Smart homes, smart cars, smart society, smart mobility, smart energy, smart building, smart care, smart heath, smart cities, smart everything..
What is a smart city?
“We envision a world where digital technology and intelligent design have been harnessed to create smart, sustainable cities with high-quality living and high-quality jobs. “ (Smart Cities Council, 2016)
Smart city is a city that uses information and communication technology (ICT) and Internet of Things (IoT) solutions in a secure manner to manage a city’s assets. It is influenced by population growth, technological advancements, climate change, among many others. Smart city initiatives involve various sectors, with main fields being energy, waste, traffic, pollution, health care and urban landscape. Municipalities, businesses and communities around the globe: New York, London, Amsterdam, Seoul, India are working toward shaping the future of more advanced, efficient, interconnected and smarter cities. According to the European Union initiative for Smart cities, the estimation of the market size is €1.3 trillion in 2020 (EU SmartCities, 2016).
What defines a smart city?
Four factors proposed by Deakin & Al Wear:
- The application of a wide range of electronic and digital technologies to communities and cities
- The use of ICT to transform life and working environments within the region
- The embedding of such ICTs in government systems
- The territorialisation of practices that brings ICTs and people together to enhance the innovation and knowledge that they offer.
What are the main drivers of smart cities?
One of the main driving forces of smart cities is urban population growth. In the USA alone, 62.7% of inhabitants live in cities which occupy only 3.5 % land area (US Census Bureau, 2015). The urban population in the Netherlands is currently at 90%, in EU 75%, in North America 82% and Worldwide 54%. The worldwide urban population has increased by 72% since 2000 and the trend is here to stay (Worldbank, 2015).
Another major force is the technological development. This includes:
- Smart grids – controlling the production and distribution of the energy; smart meters, renewable energy, smart networks
- Internet of Things sensors applied everywhere in the city
- Open Big Data initiatives – to allow smarter solutions to be developed
The sectors involved are: energy, waste, online government systems, transport and traffic in the city, health care, water, urban landscape, climate change, economic restructuring, online retail & entertainment and urban population growth.
Which cities are taking part in this?
Cities and governments all over the world have started initiatives to become smarter. Notable examples are below:
- Amsterdam has started a platform Amsterdam Smart City
- New York has started its “Building a Smart + Equitable City” plan (NYC.gov, 2015)
- London has open data platforms (London Data Store, 2016)
- Barcelona hosts the yearly Smart City Expo (Smart City Expo, 2016)
- India has started its smart cities platform
- Seoul has set plans to become a Smart Economy city by 2020
- Tel Aviv won the Smart City Award in 2014 (Israel Ministry of Tourism, 2015)
- European Union has started Europe’s Digital Agenda and Digital Single Market with aim to provide a platform for digital union of the participating countries (EU Smart cities, 2016)
Ok, but how does this impact me?
What are the applications of smart cities?
Some of Smart Cities’ future applications include:
- Smart Energy: Producing and distribution of (renewable) energy; and efficient use of city lights
- Smart Mobility: Real time help in finding free car parking, city bike and e-charging spots; and predicting and regulating traffic to avoid traffic jams
- Using heatmaps to see most “popular places” in the city
- Use of Smart cards – for transport, parking, public places to collect data
- Citizen online identity that enables citizens to do their paperwork online: file your tax return, change address in a city hall, enroll in a study, among others
- Pollution sensors
- Open Big Data – sharing of the publicly available data to optimize
- Smart Building: urban planning and waste management
Ok, but do I have a say in this?
The visionaries and planners of the smart cities acknowledge that the future and viability of the smart city solutions is in part dependent on the society’s acceptance of its developments. As such, governments and municipalities encourage active community participation. Do you want to shape the future of smart cities? Become active now – one of the options – submit your ideas and projects to amsterdamsmartcity.com!
Some current ideas include renewable energy sharing, open data, amsterdam innovation hub, smart light, green living lab, IoT lab, hackable city project among many others! (Amsterdam Smart City, 2016)
For those of you interested in Big (Open) Data:
- Amsterdam Open Data: www.data.amsterdam.nl
- London City Open Data portal:https://data.london.gov.uk/
- NYC Open Data: https://nycopendata.socrata.com/ and https://data.ny.gov/
- Harvard Data Smart City Solutions: http://datasmart.ash.harvard.edu/
Challenges you can take part in:
- Next Energy Challenge https://www.nextenergy.org/nextchallenge/
- Submit Your Research Paper on topics: Smart Cities, smart networks and Smart Grids for Special Issue of IEEE Sensors Journals
http://ieee-sensors.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/2016_07_29_CfP-Special-Issue-on-Smart-Grids-Smart-Cities.pdf
Security & Privacy
Wow.. our cities are becoming smarter and ever interconnected, how thrilling is that!? But with being digital and online comes also the concern for security and privacy. As.. (almost) anything that is digital can be hacked, cybersecurity will become more important than ever. If a hacker can get into the WiFi that communicates with these sensors, he may just be able to control them.. And..what happens with our privacy? When there are sensors cameras literally everywhere? Will we experience The Truman Show kind of scenario? Will we live knowingly that every step we take is observed by NSA? These are questions that shall not be forgotten when designing the smarter cities. They are a concern for every one of us.
Smarter cities are in the making worldwide. Technology, IoT sensors, smart grids and data analytics are at the core of it. We are getting closer every day to higher living standards, more efficient cities and more advanced economies. More open data sources are becoming available for researchers. Cybersecurity importance increases.
Do you think you can contribute to make this system better?
You can be part of the smart city movement and shape the future of your city!
Bibliography:
Amsterdam Smart City (2016) [online]
Available at: www.amsterdamsmartcity.com [Accessed 20 Sept. 2016]
Data NY (2016) [online]
Available at: https://data.ny.gov/ [Accessed 20 Sept. 2016]
Deakin & Husam (2011) From Intelligent to Smart Cities [online]
Available at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17508975.2011.586671 [Accessed 20 Sept. 2016]
EU Smart Cities (2016) [online]
Available at: https://eu-smartcities.eu/about/european_context [Accessed 20 Sept. 2016]
European Commission (2016) Digital Agenda [online]
Available at: https://digital-agenda-data.eu/ [Accessed 20 Sept. 2016]
European Commission (2016) Digital Single Market [online]
Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en [Accessed 20 Sept. 2016]
Government of India (2015) Smart Cities [online]
Available at: http://smartcities.gov.in/ [Accessed 20 Sept. 2016]
Harvard (2016) Data Smart City Solutions [online]
Available at: http://datasmart.ash.harvard.edu/ [Accessed 20 Sept. 2016]
IEEE (2016) Special Issue on Smart Grids Smart Cities [online]
Available at: http://ieee-sensors.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/2016_07_29_CfP-Special-Issue-on-Smart-Grids-Smart-Cities.pdf [Accessed 20 Sept. 2016]
Israel Ministry of Tourism (2015) Tel-Aviv wins first price in world smart cities award [online]
Available at: http://www.goisrael.se/Tourism_Swe/General%20information/news/Sidor/Tel%20Aviv%20wins%20first%20price%20in%20World%20Smart%20Cities%20award.aspx [Accessed 20 Sept. 2016]
London Data Store (2016) [online]
Available at: https://data.london.gov.uk/ [Accessed 20 Sept. 2016]
NYC.gov (2015) Building a Smart + Equitable City [online]
Available at: http://www1.nyc.gov/assets/forward/documents/NYC-Smart-Equitable-City-Final.pdf [Accessed 20 Sept. 2016]
Seoul Metropolitan Government (2016) 2020 Smart Economy City Seoul [online]
Available at: http://english.seoul.go.kr/policy-information/economy/seoul-economy/1-2020-smart-economy-city-seoul/ [Accessed 20 Sept. 2016]
Smart Cities Council (2016) [online]
Available at: http://smartcitiescouncil.com/article/about-us-global [Accessed 20 Sept. 2016]
Smart City Expo (2016) [online]
Available at: http://www.smartcityexpo.com/en/ [Accessed 20 Sept. 2016]
US Census Bureau (2015) U.S. Cities are Home to 62.7 Percent of the U.S. Population, but Comprise Just 3.5 Percent of Land Area [online]
Available at: http://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2015/cb15-33.html [Accessed 20 Sept. 2016]
Image Credits: eMunicipality (2016) Smart City European Perspective [online]
Available at: http://www.emunicipality.com/city-smart-city-european-perspective [Accessed 20 Sept. 2016]
Dear Dzintra,
Thank you for sharing your interesting post. I really enjoyed reading more about this topic!
I think smart cities are extremely interesting, especially since Rotterdam as of 2014 has also been allocated the title of being a „smart city“. Using technology in cities and thus transforming them into smart ones, will allow a city like Rotterdam or Amsterdam to run itself more efficiently and effectively. Furthermore, it would provide at least a partial solution to the many problems plaguing our cities these days like: traffic, parking problems, pollution, water and electricity supply and many more. Additionally, using technology may mean smart cities could install items like CCTV cameras, panic buttons of different hotlines and identification systems to ensure the local peoples security, which could be a massive advantage. This way a smart city might even respond better to threats and alarms, since data like location and time, can be accessed by authorities instantly and coordination by police or fire departments can be optimized. The crime rate may even decrease under such circumstances. Also, as you mention waste management, the fact that smart cities would incredibly improve sustainability efforts and lead to less environmental damage is another intersting upside of this movement, particularly in the light of the ever more pressing issues associated with climate change.
But considering the large investments needed to transform a regular city, to a smart city – do you think it’s worth it or even feasible to transform many cities into smart ones? And also if not, how would you choose which cities to transform, and which ones to leave for now? Moreover, considering the massive expenses necessary to build a smart city, do you think living in a smart city would require extra fees to be paid by locals? And if yes, do think this might create a gap between income classes?
Would be interesting to know what you think.
https://en.rotterdampartners.nl/press/press-releases/rotterdam-voted-smart-city-2014/
https://www.quora.com/
Dear Anna,
Thank you for your comment. Indeed, smart cities make living in them safer, more enjoyable and efficient.
Regarding your questions, I must say that I am not an expert in this field but will try to answer with the limited knowledge that I posses about this domain.
Regarding the feasibility of transformation of a “regular” city into a “smart” city, given the high investment costs: I believe that digital transformation is an inevitable change that is already happening and will occur in most major cities. I believe that it is definitely worth transforming a city into a smart one – and just like in app developments, cities can also start with gradual transformation – first developing the minimum viable product and adding extra features along the way. The first improvements can come with having an e-government applications, whereas a citizen can handle their paperwork online. Even if the initial investments in developing such software systems may seem high – the costs saved over time due to automation of the tasks (reduced labor, physical space rent, maintenance and electricity costs -to name some) are significant enough to compensate for initial investment. Regarding the installation of other sophisticated systems and use of IoT sensors – if a municipality does not have resources currently for it, they can also wait a few years until the technology further looses its novelty, patents expire and cheaper solutions become available.
Going back to my research, urban population is rising at a steep rate, in last 15 years having experienced a 72% increase worldwide. That means that the resources for urban cities are increasing due to growing tax revenues from new inhabitants. Furthermore, to attract new inhabitants, the city shall keep up with the technological advancements.
I would say that cities that have the resources, the vision and the requests from their inhabitants should transform themselves into smarter cities.
Moreover, an examples like city of Amsterdam is involving the citizens into the decision making of what solutions shall be built. Many commercial opportunities arise through there, which may provide paid solutions for smart cities.
European Union offers several funding opportunities for smart cities. One of the many is called EUREKA and the 100 projects that are under development over there have received 1.1 billion euro public and private funding.
Regarding the question of extra fees for inhabitants of smart cities – I believe that is a very difficult question to answer. Every city and country has its separate tax bracket infrastructure. For example, in New York – the city tax is progressive -meaning that lower income families/individuals pay less. In London, for example, city council tax applies only to the people living in a smaller area of central London. As such, that solves for income gap in these two major cities, for others I would find hard to tell.
Could you please share your own opinion about all of the above?
Also, what is your opinion about the how knowledgable the regular citizens are of the initiatives of smart cities? Would you contribute yourself to the development of them?
Best Regards,
Dzintra
https://eu-smartcities.eu/content/overview-funding-opportunities-smart-cities
http://www.eureka-smart-cities.org/eureka
http://jpi-urbaneurope.eu/about/intro/
https://www.tax.ny.gov/pit/file/tax_tables.htm
https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/services/council-tax/Pages/default.aspx