Enterprise IoT

Chapter 6. Smart City

The smart city is a very interesting possible application of the IoT. In this chapter, we will examine some of the key drivers of the smart city, as well as the corresponding relevance of the IoT. We will then take a look at a case study of the smart city in action.

Key Drivers

Global megatrends such as population growth, urbanization, climate change, and resource limitations are placing considerable pressure on cities around the world. Population growth and urbanization, in particular, threaten to aggravate existing problems like congestion, crime, smog, and aging public infrastructure.

Cities are becoming increasingly important in a global context. This is due to a trend toward urbanization, which means that, in the future, more and more people will live in urban areas. As a result, the majority of resources will be consumed in urban areas, giving cities the greatest potential to implement measures for the conservation of these resources.

Life in cities is becoming increasingly complex. This is because sectors such as mobility and energy are merging and becoming interconnected, a development that is partly driven by new communication technologies. Complex challenges faced by cities, such as reducing CO2 emissions and securing energy supply, require integrated solutions that are aligned with the interdependencies that exist between individual sectors and silos.

Human behavior is also changing. This can be seen most clearly in areas such as mobility. The ...