China is also well-acquainted with the challenges of urbanization given it encouraged the rapid migration of rural populations to cities and saw its urban population triple to 900 million in the last three decades. This massive influx amplified already intense social pressures such as urban crowding, mass congestion, strained infrastructure, severe pollution, and a generally high cost of living. China turned to technology to mitigate some of these issues, establishing some 500 Smart Cities.
It may take several years for large legacy Western cities to reach such an advanced stage of Smart City development. It requires abolishing the silo mentality and nurturing collaboration among industries, as well as a willingness of local governments to improve infrastructure with a long-term view, as opposed to quick fixes. But the impetus for improvement is there and we are likely to see the implementation of more smart solutions, both in the East and the West.
The enabling technology
At the core of Smart Cities is 5G, i.e., the fifth generation of wireless technology. 5G is a leap forward from its predecessor: its speed is up to 10 times faster than 4G; it has low latency, meaning there is only a minuscule delay of 1 to 1,000 milliseconds before a transfer of data begins following an instruction for its transfer; and it allows millions of Internet of Things (IoT) devices and sensors to be connected in a one kilometer square area—4G only allows a limited number of connections.
A number of technologies linked to 5G are needed to achieve advanced Smart City status, such as artificial intelligence (AI), blockchains, cloud computing, Big Data and edge computing, and, of course, the IoT.
For example, a city installs a large number of IoT sensors in order to detect traffic conditions. Once collected, the data are transferred through the 5G network. Blockchain technology can provide secure data transmission during this process. Traffic authorities then leverage edge computing analytics to analyze data in real time, and AI can efficiently sift through large quantities of Big Data to predict traffic flows and find practical solutions to congestion such as diverting traffic or altering traffic light sequences. The dataset is then stored on a secured cloud for future reference and analysis.
The industries
There are a number of players and aspects involved in bringing Smart Cities into reality:
- 4G, 5G, and WiFi service providers and equipment manufacturers, which cater to the increasing demand for reliable high-speed connectivity; they transmit data collected by sensors through their systems
- Communications infrastructure including the high-capacity telecommunications towers and data centers that facilitate edge computing
- Semiconductor manufacturers that make the sensors to collect data
- Software companies that manage devices and sensors and provide smart solutions
- Cloud storage companies that store the encrypted data
- Cybersecurity companies, which protect systems from hackers and attacks at every step throughout the process of collecting, transferring, processing, analyzing, and storing data
- Companies that provide building management systems to maintain and optimize facility operations including energy/water/waste management, reducing energy consumption
- Companies that enable the shift to smart grids and electric vehicles
