The rate at which the world population is increasing requires a change in infrastructure and architecture to accommodate more people in urban centers. It is for this reason that most cities across the world are seeking optimal solutions to deal with this modern time challenge. Over the past two decades, many solutions to urbanization problems have been contemplated. Most cities are concerned about sustainable development, safety, and public services, energy, environment, and education. It is for this reason that the idea of Smart Cities came about. According to Arroub et al. (2016), the use of ICT in automating systems and enabling people to monitor, analyze and understand city plans is the perfect solution to most problems facing modern cities. The simplest definition of a smart city is a city that is dependent on intelligent structures. Such a city is characterized by three main connections. The city must be sustainable. In other words, all infrastructural developments must abide by environmental laws. More so, the city must be smart. Smartness means the city’s economy and governance must be structured in such a way that there are fewer controls from the government. Lastly, the city must be inclusive. Problems such as social and economic inequality do not feature in such a city. Most of the current problems experienced by urbanized areas can be solved through smart cities. Whenever the word “smart” is mentioned, it is used to refer to two fundamental features: Sensing and Automation. For instance, an automated parking lot may have wireless sensors, cameras, and other automated systems that enable the car park to operate with minimal supervision. The same applies to a smart city (Ellsmoor, 2019). The main focus when creating a smart city is to improve the quality of life. Individuals living in smart cities do not have to travel to other cities for basic services. More so, the cities have social amenities and entertainment spots that make the city complete. In a few words, residents of such cities live and work in the same city. Due to the absence of a universal definition of a smart city, Arroub et al. came up with a model to summarize the main components of a smart city. According to the authors, a smart city can be described in terms of a smart economy, smart environment, smart governance, smart living, and smart mobility. A smart economy includes smart companies, especially the ones that come up with innovations and implement them; a smart environment has such infrastructures as waterways, sewers, and green spaces. More so, smart environments use renewable sources of energy; smart governance refers to efficient governance structures that follow the rule of law and judicial rulings while ensuring that the residents of the smart cities receive the best services at all times. Additionally, smart living refers to the way the residents relate to technological devices. Everything in the smart city is interconnected, thus making most tasks easier to undertake. In the same breath, transportation systems are modernized and automated. It goes without mentioning that smart cities are the way to go. The migration of most people from rural areas to urban areas is putting a strain on cities’ infrastructures. Hence, the only solution to this problem is the development of smart cities. These cities will undoubtedly improve our quality of life. Even so, smart cities require energy, expertise, manpower, and political will to be sustainable. Additionally, they are highly dependent on renewable sources of energy. As such, city developers are under pressure to come up with plans that are not only sustainable but also economically viable.
References
Arroub, A., Zahi, B., Sabir, E., & Sadik, M. (2016). A literature review on Smart Cities: Paradigms, opportunities and open. Casablanca: IEEE.
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Ellsmoor, J. (2019, May 19). Smart Cities: The Future Of Urban Development . Retrieved from Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesellsmoor/2019/05/19/smart-cities-the-future-of-urban-development/#954312e2f900
