Enhancing the livability, sustainability, and resilience of cities through smart technologies has become a pressing goal worldwide. In order to achieve this, cities are increasingly adopting artificial intelligence (AI) to collect, analyze, and act upon data. By leveraging the power of AI, cities can improve convenience, facilitate transportation, increase efficiency, and promote energy savings. Moreover, AI-enabled systems can help enhance air and water quality, detect and proactively resolve issues in real time, and expedite post-disaster recovery.
However, merely embedding intelligence into individual subsystems is insufficient to truly transform a city into a smart one. Rather, a truly smart city is a complex and interconnected system comprised of various domains, such as transportation, energy, education, healthcare, and more, operating within a highly integrated and multi-level ecosystem. Key components, from airports and hospitals to schools and homes, are equipped with embedded devices and connected with sensors and transmitters, allowing them to function as part of the urban fabric. Together, these entities form an ecosystem that expands intelligent space from individuals to communities, enabling the whole city to work as a dynamic and intelligent system.
Smart cities represent a transformative model for urban management, infrastructure, and services, driven by the use of information and communication technologies. The characteristics of a smart city range from sustainability, quality of life, to urbanization. Sustainability in a smart city encompasses issues related to infrastructure, governance, energy, climate change, pollution, waste, social concerns, economic development, and health. Quality of life can be evaluated based on factors such as emotional well-being and financial stability. Urbanization covers diverse aspects, including technology, infrastructure, governance, and economics. Thus, the notion of a smart city embodies the ambition to enhance economic, social, environmental, and human well-being standards.
