5 Ways Technology Is Transforming Our Cities
If you look around your home, it's likely that you're going to see a lot of devices that were not there ten years ago. Items such as smart speakers, lightbulbs, and televisions are just a few of the newest devices making our lives easier. However, those devices can also be found outside the home. Throughout our grocery stores, hospitals, and pretty much all over our cities. But because we tend to be in a rush throughout the day, it's likely that we haven't stopped enough to pay attention to the changing technological landscapes of many of our cities. Here’s five ways technology is transforming our cities.
5. Public Transport Becomes More Efficient
There's no doubt about it; traffic within medium to large cities is still very much a problem. However, there has been progress made throughout the years, particularly because of technology. This is especially prevalent within the public transportation sector. Utilizing live traffic update technology, public transportation vehicles can make instant changes to their schedule in order to keep people moving throughout the city. But what about civilian vehicles? How is that changing? Recently, the city of Hangzhou in China began to introduce AI technology that is expected to reduce traffic by up to 15%. If that goes well, it's likely that it will be adopted amongst other cities of the world.
4. Energy Efficiency Becoming Top Priority for Cities
City governments understand the importance of conserving energy throughout the city. Not only is it good for the city budget, but it also helps the environment. Smart technology has begun to be used in cities such as Amsterdam, where they are upgrading street lights to LED and other energy-efficient forms of lightbulbs. Using LED lights instead of traditional bulbs helps the city reduce or increase the light as needed, thus saving energy throughout the day.
3. Cities are Safer for Citizens
Just a few years ago, it was very difficult for law enforcement to capture criminals who struck in the middle of the night and within less-populated areas of their city. However, thanks to tech such as Wifi, Live CCTV cameras, and the emerging IoT (Internet of things), that has all changed, and thus citizens have become safer.
2. Has Brought Communities Closer
In order for technology to change a city, it does not have to be directly connected to its government or infrastructure. An example of that comes from the various apps that have been introduced over the years. Apps allow people to form stronger communities by allowing them to report crimes within their neighborhood or simply organize everyone for a block party.
1. Allows Cities to Protect Resources
Every time a garbage collection truck or maintenance team goes out onto the streets; it takes a lot of resources. In many cases, either nothing is wrong or not enough to warrant someone coming out to the location. This, of course, can waste a lot of precious resources. However, due to innovations in technology, city waste bins can now alert maintenance crews when they are reaching or have reached capacity, thus making the trip worthwhile.
As you can see from the information above, there are a number of ways technology has transformed our cities, and one can expect technology to continue making those changes throughout the coming years.
