Smart City: possibility or utopia?
As things currently stand, is the Smart City a real possibility or just a utopia? Before answering that question, let’s take a closer look at this concept, starting with its definition.
This type of urban centre gives special consideration to elements for development, while placing great emphasis on the social aspects: it involves not only the digital environment, but also a global focus on intelligent growth.
In a Smart City, transport and travel, social activity, commerce, administrative models and housing policy are managed intelligently. In other words, investment in the Smart City encourages sustainable economic growth, via the adoption of:
- appropriate management of natural resources;
- a model of inclusive government.
In order for a city to be smart it is first of all essential that its resources are used as part of a network, thereby optimising its political and economic efficiency and permitting urban, cultural and social growth.
Such cities exploit the advantages of ICT technologies and maximise the role of residents within the urban context. In addition, traffic conditions are improved thanks to the use of systems which speed up vehicle flow.
A security plan is also put in place to help the smart city deal with emergency situations (such as landslides, earthquakes, floods etc.), while reducing risks to a minimum.
Following this brief introduction to the Smart City, we will now consider whether smart cities are a realistic possibility or if they remain just a fantastical Eutopian dream.
According to a study carried out by Johnson Controls which analysed twelve different nations, the creation of this model of urban centre is not at all straightforward and the main difficulties can be attributed to a lack of funding. The smart city projects are (apparently) usually financed by:
- the state in 57% of cases;
- public funds in 34% of cases;
- local authorities in 21% of cases.
Despite this, many countries are taking important steps towards making their urban centres smart: according to the study in fact, 41% of urban centres analysed are putting together a project to become smart, 24% already have such a project in place, and 10% do not have one at all.
So how will the cities of the future change? Ideally, in Smart Cities, buildings will be controlled from a distance by automatic systems which will allow the reduction of waste, while protecting against fires and gas leaks. Furthermore, those structures will not only be earthquake-proof but will also offer greater protection in case of natural disasters such as floods.
Another interesting feature of smart cities is that they will be more densely populated. This will allow them to occupy less space, improve transport efficiency and reduce energy consumption.
In urban centres alternative food production models will be developed, including vertical gardens, rooftop greenhouses, vegetable gardens at schools and company premises, automated farms and underground crop production.
That is not all: ideally, there will be more green spaces and public areas will be equipped with new forms of illumination, designed to artificially re-create daylight during the night-time. People will be encouraged to walk or use non-polluting methods of transport such as bicycles, while automatically controlled electric vehicles with electric engines will be readily available.
These are just a few of the many innovations that Smart Cities will bring if governments continue to focus on developing them: an objective which is becoming more and more important in order to allow the world and its people to live better.
Translated by Joanne Beckwith
