When city residents measure their quality of life, there’s nothing abstract about it: Is rush hour less stressful? Is the garbage getting picked up? Does my neighborhood feel safer? Are resources used efficiently? These areas, and more, are addressed directly in smart cities technology: an inconspicuous network of sensors, nodes and cameras that collect and analyze data in real time, and generate benefits at the speed of life.
The good news is that smart cities have been able to address all those issues and many more. In a 2018 Forbes Insights/Intel survey of 211 senior leaders, respondents point to concrete gains across the board. When asked where IoT solutions have created a return on investment, respondents cited areas like public safety (81%), waste management (68%) and energy/smart grids (65%).
Examples of how connected technology is improving quality of life for citizens abound. We highlighted a few in an earlier piece, but here are a few more.
- Navigating the city. In Helsinki, Finland, the Urbanflow project has mounted a series of interactive kiosks around the city that allow passersby to search out streets, destinations and points of interest. The kiosks also map out the best walking routes, measured not just by distance but also walking time. When users touch a place on the screen map, it lights up, helping pedestrians separate it from surrounding visual clutter. And by touching a green information icon, users open up a new pane of scrollable content.
- Public safety. A Juniper Research/Intel report describes how cities like New York and Chicago are using a data-driven approach to create predictive models that help law enforcement and emergency services target their resources more effectively. Police are exploring innovations such as drones, which, according to a recent Bard College study, have seen an 82% increase in use by public safety agencies in just the last year. In Orlando, Florida, police are testing facial recognition technology on video feeds from the city's public surveillance cameras.
- Optimized energy consumption. A 2016 report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) notes that cities account for 65% of global energy use and 70% of manmade carbon emissions. Mobile apps in development through Smart Nation Singapore will allow homeowners in the city-state to monitor their electrical usage and will suggest ways to save energy. And in Japan just west of Tokyo, the Fujisawa Sustainable Smart Town connects 1,000 homes on a solar-powered smart grid, giving the neighborhood the ability to run off-grid for up to three days. The town reports 70% less carbon emitted and a 30% return of energy back to the grid.
- Trash collection. Sensors can now be placed inside garbage bins that take pictures of the contents, analyze them and then optimize trash collection routes. Cities such as Boston and Baltimore are already employing “smart” trashcans; in Boston, Big Belly smart stations measure the amount of waste each receptacle holds in real time. This information can be accessed from any computer or smartphone to determine which trash cans need emptying. At present, there are 543 internet-connected Big Belly receptacles in the city.
- Entertainment and tourism. In a typical city, negotiating the entertainment scene involves equal parts word of mouth, guessing and dumb luck. Enter smart city technology, which has the potential to generate a fully integrated calendar of events complete with ticket purchasing options that integrate to mobile wallet technology. This overlaps with “smart tourism.” As tourists engage with public transit, hotels, restaurants and attractions, they generate data trails that smart cities can capture and follow. Careful data analysis allows smart cities to better move tourists around the city, improve access to popular attractions, and provide constantly updated information on available packages or ancillary services.
If all these areas and the technology around them share a common trait, it centers around efficiency: making things flow and move better, saving time and resources while cutting waste and stress. To that end, the breathtaking technology that makes cities smart also makes them wise.
