The Proliferation of Smart Cities

Our cities are getting smarter.

Over the past several years, advanced technologies have been implemented in a growing number of urban centers. And the proliferation of IoT is continuing at a rapid pace, making cities more livable and efficient while substantially improving the sustainability of highly-populated areas throughout the world.

We can already see some of the incredible benefits of new technologies in cities that are leading the way, such as New York, Berlin, Austin, Stockholm, Tokyo, Amsterdam, and others.

The installation of sensors allows urban centers to run a wide range of revolutionary systems to improve the quality of life, including:

· Smart grids to optimize energy efficiency.

· Automated park watering control to save resources.

· Smart lamp post streetlights using motion sensors to reduce energy usage in off-peak periods.

· Garbage cans that signal when they need to be emptied.

· Enhanced security cameras that improve safety.

· Sensors to detect early signs of flooding and other natural disasters.

Our lives are already better as a result of the expansion of IoT and related technologies around the world. But we’re merely at the beginning of a monumental change in the way cities are developed and managed, with the expectation of massive adoption of new technologies over the next few years.

Alphabet’s Sidewalk Labs is undertaking an ambitious project to conduct an innovative transformation of a Toronto neighborhood, providing a fascinating glimpse into the smart city of the future. The company envisions converting a largely unused area in Toronto’s east end — formerly a shipping port and currently a patchwork of cement and dirt — into one of the world’s smartest communities. Sidewalk Labs is planning the area to be a place where driverless shuttle buses replace private cars, robots transport mail and garbage through underground tunnels, traffic lights measure and optimize the flow of pedestrians, vehicles, and bicyclists, and modular buildings can be expanded to accommodate the rising population and expansion of businesses.

If the Sidewalk Labs project in Toronto is successful, it will have an enormous effect on sustainability and quality of life in that neighborhood and may catalyze other cities to emulate the company’s development throughout the world.

Our cities are getting smarter, increasing the convenience and efficiency of urban life while leading the way to a more sustainable and cleaner planet for the future.

Written by Igor Ilunin, head of IoT at DataArt.

The Proliferation of Smart Cities was originally published in Hacker Noon on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.