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While a lot of buzz in smart cities is about the impressive, cutting-edge technology, the crucial component which makes them smart should be the emphasis on their citizens. The technology should be invisible, seamlessly embedded in the environment to serve real human needs. If the sole focus of a smart city is the technology, then the project is doomed to fail.
Universities around the world, with the US leading the way, are taking notice of smart city developments and applying many of the same solutions. University campuses are ideal for this, as, in effect, they are mini metropolises of their own, with their own shops, roads, transport, residences, banks, and tens of thousands of visitors every day.
The rapid growth of cities around the world poses a variety of challenges. One of these is the additional space needed to store cars. Improved parking technologies, such as robotic parking, can provide an answer. Such solutions are already being implemented.
The cutting edge technological innovations which make smart cities what they are require sizeable economic investments on behalf of the city, region or country. As with all investments, if smart city initiatives do not return any tangible value, they represent money going down the drain. With the way economies work, technological development or benefits to citizens might not be enough to sustain the continuous advancement of smart cities if they come at a great financial loss. Fortunately, the successful implementation of smart city initiatives comes with many economic benefits.
5G represents one of the hottest new developments in technology and will soon start to be implemented around the world, reaching download speeds of 4.5 GB per second and data transmission speeds of 1.4 GB per second. These speeds are highly anticipated by private users, but they also bring major benefits for smart cities, including the field of traffic safety.
Automatic Traffic Signal Performance Measures (ATSPMs) are a solution for optimizing traffic signal performance. Their use can help Smart Cities optimize traffic flow and improve congestion, a major problem of most urban areas. They can also facilitate the collection of data and decision-making, and enhance the time-consuming and expensive process of retiming signals.
Dockless electric scooter and bike sharing initiatives, becoming increasingly widespread in the US, are still facing an initial backlash due to various issues, but they have the potential to make city traffic safer, as well as more efficient.