It has been a long time now, since one of the most high‐tech, high‐talked about subjects for urban planning and technology has been smart cities. The use of IoT in city infrastructure is revolutionizing dwelling, business, and relations with the environment. This article will also explain how IoT is changing the lives of people in urban areas and what is yet to be witnessed in the future.
To start, it’s important that we learn what a smart city is in its simplest of terms. A smart city is therefore an urban city that has invested in technology with the aim of providing enhanced and enhanced and more responsive urban services and citizen participation. These are smart infrastructure, smart energy, smart transportation, smart homes among others. One of the major capacities of IoT is the ability to cement smart city technologies, by integrating devices, sensors, and systems into a single larger network.
Therefore, utilizing economic tools to facilitate IoT technology, smart cities can gather data about the current state of affairs in real life, with this information helping city officials to make the best decisions when it comes to urban planning and the construction of new infrastructure, as well as the distribution of resources. All of these are essential in increasing the effectiveness of many aspects of public services, such as transportation, energy usage, and waste disposal. An examination of how IoT is changing the essence of urban life has been provided:
1. Transportation and traffic management is important when organizing and designing events, because efficient transport structures and traffic flow patterns will contribute to the positive experience of both performers and attendees
Integration of IoT in smart cities brings with it the most significant change in the enhancement of transport and traffic control. In smart cities, traffic flow is supervised by signs and cams and traffic signals, IoT-driven to help determine traffic density. This results in shorter trip distances, better fuel efficiency, and, therefore, lower ratings of CO2 emissions.
Now another vital factor that is a component of smart transportation is the integration of the public transport. IoT technology also helps cities to relay information about the bus and train arrival timings to their users, which makes their journey more enjoyable. There are also intelligent transportation systems in smart city transport systems that aim at establishing intelligent parking to enable drivers to locate parking spaces with ease which reduces on exhaust time and emissions.
2. Energy Administration and Conservation
The integration of IoT technologies therefore also presents a major challenge and opportunity in climate as well as energy control in smart cities. By tracking how much energy is wasted and how to save on costs, data collected by IoT sensors and devices across homes, offices and other buildings are useful.
Renewable energy is another area smart cities are concentrating their efforts, especially solar and wind energy for a least reliance on fossil power. Data from sensors is also very useful when creating smart grids, for demand/supply side balancing, minimizing energy losses, and incorporating renewable power into the grids.
3. It has been a challenge to manage wastes effectively especially in developed countries where wastes are usually bulky and938 there are many of them as illustrated in figure 3 below
One of the most effective and groundbreaking fields of smart cities that are being worked on using IoT technology is the waste management of a Smart City. There are some use-cases such as IoT sensors can detect fullness of garbage bins, making waste collection routes efficient and the amount of time waste collection vehicles spend on the road minimum. It all results in lower fuel consumption, lesser emissions and overall savings for the cities..
Also, smart cities are investing in higher end state of the art advanced recycling solutions like smart recycling bin using IoT sensor technology that separates the waste collected and analyzes for recyclable and non recyclable items. It even ensures that the rates of recycling are improved and the levels of the wastes dumped within the landfills are pulled down.
4. Public Safety and Emergency Response
Security and response to emergencies are smart city functionalities where IoT holds importance to provide solutions. Smart city technologies also entail IoT devices that detect danger to public safety including cases of criminal activities or acts of terror, and offer additional information to city administrators and security forces within the shortest time.
On the same note, IoT technology helps cities design enhanced emergency response systems, including other important significant indicators such as sensors or cameras to assist in the identification and management of an accident or fire or any other calamity that may occur. This results in quickens response, increased efficiency in managing the situation as it affects the victims and decrease in the expenses for emergencies.
5. Urban and Infrastructure Development
IoT technology also lays responsibility in city planning and infrastructure initiatives that then help city officials to gather the necessary data or information prior to planning their new development strategies. Machine to machine, smart IoT sensors and network cameras can be used to capture real time traffic and pedestrian movement, and quality of the air in the city to assess the status of the city infrastructure at any given time.
In this case this information helps the city authorities to pinpoint the areas that require attention and expert to offer measures on how infrastructure should be developed. These include: improved urban layouts and management of resources with perceived high returns to those living in cities.
Last, smart cities are being built using IoT interfaces that are altering people’s lives in cities in various ways. From transport and power to waste and rescue Internet of Things smart city technology is improving the standard of life in civic structures and helping them to save money at the same time.
As we look forward, IoT has a promising role in smart cities, and with developing technology day by day we can foresee new technologies and advancement in it. Living in smart homes and building , advanced travel in autonomous cars, shopping by drones and many more IoT has limitless possibility in Urban living.
When cities decouple IoT as the enabler of smart and sustainable cities, they are improving the lives of their citizens by implementing transformative change that protects our planet. The prospects for the future of urban inhabitants are quite optimistic and the role that IoT is expected to play in the creation of this future appears to be quite promising.
