Smart cities

A smart city is defined as an urban area which uses various kinds of electronic devices and sensors to supply data that is also used to maintain the resources. It also involves different types of data collections process from citizen, gadgets which are used to analyse and control the traffic and transportation systems (Anagnostopoulos, et al., 2017). The concept of the smart city was developed by the information and communication technologies and many other technologies are connected to the networks like IoT and wireless systems. The main objective of this essay is to describe the fundamental concept of smart cities and the issues faced by the technologies used in smart cities. IoT is an advanced technology which is used by many organizations and it played a significant role in the area of smart cities. This technique provides a communication path between two or more users and to transfer signals from transmitter to receiver this process is used. It is observed that the main challenge or issue faced by the wireless and IoT in smart cities is the security due to which users can lose their personal data or information. The smart city innovation provides a platform to interact with city infrastructure and community and it has the ability to control the communication problems in urban areas. This essay is explaining the concept of smart cities and the importance of information technology like IoT and wireless in smart cities with their issues.

A smart city is also called as a municipality which uses the information and communication techniques to control and monitor the operational efficiency and maintain the quality of the public services and citizen welfare (Centenaro, et al., 2016). There are main three technologies used during the development of a smart city, for example, automation, internet of thing, and machine learning. The smart parking meter is one of the best examples of the smart city which uses software to find the available space in parking (Chakrabarty, and Engels, 2016). The smart meter also provides the digital payment facility that avoids the problem of coins and cash. Smart energy focuses on the energy conservation and efficiency of communication systems and using the smart sensors and devices smart streetlights dim when there is no car on the road. This type of technology also used to enhance the performance and efficiency of the operational process. Ride-sharing and bike sharing both are very common examples of smart cities and most individuals move from one location to another by using this kind of services(Ejaz, et al., 2016). Sustainability is another key factor of smart city and this innovation also helps to increase the sustainable growth of cities and expend the effectiveness of citizen welfare in coming next years. The advanced communication technologies will change the cities and use of wireless networks are growing very fast due to which there few security threats are also increased, for example, data breach, malware attack, and ad-hoc problem. The Australian research council developed various types of smart city policies in Australia and they identified that lack of security is a very serious problem in the world (Fan, et al., 2014). The big data, digital analysis processes and hi-tech interfaces can be used in the smart cities to re-image exist urban environments. In the last few years, there are many mobile and computer networks developed by information technology such as Li-Fi, 5G, Lora, IoT, and long-term evaluation. With the help of all these technologies people can share their data or information from one location to another and in smart cities, all these techniques are used because IoT can be used for the long distance communication purpose. But the main issue is that these are very limited by which all users cannot take profit of these networks and IoT is very complex technology to design and implement (Gubbi, et al., 2013). The network slicing is defined as a process where the mobile operators will be categorised into small slice according to the requirement of the users and smart cities use this technology to control and monitor the straight lights on roads (Guo, Liu, and Chai, 2014).

Attributes of a smart city

The advanced digital technologies will change the cities and there is a profusion of IoT, digital platforms, and sensors crossways all domains of urban areas. National, local and state governments are designing and implementing different types of policies and strategies for smart cities. The Lab requires a multi-disciplinary model for smart urbanism, planning to the visions, bringing the perspectives of design, and practices of smart technologies in Australia and other countries. It is observed that most the people are living in the cities rather than rural localities and between 2010 and 2050 the population of Australia is predicted to double of the current population. The Campus of Sydney approached the city of Canada to be a best partner and participants along with Logan city. Due to which a large amount of power has been lost and many IT companies developed modern wireless networks that use very low power. In smart cities, the two or more peripheral devices are connected with the help of connecting wires and it is very complex to connect the lot of wires with each other (Ji, et al., 2014). This is also a very common problem but today most of the smart cities are developed on the wireless technology that reduced the complexity of wires because it connects transmitter and receiver by using Wi-Fi and internet access. But the security of data is very less in a wireless network as compared to the wired networks by which people can suffer from the problem of a data breach. There are main three smart city projects involves, for example, intelligent transport process, smart meter, and smart lighting. All these latest techniques are completely based on the sensor centred and data analysis approach. There are a few other challenges and issues faced by the smart cities and technologies such as digital security, lack of confidence, funding and business problem, legislation and policies related issues. The lack of coordination is also a very big issue in the smart cities and the implementation process can be completed if there is a coordination between the different government bodies. People require the proper regulation for the development of smart cities and most of IT organization provided the various security programmes to safe user’s private details such as antivirus, firewall, encryption and cryptography.

According to Jin, et al., (2014) around 50% of people are living in smart cities and they take advantages of modern technologies. Smart cities are very green and safe but the main problem faced by the consumers is privacy and security. There are many authors argued and researched on this topic and they identified that the internet of thing and wireless system both are main two technologies used in the smart city only for communication purpose. The internet of thing is an advanced technology in the sector of IT which can be used to achieve the objective of smart cities. To maintain and control the performance of smart technologies people can adopt modern wireless networks like 5G and Zigbee. Mohanty, et al., (2016) investigated the technologies and process used during the road and street light safety on the large volume data and author also describes the challenges faced by the smart cities. The smart cities use the latest embedded sensors and equipment’s to gather the data or information and transfer these data from one person to another by using wired or wireless connectivity. In which the data is collected from the various transportation system, and fed into the software’s that analysis users data. The best smart city involves technologies and innovation to become self-aware that provide the information decision making facilities to their consumers. There are few key elements of the sustainable smart city, for example, offers a sustainable agricultural ecosystem, favouring efficient building implementation, also provide zero footprint water consumption system and exhibiting awareness. Perera, et al., (2014) investigation draws upon member perception, ethnography, and a document of correspondence to unload the working of the dashboard and the developing legislative issues of information and plan. Our discoveries uncover four fundamental perceptions. Initial, a dashboard is a complex socio-specialized array of performers and actants that work tangibly and digressively inside an arrangement of social and financial limitations, existing advancements and frameworks, and power geometries to amass, create and keep up the site. Second, the creation and support of a dashboard unfurls logically, unexpectedly and socially through transduction. Third, the praxis and legislative issues of making a dashboard has more extensive recursive impacts: similarly as building the dashboard was molded by the more extensive institutional scene, delivering the framework arched that scene. Fourth, the information, arrangement, apparatuses, and methods of introduction of a dashboard deliver a particularized arrangement of spatial familiarities about the city. According to the Sanchez, et al., (2014) there are many characteristics of smart cities such as an increased administrative and economic efficiency which enables the development of culture, and a vision to take the social and environmental sustainability as a most important aspect of smart city enhancement. The assessment of a smart city, as talked about Rathore, et al., (2014) ought to consider past encounters of naturally inviting and livable urban communities, incorporating maintainability and personal satisfaction, furthermore, obviously, the piece of innovative factors. Vilajosana, et al., (2013) express that it ought to speak to an innovative network, interconnected, supportable, agreeable, appealing, and secure. With the end goal to see how it functions by and by, shrewd urban communities make utilization of city information for activity administration, vitality utilization insights, security, and streamlining the task of city administrations (Vlacheas, et al., 2016). This new the truth is empowering the expansion of new providers to the keen city showcase speciality, utilizing innovative assets for the administration of urban administrations. There are many attributes of the smart city which are described below with their explanation:

Technology and smart cities

Information and communication technology turned on public services: the use of IT technologies is growing very fast. It also plays a significant role in the field of smart cities to provide various services to their consumers, for example, control access, speed, transport system, and participation in people services.

Efficient public services: the utilization of smart meter, energy conservation system, effluent recycling, and renewable energy sources are clearly the hallmark of any smart city.

The use of human personal partnership: this is one of an important attribute of any smart city and in which they are used like a resource that provides more effective services to their consumers (Zanella, et al., 2014).

Safety and security: this type of aspect is very high in the field of public consciousness and there are many expectations of any smart technology such as network of video cameras, more secure and private, brightly lit public areas, and identify verified access.

Patras is a 3^rd largest city in the world which is one of the best case studies of the smart city that use internet of thing technology (Zanella, et al., 2014). The capital of Patras is western Greece and it is also called as a smart city pioneer that contains numbers of network hubs. The Patras has changed the way of communication and they adopted many advanced technologies like IoT, LTE, and another mobile sensor to reduce power consumption. The Internet of thing is very modern technology that provides a way to control and monitor any kind of electronic device from any location and it uses internet access to share data. Patras use the IoT and wireless systems to develop the latest public services, for example, smart parking system, smart meters, automatic street lights, and it also helps in the area of the local municipality. The Patras have designed and implemented the NB-IoT to increase the efficiency of municipal services such as smart parking and smart lighting system. The smart parking services are recently developed in this city along with Patriots Street and it offers this kind of services to their consumers. In which various kinds of sensors and components are used to maintain the quality of data and them also able to find the parking space to the consumers (Zanella, et al., 2014).

The internet of thing connects a plethora of digital system with different types of sensors, automation, and computer-based services. With the help of this technology, people can share their data or information from one place to another and it is observed that most consumers control their home appliances by using IoT and wireless services. After the development of IoT in the smart cities, individuals are able to communicate with electronic devices and it also helps to control the traffic on road and it has the ability to secure and safe human personal data. The devolvement of the smart city is very complex and the use of ICT and other latest technologies are very difficult because they required proper training and experience (Zanella, et al., 2014). There are many st6akehoslders for smart cities, for example, web developers, IT service providers, platform developers, research communities, and public services. With the help of all these people and ICT process, people can make a smart city and most of the cities use the internet of thing technology because it is more effective and efficient process? There are many challenges faced for the planning of smart cities by using IoT such as digital security, legislation and policies, the implementation and power issues, connectivity problem, compatibility and longevity and intelligent analysis (Guo, Liu, and Chai, 2014). It is observed that the security is a very common issue faced by the internet of thing in smart cities because it uses the internet connectivity to send and receive any kind of data and hackers can easily detect their information by using malware software. The information and communication technology has developed many advanced techniques and processes to enhance the security of smart cities and data such as firewall, antivirus, encryption and cryptography technologies by which people can avoid the cyber-crimes and other security attacks (Zanella, et al., 2014).

Issues faced by smart cities and technologies

This essay is completely based in the smart cities and the role of the internet of thing during the development of smart cities. In this modern generation the most people use wireless technologies and mobile devices to share data and people move towards the smart cities to take advantages of advanced technologies. Smart parking and smart street lighting both are a very best example of smart cities and most of the city use the automatic car parking system to reduce human efforts. With the help of this essay readers can gather their knowledge in the sector of smart cities and IoT is very best technology for the development of smart cities because it required very less power and people can control their home appliance from any place. There are many challenges and issues faced by the IoT in smart cities which are described in this essay and problem of security can be avoided by adopting protection plans like firewall and encryption process.

References

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