This article is part of a blog series on what smart cities are and what services they provide.

Smart technologies were, in the past, considered great gadgets, only used by specialists. Nowadays, technology is an essential part of our lives. Using smartphones can get us real-time information about:

• transit
• traffic
• health services
• safety alerts
• community news.

The United Nations projects that more than sixty percent of the world's population will likely reside in urban areas by the year 2050.

Unfortunately, many of the existing urban infrastructure is:

• obsolete
• not meeting the demand of a growing population
  
• not using modern technology like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), big data, and computer vision.

As cities get smarter they will become:

• more habitable
• more receptive to their citizens' opinions
• improve the urban environment through the use of technology.

City services of the future

Smart Cities will need to provide services that achieve their goals and are affordable to their citizens. Through the use of technology, they can provide sustainable public services, including a transport system, which is crucial for the success of the city.

What are the challenges for the city of the future?

Planning and communication are the basis of a successful city solution, but this does not go without challenges. Cities also need to:

• manage social and political issues with as little stress as possible
• offer the right environment for a prosperous economy
• create and protect jobs
• promote social equality
• probe digital transformation
• make sure infrastructure is functioning and affordable
• operate a mobility system
• plan urban safety and disaster management
• provide adequate education and healthcare options
• build affordable housing
• balance their finances
• supply the cheapest possible electricity, heating, and cooling from renewable energy sources
• recycle and waste-manage
• make services available 24/7
• provide clean air and water for the well-being of their residents
• innovate to attract new businesses, students, and the scientific community.

These challenges need solutions that make cities safe, efficient, and habitable whilst they:

• operate excellent mobility infrastructure
• drive innovation and economic growth
• solve more and more problems, so the solutions are adopted.

What benefits will a smart city offer its citizens?

Smart Cities bring the following:

• better use of space
• less traffic
• cleaner air
• more efficient civic services
• increased quality of life
• more career and economic opportunities
• stronger links with the community.

Improved quality of life for citizens of Smart Cities

The number one goal of Smart Cities is to provide a better quality of life to their citizens.

Smart Cities design strategies that:

• are people-centric
• use data and technology to improve infrastructure
• convey to their citizens a sense of purpose
• improve decision making
• deliver a great quality of life.

A report from the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI), Smart cities: Digital solutions for a more liveable future looks at how digital applications can help the municipality strategists to address these human concerns. According to the report, smart technologies:

• improve quality-of-life indicators by 10 to 30 percent
• save lives
• reduce criminality
• shorten commutes
• help to reform healthcare
• minimize carbon emissions.

Municipal services have to be available digitally and be citizen-friendly. Municipality leadership should collaborate with the public through:

• participative processes
• community offices
• digital presence.

This means:

• streamlining their processes
• implementing a strong networking infrastructure
• instrumenting digital services.

Digital Solutions for Smart Cities of the Future

What makes cities smart?, according to McKinsey, real-time data gives agencies the ability to:

• watch events as they occur
• understand demand patterns
• implement change
• respond quicker with low-cost solutions.

Below are some applications for cities of the future.

Smart Parking

Parking spots are impossible to find in urban areas. Offering a parking reservation application to their citizens will help them:

• spend less time looking for parking places
• avoid urban traffic congestion
• reduce carbon footprint
• reduce fuel consumption.

Delivery process automation

Automating the delivery process could:

• alleviate pressure on the scarce municipality workforce
• optimize space for delivery vehicles
• provide an easy digital form to fill
• use robots to deliver.

Water management

With climate change, water is becoming a scarcity. Implementing the Internet of Things (IoT) and smart monitoring systems would significantly reduce the 45 million cubic meters that are lost every day, in developed countries. It would:

• help with leak repairs
• save water resources for the next generations
• reduce the probability of water pollution
• maximize water conservation.

For example, cheap and environmentally friendly, fibre–optic leak detectors, use broadband fiber cables, close to water plumbing, to expose small changes in ground stability, an indicator of water leaks.

Autonomous cars

When cars are fully autonomous the city's functionalities will fundamentally change. It will allow municipalities to:

• automate all aspects of transportation
• access food, medicine, lodging, etc. easily and quickly.

Different transport systems

Infrastructure driven by data collected through 4G, 5G, and IoT sensors is analyzed via Artificial intelligence (AI), allowing citizens of smart cities to use alternative transportation modes such as:

• electric vehicles
• e-bikes
• autonomous vehicles

Using these transit in the future will help to:

• reduce commute time
• increase leisure time
• lower climate impact.

Traffic management

Each year, 1.35 million people are killed on roadways around the world. Every day, almost 3,700 people are killed globally in crashes involving cars, buses, motorcycles, bicycles, trucks, or pedestrians. More than half of those killed are pedestrians, motorcyclists, or cyclists.

Leveraging cloud-based traffic system technology will create safer and more habitable cities by:

• cutting down barriers between traffic systems and public safety workers
• integrating national command centers
• implementing smart sensors

Environmental management systems

The environmental management of smart cities relies on innovative technologies, driven by AI and data analytics, to:

• reduce the impact of climate change and save the planet
• increase the quality of life in cities of the future.

Internet and Wi-Fi

Without the internet, people are lost. It is crucial for a Smart City to be connected using mesh nets that:

• connect buildings throughout router nodes and internet exchange points
• keep communication alive, throughout secure and decentralized systems, even when the internet infrastructure fails.

5G

The 5G rollout has been accelerated after the pandemic. An Ernst and Young (EY) study found that in the United Kingdom:

• 85% of respondents said that the global pandemic increased their interest in 5G
• 56% of respondents plan to invest in 5G within three years
• 77% of respondents said they will rely on private networks when implementing 5G.

5G is a new wireless standard with the potential to transform the future of communications:

• powering the next generation of immersive realities and the metaverse
• leading Smart Cities to richer, more connected, and collaborative digital lives.

Property technology

In the transformation process of cities into Smart Cities, a digital property management technology can:

• improve the way we work and live
• enhance tenant experience
• facilitate hybrid work allowing citizens to spend more and more time at home
• increase efficiency in property management.

Flexible buildings

Traditionally, when a personal situation changes, people move to a new apartment or house.

Reconfiguring the building to the new situation could be done by:

• adjusting walls to add rooms for a growing family
• implementing a digital solution to increase accessibility
• easing the way, we live and work using touch-free elevator calls, or robot service deliveries.

Pollution and noise control

Smog in megacities is increasing, and people are suffocating, so it is crucial to find solutions.

For example, AI-assisted monitoring platforms assess big data feeds and enable smarter analysis using machine learning of weather and traffic commuter information to help predict areas of poor air quality.

Blockchain services

Blockchain is a distributed database, that stores data in blocks, linked together via cryptography. The data entered is immutable. The system verifies and secures transactions on the Internet. Blockchain promises to revolutionize the management of smart cities with Blockchain4Cities.

The United Nations has developed The New Urban Agenda, which lays out a roadmap to achieve build a Smart City. One of the challenges they highlight is getting greater participation from local governments. A potential solution to this is by using blockchain will be able to make more informed and faster decisions based on secure data collection.

Smart cities are more than a concept or a dream of the future

Municipal governments wanting to become Smart Cities are using cellular and Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) wireless technologies to:

• connect
• improve infrastructure
• boost efficiency
• provide convenience, and quality of life for residents and visitors.

Smart City mission

Becoming a Smart City may lead to:

• the influx of high-paying tech jobs
• the creation of new jobs in maintenance, driving roles, and temporary installation
• the acceleration of automation, reducing administrative and field jobs in city government
• the suppression of red tape which will be contributing to a more entrepreneurial business climate
• the construction of more affordable houses by streamlining processes like design approvals, and permitting
• the digitalization of the planning process to mitigate risks, shorten delays, and improve asset construction
• the creation of open-source cadastral databases to better use of idle lands and newly built assets
• the development of, more efficient, utilities and healthcare systems
• the introduction of affordable homes
• more security systems, personal-alert devices, and lifestyle wearables
• cheaper services for residents, saving them as much as 3 percent, on current annual expenditures, according to McKinsey.

Smart Cities should be secured and trusted.

Digital cities can only work if they are trusted.

Public safety monitoring systems can provide the required protection, but can Smart Cities protect themselves from vulnerabilities? Let's see what can be done.

Data warehouses, serious authentication, and identity management systems must:

• avoid hacking, cyber-attacks, and data theft
• certify that the abundant information, shared by authenticated stakeholder, come from people that are who they say they are
• verify that the data shared are true and accurate.

Four essential security policies for smart cities

Multiple actors are involved in the ecosystem. Strong authentication and ID management solutions must be put in place to protect backend systems from intrusion and hacking.

Here are four crucial security principles to implement in a Smart City environment:

Availability

Real-time access to data must be reliable. Information is collected, distributed, and shared securely without impacting its availability.

Integrity

Reliability and accurate data are critical to a Smart City's success. Systems should be resilient, and make sure that data is accurate and has not been manipulated.

Confidentiality

The sensitivity of data collected, stored, and analyzed must be protected from unauthorized access.

Accountability

Accountability and responsibility, for users’ actions, are important to avoid forgery and protect integrity, whilst interacting with sensitive systems. Before accessing the systems, people should be logged in and identified by a specific username and password.

In Conclusion

Smart Cities require a high level of investment, but the municipalities do not have to be the sole source of funding.

Service operators and infrastructure system owners can enter into partnerships with the city government. With the exception of public equipment that must be provided and financed by the government for political and security purposes.

Implementing sensitive applications should be done by the public sector, but the funds for the initial expenditures could be financed by the private sector as these systems have a high return on investment.

The inclusion of investors, residents, businesses, associations, etc., into the financing of developments of Smart Cities:

• creates consortia and collaboration spaces thanks to subsidies
• increases change acceptance
• generates more creativity
• improves regulation
• modifies purchasing decisions.

Transformation of cities requires vision, excellent leadership, willingness to change, and commitment to deliver a good quality of life to their citizens. The city will then experience the following benefits:

• wealth
• a sense of well-being in compact spaces
• empowered and innovative government

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