【World Tide of Technological Innovation】

　　◎Our reporter Liu Xia

　　A smart city refers to a city that uses related technologies and sensors to collect data for coordinated resource management.

Technologies include the well-known artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things, as well as emerging technologies such as 5G, smart parking, and blockchain. The US "Forbes" biweekly website has described the future technology prospects of smart city construction in a recent report.

　　Smart Parking System

　　Smart parking systems provide feasible solutions to parking management problems in scarce urban areas.

This innovation will allow citizens to book parking spaces through a mobile app, reducing the time spent searching for parking spaces, maximizing traffic pressure on cities, reducing carbon footprints and saving fuel.

　　In order to solve the problem of parking difficulties, a German company invented an intelligent parking system, which only occupies the space of two parking spaces, but can park 15 vehicles.

The parking system takes up little space, can be built in just 5 days, and has been popular since its launch.

　　water saving technology

　　Water scarcity was listed by the World Economic Forum in 2019 as one of the world's greatest potential risks in the next decade, and water is becoming a precious and scarce resource.

Optimizing water use with real-time weather data and IoT will become mainstream.

Water conservation is critical to ensuring water for future generations, and humanity should utilize technology to maximize water conservation.

　　According to reports, IoT solutions are expected to have a positive impact on water consumption of nearly 230 billion cubic meters by 2030, with approximately 35% of the impact coming from improved smart (water) grid operations.

　　self-driving car

　　Achieving self-driving cars that operate autonomously will fundamentally change the way smart cities operate.

With self-driving cars, smart cities will be able to automate many aspects of transportation, which will have a profound impact on people's access to food, medicine and other necessities.

　　Toyota's self-driving platform e-Palette adopts pure electric drive and is equipped with self-developed self-driving system. Mobile commercial space for catering, entertainment and other functions.

　　Intelligent Traffic Management System

　　Intelligent traffic management systems will create safer and more livable cities.

Leveraging cloud-based software reduces operational barriers between transportation systems and first responders, integrates integrated command centers, and reduces emergency response times with smart sensors to save lives more efficiently.

　　A network of smart traffic lights in Barcelona, ​​Spain, will, along with other facilities, provide "green light" routes for emergency services, allowing vehicles such as ambulances and fire trucks to deliver emergency assistance faster.

　　Smart Environmental Management

　　Smart environmental management relies on artificial intelligence and innovative climate and geospatial technologies driven by data analytics, which have the potential to improve responses to climate change and enhance the overall environmental quality of smart cities.

　　New York State's "Next Generation Water Management Program" installs sensors throughout the Hudson River.

These sensors transmit the physical, chemical and biological data of the river to the computing center in the background in real time through the network.

Data is continuously generated like flowing water, processed continuously, and compared with historical data to restore and maintain its clear water and beautiful environment.

　　Interconnection by Mesh Networking

　　As the Internet of Things explodes, technologists are testing new network architectures to handle the surge in data volumes that will inevitably come with the increase in the number of connected devices, one of which is the increasingly popular mesh network.

　　In cities such as New York, mesh networks make the Internet accessible to everyone.

Buildings throughout the city "turn" into a series of interconnected router nodes and Internet exchange points, highly secure and decentralized, systems that maintain communication in the event of a failure of the wider Internet infrastructure.

　　5G

　　5G technical specifications call for speeds at least 10 times faster than current 4G networks, with lower latency, lower battery power and the ability to handle more connections from a single radio.

　　Ernst & Young found that 56% of businesses in the UK plan to invest in 5G within three years.

More than a new wireless standard, 5G has the potential to transform the future of communications, enabling the next generation of augmented and virtual reality and the rapid development of the metaverse, making people's digital lives richer, more connected, and more collaborative.

　　Pollution and Noise Control Technology

　　Today, there is growing concern about the severe impact of poor air quality on human health, and innovative tools to control and reduce pollution and noise deserve special attention.

Megacities are beginning to be plagued by smog, but smart city technology is able to sound the alarm and take steps to stabilize environmental conditions.

　　British scientists have developed a new air quality measurement device that can "scan" the sky over cities.

The device can be mounted on satellites to provide detailed information on harmful gases in the air.

　　blockchain

　　Blockchain technology is critical to creating safer, more transparent, more efficient and more resilient cities.

The use of blockchain technology in smart cities can play a key role in city development and management, solving some social issues and improving day-to-day operations.

　　Taking "smart Dubai" as an example, the government hopes to make Dubai the happiest and smartest city in the world with the help of blockchain technology. In various fields such as finance, education and transportation, use cases for developing blockchain are emerging.

　　At present, with the blessing of the above-mentioned technologies, there are no less than 200 smart city projects in the world, and Toyota of Japan is also building a new generation of smart city "woven city", which plans to fully deploy robots, autonomous driving, artificial Intelligence and other cutting-edge technologies.

　　According to Forbes, the above technologies enable people to interact in a more connected, automated and intelligent way, with easier access to efficient services, lower carbon footprints and cost of living for citizens, improved safety and better protection environment and improve quality of life.