Internet of Things A to Z

12Internet of Things Applications for Smart Cities

Daniel Minoli¹ and Benedict Occhiogrosso²

¹IoT Division, DVI Communications, New York, NY, USA

²Intellectual Property Division, DVI Communications, New York, NY, USA

12.1 Introduction

In 2008, the world's population reached a 50–50 split in the distribution of populations between urban and nonurban environments. At this juncture, we are witnessing an expansion of cities, as populations accelerate the transition from rural and suburban areas into urban areas driven by economic opportunities, demographic shifts, and generational preferences. Seventy percent of the human population is expected to live in cities by the year 2050. The largest growth in urban landscapes is occurring in developing countries. There are now more than 400 cities with over one million inhabitants and there are 20 cities with over 10 million people (Staff, 2016). In most instances, especially in the Western world, cities have aging infrastructure, such as roads, bridges, tunnels, rail yards, and power distribution plants. Some locations have experienced tremendous real estate development in recent years, yet the roads, water mains, sewers, power grids, and sometimes even communication links have seen no, or extremely limited, upgrades. The physical infrastructure that is in place in many cities is aging and, going forward, the services provided by such infrastructure may, in fact, be subject to temporary rationing as necessary, even emergency, upgrades ...