Concept-Oriented Research and Development in Information Technology

14

Smart Urban Infrastructure as an Enabler of the Integration of Resident-Oriented Services

Yukio Toyoshima and Michinaga Kohno

Hitachi, Ltd., Tokyo, Japan

Abstract

This chapter describes an approach to smart cities, which are being developed throughout the world to meet the demographic trend of urbanization. This approach, termed smart urban infrastructure, provides a common platform, which accommodate different applications for urban life services provided to the residents. The core of the common platform resides in the fusion of control and information systems, which forms city management infrastructure. Examples of smart city development projects in Japan, China, Spain, and Hawaii are also described.

14.1 Introduction

The twenty-first century has brought with it three new global trends in urban development:

1. A trend that has emerged against the background of an international consensus on the need to adopt low-carbon lifestyles on a global basis in response to the threat of global warming, toward development of low-carbon cities that reduce the amount of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emitted by urban activity [1].

2. A trend that has developed as a consequence of the economic progress occurring in the emerging markets of Asia, particularly China, as well as in South America and elsewhere, toward the concentration of population in cities and the associated new construction of large cities [2].

3. A trend toward health-focused urban development in response to the aging of urban populations ...