Urbanization

1 Urbanization Urbanization is a phenomenon that is not ending any time soon. Today, more than 54% of the world’s population lives in cities, and the United Nations estimates that this will increase to 68% by 2050. With the overall population growth, environmental, social, and economic sustainability is a must to keep pace with the rapid expansion taxing the cities resources.

Sustainability commonly refers to the ability to meet the needs of the current generation without adversely affecting the future generation’s ability to meet those dame needs. On the other hand, smart city refers to a framework that mostly consist of Information and communication technology to develop, deploy, and promote sustainable development practices as a solution to the increasing urbanization challenges.

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2 Thus, in we need to have smart and sustainable cities in which ICTs and other means are used to improve quality of life, competitiveness, and efficiency of urban operation and services, while ensuring that the needs of the present and future generations are met with respect to economic, social, environmental, and cultural aspects. In general, a city is a system made up of many parts, which must all be sustainable for it to be truly sustainable. The construction of buildings should encompass the use of sustainable materials and incorporate public green spaces.

Public transportation should be free of fossil fuels, robust, and reliable. Everyone should have access to safe and affordable housing, and streets should be walkable and feature places in which the citizens can rest and socialize (Höjer & Wangel, 2015).

A pig part of the smart city’s ICT framework consist of an intelligent network of connected objects and machines that transmit data using wireless technology and the cloud.

Cloud-based internet-of-things applications receive, analyze, and manage data in real-time to help citizens, enterprises, and municipalities make better decisions that enhance the quality of life in the cities. Individuals engage with smart city ecosystems in a variety of ways through the utilization of mobile devices and smartphones as well as connected cars and homes. Improved sustainability and cost cutting is achieved through pairing devices and data with the smart cities’ physical infrastructure and services. Communities can improve air quality, minimize traffic congestion, streamline trash collection, and improve energy distribution with the help from the internet-of-things (IoT).

For instance, connected cars can communicate with parking meters and charging docks (for electric vehicles) and instruct drivers to the available spot nearby. With regards to traffic, connected traffic lights get data from cars and sensors and adjust timing and light cadence to respond to real-time traffic thus minimizing congestion on the roads (Höjer & Wangel, 2015).

3 Further, with the help of IoT, people’s smartphones become their mobile driver’s license and ID card with digital credentials that help in speeding and simplifying access to the local government and city services. Lastly, smart garbage cans can send data or relay information to companies dealing with waste management to organize for pick-up as required against the pre-planned schedule. Such smart city technologies are all together optimizing utilities, public services, mobility, and infrastructure.

Given the unending increase in urban population, the goal of making cities, areas that majority of people across the globe call home, sustainable is an important. Sustainable cities and communities make goal number 11 in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, signifying the importance of a more sustainable future. We need smart and sustainable cities to address the growing urbanization challenges.

4 References Höjer, M., & Wangel, J. (2015). Smart sustainable cities: definition and challenges. In ICT innovations for sustainability (pp. 333-349). Springer, Cham.

United Nations, (2018). 68% of the world population projected to live in urban areas by 2050. https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/2018-revision-of-worldurbanization-prospects.html