Concept Of Smart City Technology: Why Do We Need Them?

Introduction

We are not unaware of the advances in the technology of Artificial Intelligence (AI), and its amazing applications. But, if by chance you've been sleeping through time that you haven't heard of Artificial Intelligence, you can get an idea from this post as a form of entry behaviour. In this survey, we will be considering the concept of smart city, and of course using some real life scenarios to buttress some points.

[Image Source: Flickr. Authored and culled from jct600.co.uk. License: CC BY-SA 2.0]

One may ask; what is Smart City? Let's break this down to "Smart" and "City" for easier understanding. The word "Smart" has to do with something intelligent and/or vivacious, while "City" is a settlement of some people, which; sometimes; is bigger than a town. Then, putting the both together, you can say that "Smart City" is the intelligent interconnected set of devices, machines, and gadgets wirelessly to form a framework of composite network within a locality, which allows the citizens to relate with and/or communicate data within the city.

Hard to understand? Okay let me give you a real life scenario to elucidate this: Driving into an alley at night, you are not sure of finding a convenient parking space; your mobile device can relate with the smart parking meters to locate a free spot. That's just one of them. Okay think about this; As the day advances, various aspects of the operation of the city are being integrated into a complex network infrastructure which can be accessed by both the government and the citizens. Let me use this homemade diagram to explain further.

[Designed with MS paint by me @samminator]

How does the smart city operate? It is worthy to note that this hinges on some technologies which include; Machine Learning, Automation, and Internet of Things (IoT) - which works majorly on Artificial Intelligence (AI). By Internet of Things; I mean the interconnection of your devices, machines, and other internet enabled gadgets to a central intelligent hub. Now, the smart city's framework is designed to access these data and use them to relate in real-time with the user's needs. For viability and easy accessibility, these data are stored in the cloud.

Relating with the ecosystems in smart city

Like I said before, this hinges on the technology of IoT. But first of all, the city would need to be incorporated with sensors at various spots, for example; smart traffic sensors to collate the data of vehicular movements, smart depth-resolution CCTV cameras to sense and relate with people's bio identities, smart roads, etc. What is the purpose of all these sensors? Simple: to gather data from our everyday lives and activities.

Let's take this example: This could sound ridiculous, but that's one of the services that smart city can provide; Ever thought about "smart dumpsters?" Okay maybe not. But it is very annoying to see your garbage cans filled up without the waste management authority coming to dispose them. But with "smart dumpsters", once it gets filled up, signals would automatically be sent to the appropriate authority for disposal, and this is done without recourse to any of your inputs (it's purely automated). Even the street lightening system can be automated too.  Once it is night and visibility gets dim, the sensors would get triggered automatically and the street lights would come on (on their own). This is just to say a few.

According to this publication by United Nations on world urbanization prospects, it has revealed that; the total of about 54% of the entire world's population live in cities. And they went further to make a projection into 2050, which has been speculated that over 60% urbanization would be achieved. Now, with this rapid rate of urbanization, sustainability is a key aspect that should be focused on. For example; the population density, environmental safety, and even vehicular movements need to be monitored. No doubt, these data are way beyond human computation; that's the need for a smart city framework.

[Image Source: Pixabay. CC0 Licensed]

The whole idea of this is to get access to real-time information on-the-go. Here's another simulated real life scenario of what to expect with a smart city: I need to make a quick trip, but I need to catch a connecting flight first. I can check the local flight schedules from my phone and book it. Also, I would need some cash for the trip, I can get access to the nearest available ATM machine from my phone. Okay, I would also need an uber to come pick me up. I would make a request, and it would locate my current location with the help of my phone's signal interfacing with the smart city's vehicle management system. While inside the uber, I remember I need to renew my Auto license; why not? I do it directly on my phone. You see, everything would be connected to a single hub.

Now someone might ask? What happens to privacy, and would this contravene some personal privacy? Now, the truth is this; with the establishment of IoT and smart city, your device would have access to your information in ways you would never even imagine. But this would not bother people as much as security breaches which could be imminent. But here's a comfy; most of the data analyzed are done in real-time, and ideas have been put in place to encrypt these data at the point of deployment, which would be decrypted by the individual's devices on reception. But you wouldn't worry about some data though, like; signals from your dumpsters, packing space signals, and other non-personal infos you need to make a quick real-time decision. But again, there is also a need for "physical data vault" to further safe guard personal data.

[Image Source: Pixabay. CCo Licensed]

Some cities have started adopting the smart city framework. Cities like Dubai have deployed the telemedicine, which is like a type of AI in healthcare, which would provide access to health services remotely to the citizens. These services include; consultation and diagnosis, which would be achieved via network; no need to sit face-to-face with the physician. Also, you can have access to emergency response team from the comfort of your mobile device. What can't technology do?

So you see, with the establishment of the smart city, you may not need to queue up to get some services you normally do; the services would be brought to you at your beck-and-call. Seems like living in the future, but the truth is; the tech is now here.

Conclusion

With the advent of Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence, immense possibilities have arisen, and one of them is in the designing of smart city. This is a kind of city that you can literally interact with, and get access to some unimaginable data and services. Let's just keep an open mind as we flow along with this tech

Thanks for reading

References for further reading:

• SmartCityMission.pdf
• Internetofthingsagenda/smart-city
• gemalto.com/smart-cities
• deloitte.com/smart-city

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