Smart Cities are those that use technology to generate efficiency in urban operations, in such a way that they maintain their economic development while improving the quality of life of the population. They are automated and more sustainable cities.
The Technical University of Vienna, in Austria, developed the European Smart City Model, which can serve as a guide for localities that want to implement an initiative.
In this model, 6 key areas are prioritized for the development of actions:
- Economy
- Mobility
- People
- Government
- Environment
- Quality of life
All these meetings provide the adjustment of current cities in comfortable environments, using technologies in favor of the population and improvements in the quality of life. In addition to issues of sustainability, there are also discussions about reducing public expenditures and transparency with the relationship between government and citizens.
Cases of success in the world
Songdo, in South Korea, is one of the Smart Cities that are a world reference from the point of view of urban planning. Built around an airport, its population is estimated at 250 thousand inhabitants by the year 2020.
Among the technologies implemented are the reprogramming of traffic lights automatically in case there is traffic intensity in certain roads. Traffic density is controlled by underground sensors. In the city,there is also an innovative system to collect garbage, automatic system, which practically eliminates the need for collection.
Waste management is also outstanding in Barcelona, Spain, where crews are distributed throughout the city and collect bags every hour, during the 7 days of the week.
All the boats are connected to a gigantic system of pipes buried at least 5 meters to the surface. It is a great garbage vacuum cleaner. The bags arrive to travel at 70 km / h through the pipeline, reaching the final destination that is a collection center.
In this center, the bags are deposited in containers, which after being filled, are transported to a sorting plant. Plastic, metal, and paper are recycled and organic waste is transformed into fuel to move turbines that generate electricity. At least 160 collection trucks stopped circulating around the city daily. A highly sustainable system that encompasses the entire garbage production chain.
In Copenhagen, capital of Denmark, the technology is used especially to reduce carbon emissions, consequently reducing the use of fossil fuels.
One of the outputs is to work on the bicycle path infrastructure, encouraging the population to use a bicycle instead of a car. According to local planners, if a person can travel 8 kilometers by bicycle on a route that needs to travel 30 kilometers, it already contributes considerably to the reduction of traffic intensity and pollution.
For this reason, in addition to bicycle lanes, bicycle parking lots, rental and return halls are needed, as well as public transport devices such as trains, buses, and meters that are capable of transporting them.
The bicycle routes have exclusive traffic lights controlled from the Green Wave system, in which the cyclists pedaling on average of 20 km / h will take all the open signs. Rental bicycles are equipped with GPS and sensors that report on air quality and users, so they receive information about congestion in real time.
The result is that 55% of the population uses bicycles to commute daily, reducing carbon emissions by 21% in the last 12 years.
In a global study published by Aruba called “Internet of Things: Today and Tomorrow”, the statements point out that 71% of the cities that invested in IoT in the administration of urban services saw cost reduction. Among the observed cities, 70% say that technology offers better visibility for the administration processes, facilitating investments to achieve the objective of smart cities.