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CITIES WITH SMARTS
THE TERM ‘ SMART CITY ’ IS ONE WE ’ RE ALL FAMILIAR WITH , BUT WHAT ACTUALLY MAKES A CITY ‘ SMART ’?
Police in NYC have also used tech to model predictions of crime – and it resulted in a marked decrease on the Mean Streets .
B eing known as a smart city is something many ‘ people in power ’ across the world are becoming increasingly interested in – and with good reason , too . But , what is a ‘ smart city ’ really ?
Essentially , it ’ s a city that uses the internet of things ( IoT ) to optimise infrastructure and government to get benefits across mobility , healthcare , security , water , energy , engagement and community , economic development and housing , and waste .
The ways in which different cities across the globe are innovating and implementing tech to have societal benefits paint a very clear picture of our not-too-distant future – so we took a look at four world-famous places with some serious smarts .
ENCOURAGING INNOVATION IN AMSTERDAM
Amsterdam began its smart city journey in 2009 , and has subsequently become a renowned smart city leader .
A key part of the city ’ s strategy has been the implementation of IoT-enabled beacons in its 3700m2 ‘ IoT Living Lab ’.
This open database enables anyone to create a Smart City app , and has been used for car sharing platforms , autonomous vehicles and other real-time location-based services .
TAKIN ’ OUT THE MANHATTAN TRASH In NYC , it ’ s the trash that ’ s benefiting from city smarts – or , more specifically , the trash cans .
Sensors alert the garbage trucks when a bin is full , and crews are swiftly dispatched to empty the bin . No more putting the bins out on a Monday evening !
New York .
Copenhagen .
WONDERFUL , WONDERFUL COPENHAGEN The Danish capital is ranked as the smartest of smart cities at present , and it ’ s all down to its commitment to using technology to make the city greener , and boost the quality of life for its residents .
Tech from mobiles , GPSs and even sensors in sewers provide a real-time overview of how the city ’ s performing , and helps it make changes to manage traffic and air pollution .
It ’ s got aspirations of reaching carbon-neutral status by 2025 and , if it does , it ’ ll be the first city in the world to do so .
SING OUT FOR SINGAPORE ! Leading the Asian smart city charge is the island city state of Singapore , which has invested S $ 50m into making 80 per cent of its buildings green by the time the next decade rolls around . That figure currently sits below 50 %.
It ’ s all part of the 80-80-80 plan , which will also see the state also make 80 per cent of its buildings super low energy and hit an 80 per cent energy efficiency improvement . n
Amsterdam . Singapore .
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