Our global population is exploding, and the latest estimates project it’s set to reach 到2050年达到100亿. 近20亿人口的增长将对我们现有的资源提出更大的需求, 包括能源. Most of us are also eager to improve our quality of life, which is often done by finding new ways to incorporate technology into our daily lives. 然而, with growing concern around climate change, these uses for technology need to be more efficient and sustainable. So how do we start to reduce the carbon footprint of a city while improving lives?
The answer could be in how we build smarter cities for the future.
What are smart cities?
Smart cities are large settlements that are data-driven, using a variety of sensors, analytics and automated processes to streamline traditionally manual services. This means that society and the overall quality of life improves, as less time and effort gets spent on mundane and repetitive tasks.
布里斯托尔就是一个以这种方式创新以达到其目标的城市的例子 减少公司2 排放量减少40% through a number of initiatives such as smart metering.
像哥本哈根这样的欧洲城市正在通过一个名为哥本哈根解决方案实验室的智慧城市孵化器进行的研究和开发来突破界限. 孵化器目前的重点是空气质量和沿路人口流动.
更远的地方, 迪拜和新加坡等城市也在安装基础设施，并部署革命性的系统, such as autonomous police stations where fines can be paid or incidents can be reported.
What technologies power smart cities?
The main requirement for many of the innovations is a fast, reliable internet connection to transmit the data from the sensors. 所需的互联网得到了最近在全球范围内引入和采用5G的支持. 5G networks have lower latency and higher bandwidth, 这意味着它们提供了更快的连接，这无疑将成为智能城市背后基础设施的支柱.
最常见的, 智能城市的功能是由消费级电子产品——尤其是传感器——支撑的, 与Alexa扬声器和飞利浦Hue灯泡等大多数物联网(IoT)设备使用的技术相同. 近年来，随着人们对智能家居产品以及树莓派(Raspberry Pi)和Arduino等制造商的产品的兴趣激增，这些电子产品的受欢迎程度呈爆炸式增长.
Smart cities will generate more real-time data that can feed forward into other systems. 它还可以与现有的数据集(如天气或事件日历)一起输入大数据分析，以从合并的信息中收集进一步的见解. 例如, 在一个雨天, analytics could determine whether an increased capacity for public transport is needed.
What features of smart cities are environmentally friendly?
As technology advances, more and more manual processes have become automated. 这些进步在所有行业都可见——从自动驾驶汽车和自动驾驶系统到制造业中使用的机器人. 类似的, as technology has improved, more data is being produced that can then be fed into analytics services.
能源
最常见的例子是采用智能电表来监控和预测使用情况. 这些智能电表的好处是，它们提高了计费系统的准确性，并赋予了一个更精简的, tailored support service. 随着时间的推移, 这些智能电表将使供应商能够在任何给定的时间预测所需的容量. 以这种方式预测容量将为通过基于证据的能源储存要求更容易地过渡到清洁能源铺平道路.
In anticipation of hosting COP26 in 2020, Glasgow began installing smart street lighting in various parts of the city. The installations use motion and noise detection to turn the lights on when triggered. Keeping these lights off when footfall is at its lowest levels saves electricity, lowering the reliance on the power grid while not compromising on safety or security.
运输
交通是另一个关键领域，一些城市已经做出了明智的、环保的改变.
One example is the 3,000 sensors installed to create smart parking spaces in Cardiff. 接近传感器安装在停车位下方的地面上，检测该特定停车位是否被车辆占用. 这些空间的状态会实时更新，包括当地的街道标志和一个更新的应用程序，以通知驾驶者空间的状态. The accompanying app also allows users to reserve a space in advance. 通知公众停车位很少或根本没有，鼓励通勤者选择更环保的交通方式，如公共汽车或火车.
共享单车是另一个在许多方面改善社会的例子，比如通过加强锻炼来改善健康, reducing pollution and easing congestion. Hubs are being added to various cities across Europe, with the Welsh Government recently announcing hub additions in Aberystwyth, 巴里, 里尔和斯旺西.
废物管理
An effort introduced by Leeds Council is the use of smart waste and recycling bins. 这些垃圾箱使用传感器来监测它们的容量，而太阳能电池板为内部的压缩器供电，以提高有限空间的利用率. 可以使用一个应用程序来监控垃圾箱的容量，该应用程序还可以在需要清空垃圾箱时发送通知. This functionality enables the council to adapt its refuse and recycling collections. 能够适应收集可以减少道路上收集车辆的数量, which in turn reduces emissions and improves congestion.
雷德卡 & 克利夫兰市议会提出了一个类似的计划，包括在家庭垃圾桶上添加RFID标签，以测量内容物的重量和收集的频率. 智库社会市场基金会(Social Market Foundation)的理论认为，这样的计划可以鼓励回收，让地方议会根据家庭的回收量提供减税. This is particularly important to councils across the UK, as the highest recycling rate in England was 64.5% in 2017 but the lowest was just 14.1%.
What are the barriers faced by the public sector?
There are a handful of main issues with the development of smart cities. 首先, 由于紧缩措施和智慧城市基础设施不是必要支出的看法，预算限制是一个主要问题.
Secondly, deployment of these new technologies is slowed by regulation and bureaucracy. The time taken to develop a proposal, 等待请求的资金，然后最终实施解决方案，这意味着可能需要几个月甚至几年的时间才能将变化落实到位，组织最终看到他们的努力带来的红利.
最后, 有效处理新工作负载所需的网络功能直到最近才开始推出. 5G networks were first introduced in late 2019, however initial estimates put a majority coverage will take until around 2025.
Despite these obstacles, 越来越多的公共部门正在采用智慧城市技术并进行创新，以改善市民的生活. 随着基础设施的可用性和成功案例研究数量的增加, 面临的障碍正在消退——由于产品生命周期的成熟阶段，这反过来降低了采用的总体成本. As efforts to combat climate change gain traction, 将我们的城市升级为数字强国将变得更加突出——但很明显，变革的种子已经播下.
