What are the fears around data while exploring potential use cases to demonstrate the value for the ‘smart citizen’? Here is a look.
With The United Nations reporting that two-thirds (68%) of the world’s population are expected to live in cities by 2050, scientists are seeking new and innovative ways to improve the quality of life in our urban jungles. With a recent death in the UK linked to illegal levels of air pollution, it’s more important than ever to utilise technology that drives progress and innovates to develop a more sustainable future – creating smart cities.
Weiterlesen: Are citizens prepared for the data implications of smart cities?
Our cities are getting smarter. Look around any modern metropolis, and you’ll see hundreds of Smart devices. Devices that provide better convenience, increase our safety, enable connectivity anywhere, reduce our traffic jams, improve our economy – all with a view to improving the quality of life for all.
But with this tech revolution comes a need to change how our cities are powered – to get rid of all that cable and wiring that brings with it costly and disruptive construction. These smart devices are digital, and require very little electricity – that old security camera that needed 200W, now runs on your phone, and needs perhaps 1-10% of the power that it used to.
Weiterlesen: Smart Cities Are Going Green Because It Costs Less
This is the first in a series of posts discussing concepts of a "smart city" and the privacy implications of living in such an environment. Looking back gives us time to reflect, and knowing the path we took to get to a place can give us a feel for why we wanted to be there in the first place. Knowing why we built cities may help us to build better, truly smarter cities today.
In a series of posts, I will talk about the concept of a “smart city” and the privacy implications of living in such an environment. To build up a picture of what the privacy implications of smart living are, I will look back at how human beings came to live in cities in the first place. As we move into a near-future where data and the Internet of Things (IoT) will run our cities, looking back to look forward may help us design better places to live.
Weiterlesen: Smart City Privacy : Our Past, Who We Are and Why We Live This Way
Smart cities are all the hype these days. Everyone from urban planners to private companies have been throwing the two words around lately, as a common aspiration for metropolitan cities in the coming years. It comes tied with a bunch of other complicated concepts, from the Internet of Things (IoT), to 5G, autonomous transportation and information and communication technology (ICT).
While it all sounds complicated, we already see plenty of early smart city traits blooming in cities like Singapore, Dubai, New York and Shanghai today, amongst many more. You probably have the key to smart citizenship right in your hands too – your phone, which unlocks a bright and exciting future ahead.
Cities may make the brain more susceptible to mental-health conditions, notably depression, anxiety, and schizophrenia. A study from 2011, published in the magazine Nature, shows that city inhabitants have a stronger reaction to stressors than those living elsewhere. The study shows that the agitation that city-dwellers experience can be linked to public transportation delays and traffic jams. It also shows that urbanites are less able to cope with negative emotions than people living in rural areas. In research from 2010, Peen, Schoevers, Beekman, and Dekker demonstrate a strong correlation between urban life and poor mental health. Although it’s challenging to determine precisely how a complex environment such as a city affects the brain, scientists are investigating the differences in the way that people living in cities and rural areas process stressful situations.
Weiterlesen: How do we design smart cities to ensure the health of its citizens?