SMART CITIES: CONNECTING SOCIETY AND TECHNOLOGY

The development of smart cities began in the 2000s, with digital technology at its core, influencing urban planning and governance. Smart cities are no longer a dream of the future, they have already arrived, reshaping the way we live and work.

Driven by the rapid development of digital technology, the development of smart cities began in the 2000s, with digital technology at its core, including government data sources, remote sensing sources, citizen-generated insights, data from “internet of things” platforms, hoping to influence urban planning, improve infrastructure, improve the quality of life of residents, and better govern cities. Iconic projects such as Masdar City in the UAE (Rola AlGhoul and WAM, 2024), Santander in Spain (Alberto Bielsa, 2013) and Waterfront in Toronto showcased a grand vision of high-tech urban life. However, taking the Rio Urban Operating Centre mentioned by the Centre for Public Impact (2016) as an example, these initial efforts often focused on big infrastructure investment and top-down tech control, which sometimes made citizens feel like they were just bystanders and caused dissatisfaction among citizens. As NESTA (2015) emphasizes, early smart cities often emphasized technology first and neglected the importance of community participation.

Today, this narrative is changing. Smart cities are no longer just large sensor networks centered on technology, but are people-oriented and pay more attention to citizens as important beneficiaries. According to Adegboyega Ojo, Edward Curry and Tomasz Janowski (2014), successful programs require a balance between technological advancement and active community participation to be effective. This evolution has given rise to the concept of smart citizens, where community engagement and human needs take centre stage. Projects such as Smart Citizen Manchester show how citizen-generated data can influence urban planning, from mapping sidewalks to improving local amenities.

Data is the backbone of any smart city, so how does data power smart cities? Its sources are diverse as mentioned above:

Government data sources: From development permits to assessment opinions, these datasets provide important insights into urban development.

Remote sensing: Satellite and aerial sensors can monitor all aspects of urban land use in real time.

Citizen-generated insights: By collecting comments and activities on social platforms, citizen’needs are better reflected.

Data from “internet of things” platforms: Collecting internet data can provide real-time insights into urban traffic conditions, air pollution, etc.

Proptech: Proptech drives the digital transformation of the real estate industry. For example, OpenPlanning makes it easier for residents to participate in community discussions.

In addition to the above data, we also need to pay attention to future development data – BIM and Digital Twin (see Fig. 1, 2), and pay more attention to community cooperation and interactive planning consultation. By processing this data, smart cities can solve problems more efficiently, whether it is to alleviate housing problems, traffic problems, or garden spaces and boundary treatment. Taking Singapore’s smart city as an example, Singapore hopes that its citizens and businesses can rely on digital infrastructure to build a safe, reliable, and secure smart country. Through digital facilities, harmful online activities can be quickly detected and prevented, and victims can also receive timely assistance. Although the government has played a leading role in formulating policies, providing support, and resources, achieving these goals still requires individuals, groups, and organizations to do their part (SMART INTERNATIONAL SINGAPORE, 2024).

Fig. 1-BIM: UCLH PROTON BEAM THERAPY CENTRE, London

Fig. 2-Digital Twin

The key to a successful smart city is balance, while using technology, not forgetting to serve people (Oje et al., 2014). Smart cities emphasize the important position of citizens in urban design, not only to improve the use of technology in urban design, but also to improve the quality of people’s life in the city. By combining cutting-edge technology with real community participation, we can build cities that are not only efficient, but also vibrant and humane.

List of Figures

Figure 1 – BIM:UCLH PROTON BEAM THERAPY CENTRE, London. Photo from internet (WSP (2024) Building Information Modelling – BIM. Available at:https://www.wsp.com/en-gl/services/building-information-modelling-bim (Accessed: 27 November 2024).).

Figure 2 – Digital Twin. Photo from internet (ACCA SOFTWARE (2024) USBIM: Make the most of the power of the digital twin in buildings and infrastructures. Available at: https://www.accasoftware.com/en/digital-twin-software(Accessed: 27 November 2024).).

List of Reference

AlGhoul, R. and WAM (2024) UAE: Masdar City achieves 30.6% reduction in energy use intensity in 2023. Available at: https://www.zawya.com/en/business/energy/uae-masdar-achieves-306-reduction-in-energy-use-intensity-in-2023-pbp9q36a (Acessed: 24 November 2024).

Bielsa, A. (2013) The Smart City Project in Santander. Available at: https://www.fierceelectronics.com/components/smart-city-project-santander (Acessed: 24 November 2024).

Centre for Public Impact (2016) Rio de Janeiro’s centre of operations: COR. Available at: https://centreforpublicimpact.org/public-impact-fundamentals/rio-de-janeiros-centre-of-operations-cor/ (Acessed: 24 November 2024).

NESTA (2015) Rethinking smart cities from the ground up. Available at: https://media.nesta.org.uk/documents/rethinking_smart_cities_from_the_ground_up_2015.pdf (Acessed: 26 November 2024).

Ojo, A., Curry, E. and Janowski, T. (2014) Designing next generation smart city initiatives – harnessing findings and lessons learned from a study of 10 smart city prorams. In ECIS Proceedings.

SMART NATIONAL SINGAPORE (2024) A Smart Nation that We Can Trust. Available at: https://www.smartnation.gov.sg/goals-of-sn2/trust/ (Acessed: 13 Decembe 2024).