The Betterment of Our Cities Through Digital Transformation

ajmera group kalyan When one thinks about smart cities, they often come to mind how they are portrayed in popular culture: as skyscraper cities with robots, flying automobiles, humanoids, and other futuristic elements. However, in practice, smart cities are a targeted strategy to guarantee effective governance, sustainability, equitable resource allocation, the provision of basic amenities, infrastructure, transportation, healthcare, and more. This is accomplished with the use of technology and methodical preparation. Cities all around the world are changing for the better and giving their residents better lives thanks to the use of smart solutions. The Smart Cities Mission, a program to retrofit 100 cities to be technologically advanced and sustainable, was launched by the Government of India as well in 2015.

The Scheme

The idea entails employing information technology to modify a city's current settings to improve living conditions and generate satellite areas. There are presently 100 cities that have received the proposal as part of the plan after being chosen in four stages. The project that will benefit a population of 99,630,069 is estimated to cost Rs 2, 05,018 crores, according to the government of India website. By seamlessly integrating data and technology for public safety, utility management, transportation, trash management, etc., among other things, efforts are being made to transform a city into a smart city.

Technology that makes living better

Technology is the backbone that will extract procedures and analyze information for the benefit of the city's residents, even in a city with appropriate physical infrastructure, facilities, and information readily available. The effort also focuses on good governance, which again uses technology to acknowledge and respond to citizen criticism. Some of the technologies that are important to smart cities are mentioned.

1) Internet of Things (IoT): Smart gadgets won't accomplish the targeted task if they are used in isolation from one another. IoT is the backbone that makes sure all smart devices utilized in the city's public services are interconnected. Data generated as a result is shared and accessed to prompt quick decisions. These play a key role in effective resource management. For instance, smart cities frequently employ IoT for city lighting because it significantly reduces expenses and energy use.

2) Information and communications technology (ICT): Essentially, this refers to information technology with a focus on unified communications. With the help of this, two-way contact is formed between the city's government and its residents, ensuring successful governance. The governing body receives complaints from the populace and investigates the pattern before allocating resources to rectify it. It is possible to occasionally study the obtained data to find solutions to a range of issues. For instance, ICT can be used to manage water by developing a smart water system that will identify and address issues with water use and distribution, theft, leakage, and other concerns.

3) Geospatial technology: Geospatial technology is used to gather information and examine the geographical features of a specific area of the world using GPS and other positioning systems (GPS). Without Geospatial Technology, a city cannot be considered smart. For instance, cities that have been comprehensively mapped using geospatial technology have been used to address urban design challenges. The planners employed this technology to arm themselves with the knowledge that may aid in understanding the design pattern from the preliminary stage to the final master plan stage.

4) Artificial intelligence: With the massive amount of data produced in a smart city, one can only succeed when it is processed, comprehended, and evaluated. Artificial intelligence greatly aids in this process. AI in public services provides for the interaction of two devices, stores and decodes the data, and then supports decision-making appropriately. These are very important in the areas of education, healthcare, and traffic regulation. A variety of problems that are faced, particularly as a result of the expanding population, can be solved using AI and IoT. For instance, it can be utilized to go between two points in the city quickly while avoiding traffic. ajmera Kalyan Time is saved, pollutant levels are decreased, and fuel usage is decreased as a result.

Advantages of smart cities

An initiative for a smart city has a variety of advantages. These are governed by excellent governance and utilize the technologies indicated above for their effective use.

Redressing citizen: complaints effectively requires the use of mobile apps. Citizens can file complaints through the relevant smart city app, which will be forwarded to the appropriate officer. One can monitor the progress of the complaint and finally be informed when it has been resolved. Additionally, since complaints are routed practically immediately after being filed, they are typically resolved in less than 48 hours.

Provision of Goods: Designed to offer a high standard of living, smart cities will support the creation of jobs and the administration and delivery of public services like healthcare.

Water distribution:: This ensures that there is a sufficient supply of water for all of its applications, including drinking, washing, swimming pools, etc. Smart water grids are used to monitor the purity of drinking water. Groundwater and rainwater are used for things than drinking.

Sanitation and trash management: Sanitation and waste management are essential for a healthy lifestyle. The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan has handled a portion of this, but smart cities have expanded this idea. Most Indian towns currently require garbage to be separated into three categories: dry, wet, and poisonous. This is a result of smart cities. By putting enough bio-toilets and e-toilets in public areas, sanitation is also treated seriously.

Power supply around-the-clock: While the nation previously relied primarily on non-renewable energy sources to produce electricity, solar power is now widely utilized. Reputable commercial and residential institutions are embracing the usage of solar energy thanks to incentives provided by the government to promote its use. Solar energy is being harnessed by smart cities for use in public and street lighting.

Better public transportation: With so many famous cities in India suffering from pollution, an efficient transportation system that reduces pollution is urgently needed, but most cities are currently working on it. There is an increase in the use of electric public transportation buses across the city as well as battery-powered buses, e-bikes, and cycles. Additionally, the acceptance of electric vehicles has grown. Developers are implementing vehicle charging stations in their projects as a result of this campaign.

Safety & protection: An example of a smart safety system would be to link CCTV cameras all around the city or even with a database with cutting-edge facial recognition technology that can identify suspicious people entering the premises and also alert the appropriate authorities.

Map of smart cities throughout the world

It won't be easy to create smart cities since, more often than not, outdated techniques must be abandoned in favour of complex but more effective ones. Around the world, many nations have experimented with the idea of creating smart cities, and the results have been quite positive. The final result is a sustainable environment that promotes maximum production, profitability, and security. Globally, people value smart cities, and many have already built them and are enjoying their advantages. A few of the world's smart cities are:

Spain, first

Barcelona frequently appears on lists of the world's top smart cities. The administrators concentrated on providing residents with high-quality infrastructure, making radical changes in areas like energy-efficient street lighting, encouraging bicycle use to lessen traffic caused by cars, lowering the emission levels of the public transportation system by using hybrid buses, using solar energy for various public utilities, and deploying sensors throughout the cities to measure levels of pollution, noise, and humidity.

Singapore 2.

Singapore is a safety and healthcare innovator. Technology is used by Singapore's Smart City plan to create a sustainable setting. The government has set up a system that makes it simple to access information and services via mobile devices. Since 2012, the island nation has installed more than 52,000 police security cameras. By making maps accessible and allowing users to add to or modify them, the city has also improved the welfare of the community. With the Enterprise Challenge, which offers cash to creative ideas that will improve services, public services have been kept in mind.

London 3.

One of the world's top smart cities is London. The city prioritizes its residents and makes sure they receive equal treatment and access to all amenities. Through the London Office of Data Analytics Program, people in London can also access public data. Those with hearing, movement, and visual impairments, they have particular features. The Connected London Program will give the entire city 5G connectivity, which is intended to improve municipal mobility by providing full coverage of optical fiber.

City of Palava

In addition to the government program, private firms are also attempting to create smart cities. One such example is Palava City, which is owned by one Kalyan and run by Palava City Management Association. Over 1 lakh people live in this integrated metropolis, which spans 4500 acres and was built along the live-work-learn-play model. With the help of numerous international partners with expertise in urban planning and development, the city was built from the ground up. According to JLL's 2017 report, "Livability Quotient - A Paradigm Shift in India's Emerging Cities," it is the best city to live in India.

It adheres to the neighborhood model of planning, whereby all amenities—clubhouses, schools, retail, commercial, etc.—are accessible by foot within 5–10–15 minutes. The city uses sustainable methods and has put in place a number of programs to make this possible. For instance, people are guaranteed a constant supply of water thanks to groundwater reservoirs, wastewater management, and other water-saving measures. With a focus on open spaces and the presence of about 30,000 trees, it has higher air quality than other areas because of these factors. With round-the-clock surveillance in all key locations, a central control center, and a specific emergency number for the response team, the safety and security of its residents are guaranteed. Dedicated apps for problem-solving, waste management, solar lighting, and environmentally friendly transportation are just a few examples.

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