What is a smart city? | CNBC Explains

Summary

The transcript highlights the global trend towards smarter cities, integrating technology into every aspect of urban operations. Singapore exemplifies this with comprehensive data collection for real-time city monitoring through its Smart Nation program. Dubai's 'Smart Dubai Initiative' offers over 50 smart services via a single app, enhancing convenience for residents. Barcelona's smart systems, including adaptive street lights and automated waste collection, are predicted to save billions in energy costs. The global smart city market is projected to attract significant investment, with companies like Microsoft and Cisco vying for a share.

Takeaways

• 🌐 Governments worldwide are integrating technology into every aspect of city operations, including transportation, IT, utilities, and waste management.
• 🏙️ Singapore is a leading example of a smart city, using extensive data collection and monitoring systems to manage public spaces and predict crowd reactions.
• 📈 Singapore's Smart Nation program, launched in 2014, includes the use of cameras and data analysis to monitor crowd density and public cleanliness in real time.
• 🔍 Singapore's Virtual Singapore platform allows the government to access real-time city functioning data, aiding in disaster response and disease spread prediction.
• 🏙️ Dubai's Smart Dubai Initiative has introduced over 50 smart services through the Dubai Now app, enabling residents to manage various civic tasks digitally.
• 🚗 Dubai's app allows for convenient services like paying fines, managing utilities, and tracking personal documents, all from a single platform.
• 💡 Barcelona is implementing smart systems to save billions in energy costs, such as adaptive street lighting and parking sensors.
• 🅿️ Barcelona's parking sensors provide real-time information on available parking spots, reducing congestion and improving urban mobility.
• 🗑️ Barcelona also uses garbage sensors for automated waste collection, reducing noise pollution and operational costs while improving cleanliness.
• 💰 The global smart city market is projected to attract significant investment, with estimates of 15 billion dollars by 2021, primarily in software.

Q & A

What is the general trend in city development mentioned in the script?

The script mentions that many governments are infusing technology into every aspect of city operations, making cities smarter by the year.

What are the key areas that smart cities focus on improving?

Smart cities focus on improving public transportation, IT connectivity, water and power supply, sanitation, solid waste management, urban mobility, e-governance, and citizen participation.

What technologies are commonly used in smart cities as mentioned in the script?

Smart cities use technologies such as big data, the internet of things, and various sensors to collect and analyze data for better city management.

What is the 'Smart Nation' program launched by Singapore in 2014?

The 'Smart Nation' program is an initiative by the Singaporean government to deploy systems for monitoring and managing various aspects of daily living, including crowd density and public space cleanliness, through the use of cameras and data collection.

How does the Virtual Singapore platform benefit the government?

The Virtual Singapore platform provides the government with real-time access to how the city is functioning, helping them predict crowd reactions to events and the spread of infectious diseases.

What is the 'Smart Dubai Initiative' and what does it offer?

The 'Smart Dubai Initiative' is a program that has rolled out over 50 smart services from 22 government entities, allowing residents to perform various tasks through a single app, such as paying fines, tracking packages, and renewing vehicle registrations.

What are the three smart systems mentioned in Barcelona that could save billions in energy costs?

The three smart systems in Barcelona are smart street lights that adapt to activity levels, parking sensors that provide real-time information on available spots, and garbage sensors that automate waste collection through a vacuum network.

How do smart street lights in Barcelona contribute to energy savings?

Smart street lights in Barcelona dim when there's no activity and brighten up when motion is detected, thus saving energy by not illuminating unnecessarily.

What is the estimated annual energy cost savings for Barcelona due to smart systems?

Barcelona is estimated to save billions of dollars a year in energy costs by implementing smart systems.

What is the estimated market size for the global smart city software by 2021?

The global smart city market is estimated to attract 15 billion dollars by 2021, specifically for software.

Which companies are mentioned as being interested in the smart city market?

Companies such as Microsoft and Cisco are aiming for a piece of the smart city market.

What is the estimated amount cities could save by making their operations smart by 2021?

Juniper research estimates that by 2021, cities could save nearly 19 billion dollars by making their operations smart.