What Is A Smart City Essay

Closely associated with the process of globalisation is the notion of ‘World cities’. World cities are those such as London, New York and Tokyo where urban function has moved beyond the national scale to become a part of the international and global system. They are centres of culture, economics, employment, tourism, transport and communications and have been referred to as the command centres of the World’s borderless economy.

As cities grow, problems grow with them. Solving these problems has been attempted in various ways by various people, and have each have had different levels of success. In MEDC London, the issue of congestion was attacked in a much more structured way, and therefore did make some impact, although for the moment, minimal. In LEDCs Mumbai and Manila, Governments have struggled to rectify their problems due to their lack of money, as the scale of their modifications is too great due to such rapid urbanisation. In conclusion, I agree that more often than not there is an effective solution for problems caused by urbanisation, but in many cases they are just too big and too expensive to be

Urban sustainability is the idea that an urban area can be organised without excessive reliance on the surrounding countryside and be able to power itself with renewable sources of energy. The aim of this is to create the smallest possible environmental footprint and to produce the lowest quantity of pollution possible, to efficiently use land, compost used materials, recycle it or convert waste-to-energy, and to make the urban area overall contribution to climate change minimal. Therefore allowing the next generations and future generations to have the required resources without compromising them. However sustainably needs to focus also on other issues such as crime and economic factors.

A world city is a large city that has been outstripped its natural urban network and become part of an international global system. World cities have become the central connecting point for the multiplicity of linkages and interconnections that sustain the contemporary world economy, and its social and political systems. According to the 2004 GaWC studies world cities can be ranked based on their provision of ‘advanced producer services’ such as accountancy, advertising, finance and law. In 2008 the rankings according to the GaWC determined that London and New York were Alpha ++ cities whilst Sydney, Paris, Hong Kong and Singapore were Alpha

Bigio, G and Dahiya, B, (2004) “Urban Environment and Infrastructure towards Livable Cities.” The World Bank, USA.

Planning and management needs to happen in all countries over the world because no matter how different the level of development between countries the problems will be same in urban areas. These problems that need to be planned and managed in the urban areas of the city are becoming increasingly significant due to the fact that there has been a hug increase in the number of people living in cities worldwide, just over fifty percent of the world are now living in urban areas. The main reason for this is the huge increase in urbanisation which is defined as an increase in the proportion of

The resources and services of the city should be accessible to all and is safe and reliable such as public transport, walking and cycling, open spaces like parks, renewable resources are used, waste is a resource and recyclable and homes are energy efficient and affordable etcetera. A sustainable city grows at a sustainable rate and uses resources in a sustainable way.

Urban sustainability is the idea that an urban area can be organised without excessive reliance on the surrounding countryside and be able to power itself with renewable sources of energy. The aim of this is to create the smallest possible environmental footprint and to produce the lowest quantity of pollution possible, to efficiently use land, compost used materials, recycle it or convert waste-to-energy, and to make the urban area overall contribution to climate change minimal. Therefore allowing the next generations and future generations to have the required resources without compromising them.

Urban development is the social, cultural, economic and physical development of cities. The development of cities is the main topic of human geography. Urban development can be used in different ways by the researchers. It can cause the price of things to increase fast. Urban development occurs in major cities like New York City, Tokyo, Japan. Urban development started back in the earlier cities like Mesopotamia, Egypt. This spreads the culture that affect people which makes them want to go to the major cities. Over fifty percent of the earth’s population lives in urban areas. Studies show by 2045 that the number of people living in a urban area will increase.

It is estimated that in the near future, 2 out of 2 people will live in cities. This is due to main reason that people naturally tend to concentrate in areas with desirable conditions. What does the cities offer as to why it is stated that the “cities will be our future”.

Smart growth is choosing a better way for communities and cities to grow without hurting the environment. “For example, the recently emerged concept smart growth is inviting communities and metropolitan areas to address sprawl and purposely choose to develop in more environmentally sustainable ways. The concept recognizes that growth will occur and focuses on economic, environmental,

A sustainable city is when harmony is reached between the environment, economy and society. Environmentally, sustainable cities are ecologically friendly by using alternative sources of energy such as solar or wind power. Economically, governments should share a similar decision-making process with institutions and with the public by having a common belief in what should be done by improving sustainability. Sorensen, Marcotullio, and Grant (2004), find that a good decision making process consists of planning and control at the municipal and national political levels which would allow local level functions to become reinforced. Socially, sustainable cities are classless, meaning that there are no social divisions which serve as limits; leading to a more equal society. One of the many ideas would be using mixed housing to remove the class divisions between people. Also, city streets would be walkable, with businesses and services located at close proximity to promote a healthier lifestyle and serve as an alternative to using cars for transportation. The writers differ in their analysis when examining the approaches to improving sustainability in cities. This section will analyze four important ideas on how cities can become more sustainable.

A SMART goal is simply a goal that is Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Results-oriented, and has Target dates. One of GM’s SMART goals was its strategic plan to reduce the total number of auto platforms from 30 in the year 2010, to 24 in 2014, and to 14 by the year 2018. This goal is SMART because it is very specific; reducing the number of auto platforms from 30 to 14 within 8 years. It is measurable in the sense that GM set specific points for these goals to be achieved. By setting a 4-year interval (2010-2014, 2014-2018) within this goal, GM seeks to measure the level of success of this goal. By measuring its level of success, its attainability can also be determined. GM’s primary objective behind this objective is to make a lot of savings on it huge engineering budget by building vehicles all over the world that are made from the same basic parts and assembled in plants that use the same type of tooling. This objective therefore makes the goal result-oriented since it gears the company towards achieving its vision. GM also sets target dates for which these goals would be implemented. Specific years for the implementation of these goals are indicated.

The use of IoT has already impacted the way cities operate. The term smart cities, is used to describe a city that possesses an IoT oriented infrastructure. “In a smart city, the digital technologies translate into better public services for inhabitants and better use of resources while reducing environmental impacts”. [3] For a smart city to be feasible, IoT must provide intelligence, interconnection, and instrumentation. Wi-Fi-enabled smart devices and low-cost sensors are components of the smart city and allow devices a way to communicate with the public via the internet. These devices collect real-time data, which not only improves the lives of residents, but transforms several sectors of public service as well. Transportation has been revolutionized by smart traffic management systems which gather data from an array of magnetic road sensors and hundreds of cameras. The result is less delay at major stop lights and increased travel speeds, because enabled drivers can see which lights are busy and monitor these areas for other vehicles and pedestrians. To lower traffic and driver search times for parking spots, parking sensors that detect parking-spaces for drivers are installed in major cities. Street lights use a method of energy saving known as adaptive lighting which enables them to determine their brightness setting, appropriate for a given situation. The smart city solution to conserving energy is through smart girds. A smart grid serves several energy management

Cities are places which have huge amount of gathering of people, collection of economic activities and complex infrastructure for people which all together are supported by transport systems.