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Smart Cities

Smart Cities

Smart cities is the latest development in the field of urban planning. From sensors integrated everywhere, the accumulated data from citizens and devices are processed and analyzed. The information obtained is the key to solving the problems of inefficiency. Therefore, a smart city is more ready to solve problems than a simple operational relationship between a city and its citizens.

So, the idea of smart cities lies in the urban concept of integrating several information and communication technologies (ICT) and the Internet of things (IoT solutions) for managing city property. The goal of creating a smart city is to improve the quality of life with the help of urban information technology to improve the efficiency of services and meet the needs of residents.

ICT allow city authorities to interact directly with communities and urban infrastructure, and to monitor what is happening in the city, how it develops, and what ways can improve the quality of life.

Sectors that improve smart city technology include public services, urban transport network management, energy efficiency, health care, water efficiency, innovative agriculture and waste management.

Smart City Properties

Smart Cities

Smart Cities

Components and Functional Areas of Smart City

    • Video surveillance and video analytics
    • Photo and video recordings
    • Situation centers, unified duty dispatch service
    • System 112
    • ITS – intelligent transport systems
    • Safety of public transport
    • Professional radio and broadband access (LTE, 5G)
    • IoT – Internet of Things
    • Unmanned vehicles
    • Biometrics
    • Unstructured data processing
    • Decision support technologies
    • Augmented and virtual reality
    • Distributed databases
    • Geoinformation technologies and navigation
    • Machine learning
  • Cloud / Fog / Boundary computing

Smart City Energy Efficiency

Smart city is conceived as a tech-friendly and energy-efficient project. Due to the growth of urbanization and energy consumption, one of the main tasks of the smart city has become the development of technology that helps to save energy and receive it from renewable sources, while reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

Smart cities must provide themselves with energy autonomously, reducing the cost of transporting energy from remote stations. A number of technologies based on the use of renewable energy sources adapted for work in smart cities can be applied. For example, the use of small wind turbines, micro-thermal power plants and heat pumps. In addition, an entire energy network should be formed in which information will be circulated, and thus with the help of special bonding technologies greater energy efficiency will be achieved.

Smart City Infrastructure

Traditionally, in accordance with the end user, energy statistics is divided into 4 sectors: industry, transport, households and services.

The infrastructure of the city is the basis for its development and ensures the movement of people, energy, money, goods, ideas. Thus, a strong infrastructure is necessary for the city to grow and prosper.

Infrastructure in the smart city view is not only the improvement of parks and road construction, but also a system consisting of physical, digital and communication components.

Smart Cities

Physical Infrastructure

Despite the fact that the physical infrastructure is only a third of the smart city structure, it is the first step towards the introduction of digital and communication infrastructure. Urbanization increases road congestion and the number of cars and people, which in turn increases the pressure on the environment, in particular this relates to air pollution. To provide free movement around the city for a growing number of citizens, it is important to create a streamlined public transport system, as well as a constantly improving and sustainable infrastructure.

In the smart city, the physical infrastructure of the city is integrated into digital. Sensors and smart meters installed throughout the city can provide digital information about traffic, free parking spaces, energy consumption, traffic incidents, weather conditions, and so on. Residents of the city will be able to get this information using their smartphones or other devices and thus choose the best route to travel around the city. Such an organizational approach allows to make the physical infrastructure more flexible and personalized.

Communication Infrastructure

In addition to physical and digital infrastructures, it is also necessary to integrate communication. All citizens and devices must be communicated in one language for the smart city system to work properly. This means not only the standardization of the programming language of devices, but also the creation of a common communication platform, on which basis the residents and the technologies of the city will be able to exchange information.

Eco-Friendly Houses for Smart City

The construction industry, namely the design and construction of green and energy-efficient homes – the most important step towards a “green” future and smart cities. Green building is the result of integrated planning and cooperation throughout the entire path of creation, from design and development to destruction and reuse. In a smart city, buildings are understood as an integral part of the overall system. Green building is difficult to implement in a society where there is no ecological culture, so it is important to integrate such construction into a system of environmentally friendly transport, energy efficient technologies and competent water supply and sanitation.

According to forecasts, by 2050 about 66% of the world’s population will live in cities, so it is imperative to develop strategies aimed at more effectively meeting the needs of their growing population. During the evolution of intelligent cities, the ICT and IoT intellectual platforms will play an indispensable role. The study showed that many cities are already using these technologies to optimize infrastructures and services, make more informed decisions, stimulate the development of the economy and social relations, create more secure and environmentally friendly communities, while expanding the range of public services.

In fact, we just superficially studied smart cities. This concept is very extensive and deep. Every day, more and more technologies are being applied in the development of smart cities. A complete study of the structure, concept and principle of building a smart city requires a lot of attention and a long time. Nevertheless, we hope that, over time, more and more ecological smart cities will appear on our planet.

Smart Cities