Smart cities: the cities of the future

Today we are seeing zero-emission, environmentally friendly autonomous vehicles, efficient buildings and better automated management of urban waste.

According to a study carried out by the European Commission, approximately 50% of the world’s population lives in cities, and this figure is expected to rise to 85% by 2050.

We can see, then, that more and more people are living in cities and that, thanks to smart city technology, intelligent ways of looking after our planet in everyday life are beginning to emerge.

What is a smart city?

Smart cities are those that use information technologies or ICT to improve citizens’ quality of life with sustainable, economic, social and environmental infrastructures, making optimal use of the resources available to us in order to save our planet.

One of the reasons why these systems were developed is that more and more people are living in cities and, as a result, the resources available to us are scarcer. This is why smart cities are so important: if we want to preserve our planet, we must make sure that future generations can enjoy it just as we do.

Benefits of smart cities

These cities bring us many benefits. But what are they?

One of the main advantages is that, thanks to Big Data, cities can access information that lets them analyse and make the soundest decisions, to the benefit of both the environment and citizens, by monitoring service metrics through new technologies, the Internet of Things (IoT) and Big Data.

Thanks to the technologies of these smart cities we have been able to turn the cities we live in into much safer places, with applications such as number-plate recognition, interconnected centres, automation of the services we use every day and very good healthcare, among many others.

As we know, one of the goals of smart cities is to improve the environment by seeking to reduce greenhouse gases, waste in the oceans and litter in the streets. The answer lies in energy-efficient buildings, air quality sensors and renewable energy sources, the tools for reducing environmental impact.

Another of the main challenges these cities face is urban transport. To tackle traffic congestion and manage passengers on buses and trains, we have to plan and invest in the tools that will allow us to offer a better service to our citizens, such as smart traffic signals, autonomous and electric vehicles, etc.

Examples of smart cities in Catalonia

Barcelona is considered one of the most important smart cities in the world, since in just a few years the city has become a benchmark for new technologies.

Technology is applied in many areas of the city, such as street lighting with sensors, smart waste collection and electric bicycles.

Sensors are also used on public transport to tell us how and when services will arrive and roughly how many passengers are on board.

Are smart cities the future?

These initiatives are constantly evolving, since new technologies emerge every day and the costs of using them are falling over time, which has begun to change the behaviour of many citizens, who are thinking more about the future of the planet.

We can therefore say that the concept of the smart city will be a model that all cities around the world will follow and adopt.