urban transportation infrastructure projects are difficult, especially in densely populated areas where land acquisition and demolition issues are extremely complex.
4. Intelligent Building
The vigorous development of intelligent buildings is crucial for the long-term well-being of smart cities. Intelligent building is a type of building that uses digital based automated programs to generate building systems, including lighting, processing equipment, pipelines, access control systems, digital signage, wayfinding, and security systems. In short, it is a building with dynamic, breathing organisms. A notable feature of such modern buildings is their climate adaptability, which is visionary in the context of deteriorating climate issues. Buildings with technological advancements can easily reduce resource use and improve energy efficiency, simplify maintenance, reduce operating costs, and provide residents with a cleaner environment.
One of the pioneers of intelligent buildings is The Edge in Amsterdam. According to Bloomberg, Edge is the smartest and most environmentally friendly building in the world, with the highest sustainable development score of 98.4%. Approximately 28000 sensors are equipped internally, and everyone inside the building is connected through mobile applications. The most avant-garde feature of intelligent buildings is that they can remember the schedule of each employee and provide them with instructions on where to go to ensure that they appear at the right time and place.
Despite its revolutionary nature, the future of intelligent buildings still faces many difficulties. Architecture experts have raised five main issues: acquisition costs and investment barriers, lack of trust in network security, appropriate planning and sufficient maintenance, insufficient integration, and cultural responsiveness. Although intelligent buildings are people-oriented, the boundary between digital connectivity and personal privacy seems blurry.
(Content source: Security Information Network)
