What’s considered a Smart City and what are some of the most commonly employed technological solutions
More than a concept, Smart Cities are a way to promote better quality of life through the use of technological solutions that promote economic and sustainable development.
In Brazil, the biggest urban centers are fast developing. According to the Estado de São Paulo newspaper (Summit of Urban Mobility), the cities of Campinas, São Paulo and Curitiba already have resources that qualify as smart cities – even though they are still taking their first steps.
This article describes some of the technological solutions being used to address common challenges of municipalities.
What are Smart Cities?
The term Smart Cities is used because they make use of their strategical infrastructure to overcome collective challenges. In practice, they use technological, institutional, and human resources to transform the inner workings of a municipality, aiming to improve the population life quality.
A Smart City is not necessarily a technological city, but, for it to really work, technologies such as Internet of Things, cloud computing, and telecommunication must be present in its solutions.
The importance of technology
Even though the challenges of each city are different, overall, technology is what ultimately is able to improve efficiency and sustainability of its processes. The optimized use of data and connections makes it possible to fully understand and assess the pains of each problem, to apply assertive technologies, and to provide new experiences to the population.
The horizon for applications is enormous. For example, one can improve traffic management, refuse removal, resource management, and increase security — actions that benefit livability, sustainability, and usability of communities.
Main uses
- Telecommunication
Provider of smart services - Data
Scientific Support for better decision making. - IoT and AI
Responsible for generating genuine experiences for Smart Cities.
Learn more about 3 examples of Smart Cities around the world
Dubai
Built on a desert, the city of Dubai is one of the biggest examples of smart cities in the world; known for overcoming big environmental obstacles.
Its main efforts are in the area of infrastructure, digitalization, clean energy, and sustainable transportation.
Masdar City
Masdar is a planned city being built in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates.
Its long term sustainable initiatives are related to energy, green space, building performance, mobility, and agriculture.
London
London’s emphasis is on the citizens. Even though the city is on the beginning stage of its development as a smart city, it already implements significant initiatives, such as: taxation of polluting vehicles in the central region of the city, transformation of one of the main streets in the city into a street exclusive for pedestrians, and availability of networks that provide Wi-Fi access, illumination, and chargers for electrical vehicles.
In general, the criteria that define a smart city are diverse and, as explained previously, are not dependent on technology itself; its main focus is the quality of life of people living in the city. The main urban challenges today relate to mobility, sustainability, and work force.
CelPlan solutions for Smart Cities
CelPlan’s experience, knowledge, and technology expertise allows us to participate today in many Smart Cities projects addressing telecommunications, governmental infrastructure, educational infrastructure, remote offices, energy management, and transportation optimization.
Do you want to learn more about what we do? Reach out!
