A New Look At The Role of Smart Cities In The IoT Era

The Internet of Things (IoT) is an exciting and highly promising concept. It envisions a state of connectivity and unhindered communication between all devices in a vast and complicated setup. It can be a big business, a big factory, a big hospital, or a big hotel.

How IoT works?

In these establishments, there used to be countless opaque layers that would not let the managers see every aspect of the operation and production. But all that’s over now. 

With IoT taking over, all the devices that carry out different applications in an establishment begin to interact and exchange data. This data can be stored, monitored remotely, and preventive measures can be taken before a crisis befalls.

How IoT and smart cities are related

Now the same IoT is being applied to run big cities. The idea is to remove every layer of opacity in how the city functions. So, you have smart technologies managing electricity, traffic, water supply, garbage disposal, and hospitals. 

With IoT, all these essential services’ performance is being made as smooth as it can get. From old fashioned speed bump and parking lots to smart speed bumps and parking lots, the IoT is truly making our cities smart.

A smart city is essentially a concept of IoT controlling important services that a city is supposed to offer. This means various devices that are part of the services provided by a city are connected, and they are exchanging data, which can be accessed in real-time as well as stored. 

This allows various department heads to know about every small thing that is going right or wrong in the mammoth city infrastructure and its services pool. From an automated water supply system to smart electricity meters that can be read remotely, there are many things that a smart city uses.

IoT and traffic management

A vital component of a smart city is traffic management. Should there be speed bumps all over the city roads? Perhaps, it is not required because now stylish city bumps have made their entry. They don’t look to be there. 

They pop up just in time when a vehicle crosses the maximum speed limit on a particular stretch of road. Speed bumps of this kind do not penalize the drivers who follow the speed limit.

Why IoT and smart city

Smart cities are the ones where physical infrastructure is optimized by the use of digital technology. Cities are growing bigger by the day, and the existing infrastructure is not able to cope with the additional pressure of new populations. And there is no way to reverse the trend of people flocking to cities. As per an estimate, by 2050, 60% of the world population would live in big cities. There is a limit to how much new infrastructure can be added to the cities.

Finally, there have to be some smart solutions that make the existing infrastructure sufficient for a growing number of people. For example, a city has a limited network of road infrastructure, and it cannot be doubled in a matter of a few years while the number of vehicles is multiplying at an alarming rate.

Traffic chaos is, therefore, a natural outcome. But can it be streamlined so that there are no severe traffic jams? Yes, it is possible!

How IoT is changing our cities

In many countries, now road traffic is intelligently and smartly managed. How is this done? It is accomplished through sensors installed alongside the roads that send real-time data about the traffic status to a centralized data processing unit where the data is analyzed and seen in traffic’s historical perspectives. 

The central processing units change the traffic signals in the entire area with a view to evenly distribute the traffic and ensure a jam-free road network.

While this may sound like too much work, we use the old-world traffic management system. But in modern times, with smart technologies and smartphones, the entire process completes in a fraction of a second. You can imagine the effectiveness and promptness of smart city technologies.

Final thoughts

The most significant benefit of IoT is that it’s damn cheap to implement. Devices are already smart and capable of exchanging and receiving data. 

All you need is relevant software and the internet. Conclusion this is not expensive or difficult if you look at the monumental task it accomplishes in advancing a smart city’s idea.


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