The Smart City of the Future is Remote

Published by Marcos Radonic

With the current events developing at a fast pace, many companies are resorting to remote work. But will this be our new reality? This is a current reality but one that smart cities of the future are currently adapting.

“By 2030, the world is projected to have 43 megacities with more than 10 million inhabitants, most of them in developing regions.”

~ArcGIS

With the current Covid-19 Pandemic, one wonders if remote work should be the only solution to the continued spread of this virus. However, we do know that other precautions need to be taken. Still, remote work will be explored in greater ways than we did before and adjustments in cities should be explored. Like the way we monitor and manage traffic and parking.

Even with remote workers increasing at the moment, we will still have a need for urban and city planning as not all professions will and should be done remotely. Considering this fact, we must know the best practices for remote work and what to do for the population who still needs a sustainable way of living on the outside.

Let’s explore current remote technologies some cities are adapting and others can adapt:

Traffic Monitoring

Yes, even with remote workers on the rise, traffic management is essential for a city to run smoothly. Traffic monitoring allows cities and urban planners to understand the current use of the roads and how they can better plan the city for the future.

The current methods to gather information are GPS, live reporting via apps, traffic cameras, police radio frequencies, high traffic area monitoring via helicopters and roadside sensors.

How are smart cities implementing better traffic monitoring devices? Currently, IoT traffic sensors can be implemented which allows for better gathering of data. Better yet, it allows for the improvement of traffic flow, reduction of congestion and pollution which in turn improves quality of life and safety.

IoT traffic sensors are not expensive to implement and once the hardware is installed, the software and remote monitoring of such will allow the city to make adjustments as necessary.

Waste Management

With changing times comes to new ways to manage waste. With the increase in population, new sustainability and recycling goals and changing policies, cities are starting to look at new ways to manage waste.

Waste management facilities usually are late adopters to technology and so many still use estimation or manual data entry. With more technology available, more opportunities for efficiency come.

How can smart cities implement better waste management solutions? IoT solutions and the use of sensors can allow cities to monitor levels of trash, can help optimize collection schedules and can allow for a more efficient way to collect and measure data

Singapore has been one of the cities that have been on top of new smart city changes and as early as 2016, Singapore began experimenting with smart, solar-powered rubbish bins that served as internet hotspots and came equipped with fill-level sensors. Allowing these changes will allow more technology to work on our favor and, in the event of a much needed-remote monitoring work, the data can potentially help cities

Street Lighting

Currently, street lamps have light-sensitive photocells that activate the lamp automatically when needed, at times when there is little to no ambient light, such as at dusk, dawn, or at the onset of dark weather conditions.

How can we improve this simple function? Smart lighting technology can be installed or current devices can be modified. The current lighting devices can require more energy consumption, high expense, and more manpower to keep it working.

New IoT lighting can allow a reduction in CO2 emission, light pollution and reduction of maintenance cost and increase in energy-saving solutions. Simply speaking, more sustainable options can be integrated along with sensors which will allow for better remote monitoring and better data processing as to how to best manage city lighting.

Smart Parking

Smart parking is a tricky subject as currently, smart parking is talked about in terms of parking management and better parking assistants. The reality is that smart parking is not just about those devices but a better and more sustainable way to manage parking.

What can cities do to apply Smart parking? You guessed it: Automated Parking Systems. The increased and vast need for vehicle storage, regardless of whether it is driverless or not, will not go away. Even during remote work times, there is still a need to store vehicles, especially when those remote workers either go back to a building or are in need of commuting for errands or other needs.

But for a more sustainable way to include parking as a smart city solution, better use of space is needed. Automated parking allows better use of space for your development and can implement current and future IoT parking management technology.

Aside from automated parking systems, current smart parking technology include cameras, counting sensors, and payment systems. Most automated parking systems already integrate counting sensors as well as sensors to ensure no people are left in the vehicle before it is stored. And it can be monitored remotely as well, should there be a need for it.

Automated parking systems can easily provide data needed to measure usage and maintenance status. And with the implementation of sustainable energy like solar power, it can become a great addition to any city and any green building of the now and the future.

Not every position can be done remotely. However, having technology that can allow cities to collect data and have remote options can help city officials make more informed decisions during our everyday lives and during the uncertain times like during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Marcos Radonic

Automated parking system expert with more than twenty-nine years of experience in the commercial construction industry.