Smart cities. What and why are they the cities of the future?

“The XIX century was a century of empires, the XX century was a century of nation states. The XXI century will be a century of cities.”

Wellington E. Webb

Generations that have lived through the 80s decades certainly keep some of their precious memories in an emotional memory notebook. KITT, the car, powered by artificial intelligence, would communicate calmly and serenely with its owner, Michael Knight, and might take up a special place in those memories. The concept was revolutionary, considering the reduced number of cars that were computerized in that decade.

In Wandl the Invader (1939), the book written by Ray Cummings, hyperloop traveling was a reality. The author predicted high-speed transportation, in a type of vacuum cylinder.

Transportation means are common in the field of science fiction but have started to become a part of our days. In 2018, the idea was recovered by Elon Musk, who announced plans to dig an underground tunnel that would go through Los Angeles, working as an alternative to traffic and the confusion of the city, giving priority to pedestrians and bicycles, adding other transportation further on. For that effect, a Loop vehicle would be used, that would circulate at high speed, with no CO2 emissions.

These are just two of the countless examples of moments where fiction has anticipated reality. Smart cities, or intelligent cities, have arrived. Welcome aboard.

What is a smart city?

Around 1.3 million people move into cities every day. Moreover, the World Economic Forum estimates that 70% of the population will be living in cities by 2050. Therefore, the current challenges placed on municipal management are huge, namely in materials like pollution, motor traffic, housing, or access to services.

European Union defines smart cities as a set of systems and people that interact in an intelligent way, using energy, materials, services, and resources sustainably. These are spaces that, by implementing digital solutions (including the Internet of Things), work towards the efficiency of traditional networks and services, with their eyes and attention set on the life quality of their residents and visitors.

Concretely, this translates into more efficient urban planning; the improvement of environmental sustainability; the application of technology in education and health areas; the improvement of electronic commerce systems, and the existence of shared data (open data).

The achievement implies more interactive and responsible administrations, reinforcement of citizen participation, safer public spaces, and adequate responses to the elderly population.

Smart cities in the world

According to the study by Smart Cities Solutions for a Riskier World, conducted by ESI ThoughtLab, in 2020, the covid-19 pandemic has contributed significantly to accelerating the implementation of smart cities.

On a Worldwide level, Shanghaii is leading the World's N.º 1 Smart City, the ranking of smart cities, promoted by Juniper Research. Decisive for this attribution was the world leader data platform, implemented by this Chinese city, which works as a unique point for over 1.000 different services destined for the city’s residents.

2022's top five, is also Seul, where Project H1 is being designed, known as a “10-minute city”, for intending that all services and commodities are at a ten-minute distance, on foot, from the resident’s homes. This will be an enterprise built by eight residential buildings, with coworking sites and areas of study. The zone, with approximately 500 km2, that prohibits vehicles, will also host entertainment spaces, fitness centers, pools, and urban yards.

Beijing, Barcelona, and New York occupy a place among the best. In the evaluation parameters are urban intelligence and innovation; intelligence and efficiency lighting-wise, energy and transportation, urban management, and intelligent technology and urban connectivity.

New York implemented an interactive platform that converted 10.000 old public phones into 8.400 points of connection for public use; made available 1GB wi-fi for a distance of up to 45 to 50 meters, besides free phone calls within the United States.

There are many world cities - known as Cities 4.0 - that are investing in computing systems in the cloud, considered by the majority of municipal leaders, as one of the most important requirements for success in services centered on residents. In this platoon, there are, among others, Athens, Baltimore, New York, Berlin, Birmingham, Boston, Copenhagen, Helsinki, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Moscow, and Paris.

In Copenhagen, when there’s no traffic on the streets, traffic lights will turn off automatically to save up energy. Many public spaces are powered by solar energy and applications were developed that help users find parking places on the surface. More than 250 companies and startups collaborate on projects, partnering with universities and entities from the public and private sectors.

Singapore has been coming forward with projects introduced whether in public or private sectors. The technology for contactless payments, for example, adopted in public transportation, has significantly improved dislocations and payments of about 7,5 million of their users. To relieve the pressure on the elderly population, video appointments and using equipment, having the Internet of Things as a resource to monitor patients, have been standardized. In 2021, the city announced its plans to completely eradicate vehicles in the area of Tengah, aka “forest city”, which will host five districts made by 42.000 households.

Oslo, having a population of approximately 670.000 residents, predicts every vehicle circulating in the city to be electric. For that result, incentives have already been implemented for those who choose zero-emission vehicles, such as free parking, and the possibility to use bus lanes, besides the reduction of tax and toll systems cost.

Portugal is smart

In Portugal, 65% of the population living in urbanized areas is responsible for 74% of carbon dioxide emissions. According to the Smart Cities website, several cities are taking huge and safe leaps towards a more balanced and intelligent future.

However, the steps don’t end here: innovation centers of various multinationals, placed in Portugal, where many Portuguese are working, produce solutions that feed smart cities of several countries.

Next, we’ll give you a brief tour of some of the Portuguese cities that won’t let tomorrow dictate the future we need today.

Águeda obtained the title of the smart city in 2014. The city that wants to take precedence for transparency, has invested in solutions such as irrigation systems, intelligent meters in public buildings, platforms sharing available data to every citizen, and facial recognition in the municipal headquarters, among others.

Aveiro is one of the cities that has been coming forward in this championship. It has become a forefront of a technological city, with the latest generation technology, and the first living laboratory of a 5G experimental network in Portugal. As a result: between 2019 and 2022, over 40 entities have tried products and services in the city. Among some of the most innovative projects that came into fruition, we highlight:

• The urban platform supporting local government, that allows monitoring of the quality of the air, noise, and temperature; making information about the energy consumption in the city available, waste management, and in the future, the amount of energy spent by “moliceiro” boats, that after converting combustion engines into the electrical and consequential saving of CO2 emissions;
• The first electric ferry boat and loading station in Portugal, that will represent an annual reduction of CO2 emissions of approximately 300 tons;
• A cellphone and tablet app, of augmented reality, that allows to overlap the pictures shot, in real-time, through the cameras of these devices, with the schemes of the existing infrastructures underground.

Lisbon, which received the European Green Capital Award 2020, stands among the 31 major cities that are in the Smart City 2022 Index, thanks to the several projects of urban intelligence that have been designed and implemented.

The Portuguese capital, together with Guimarães (that, in 2020, has received the honor 100 Smart Cities, given by the European Commission) and Oporto, were the selected Portuguese cities to participate in City Mission, from the European Union (EU), for innovation ecosystems, having in mind the neutrality of the climate’s perspective by 2030. Research and innovation actions reach areas such as clean mobility, energy efficiency, and green urban planning.

Leiria is leading UrbSecurity, a network of European cities and areas that propose thinking of cities in light of sustainable and mobility growth. The area, in the meanwhile, has seen born:

• Tecnea, an innovation space that promotes de development of disruptive solutions, born from the collaborations between companies in the area of technology;
• U-Bike project, promoted by the Instituto Politécnico of Leiria, providing 220 electric bicycles to students and workers from the institution;
• International project GAMELabsNet, also associated with the Instituto Politécnico of Leiria, was designed with the objective to promote the industry in Portugal, through the creation of a laboratory dedicated to supporting the digital transformation of companies in the sectors of molds, agribusiness, medical assistance, and tourism.

Valongo received, in 2022, the title Europe’s Green Leaf. The contributors were the municipal projects of energy efficiency, the implementation of biological urban community gardens, and the system of waste door-to-door pick-up.

Viseu came forward like a living laboratory, by providing technology companies established in the area the possibility to test innovative technology and tools, such as:

• MUV - Mobilidade Urbana de Viseu (Viseu’s Urban Mobility), materialized, among others, in Viriato, the first unmanned electric public transportation in Portugal, with a ticket box app interface, schedules, and information in real-time, which also includes o Tele BUS, a service of transportation on demand, and MUV Park, that allows overground parking management;
• Viseu Recicla, which promoted the installation of over 400 ecologic islands using sensors that allow the assessment of the amount of waste produced and interact with urban solid waste (USW) collection vehicles.

It’s not fiction, it’s real life. Smart cities intertwine with technology, but are made by smart citizens, inevitably and unavoidably compromised with the future. The narrative we choose to live by must play in accordance, in number, gender, and degree with the smallest actions of our daily lives.

What is the role you’re meant to play in this story?