By 2050 the world’s population is expected to reach 10 billion, and nearly 70
per cent of these people will live in cities. The cities of the future will be
smarter and more comfortable to cope with a growing population and improve
appropriately people’s lives.
A smart city will be established and a wide range of modern technologies are
going to be used to provide services, solve problems and support people’s lives.
AI technologies, such as cameras and smart sensors, will be installed
everywhere in public spaces to help the city operate more effciently. For
example, smart street infrastructure with sensor technology such as smart
parking can help drivers find a parking space and also allow for digital
payment. Additionally, the sensors and cameras installed densely will keep the
security for the cities by reducing the crime rate.
In the future, traffic jam will be a serious problem in many big cities around
the world. Therefore, with the development of new technologies, they can assit
in predicting changes in the traffic and warning people of possible traffic jams.
Moreover, the modern infrastructures such as trams, electric buses and the
underground will allow city dwellers to get around more easily.
In addition, smart devices will help save energy, reduce air pollution and fight
climate change. For example, street lights can turn off when the streets are
empty, and sensors can inform waste collection teams when the bins are full.
Cities of the future will not only be convenient but also will be more
sustainable. A green city will be designed to reduce the negative impact on the
environment and more than fifty per cent of it will be made up of green areas.
Besides, a number of solutions are given to cope with the natural issues thanks
to the advent of technologies. For example, vertical farming can be applied to
solve the lack of spaces in big cities and people can also grow vegetables in the
roof gardens of high-rise buildings. And the biggest vertical farming benefit is
the fact it's not dependent on the weather - meaning you can achieve year-
round crop production without worrying about the impact adverse weather
conditions can have both on quality and profiling of production and yield so
that we can ensure the resources of food for all citizens.
As people will care more about the environment, most cities will use renewable
and clean energy. Furthermore, eco-friendly public transport will produce less
carbon dioxide or waste, and the transport systems like electric buses and trains
will be controlled professionally by computers.
Besides some fascinating things about an ideal city in the future, it supposes to
have some potential limitations. Firstly, some smart technologies are difficult
to use, and without training, city dwellers will not get to know how to use
them. As a result, they find it difficult to get familiar with these tools and can’t
make full use of them.
Secondly, when cameras are installed everywhere in public spaces to collect
information about residents and their activities for security purposes, city
dwellers will lose their right to privacy. They may think that someone is
watching them all the time, they are sick and tired of being followed
everywhere.
Moreover, they are worried that their personal information might not be
protected, and they might become victims of cybercrime. They will use this
data for bad purposes like blackmailing us to give them money or sell our
information to suspicious organizations so that we can’t avoid the terrible
consequences.
Finally, because of the development of smart devices, people tend to spend less
time on interacting with others face to face, just once in a blue moon. This
can lead to a loss of sense of community in their neighborhood and also make
them feel lonelier than any previous generations. Their social circle will narrow
down and the relationships can fade away. That’s such a pity thing.
In short, besides some drawbacks, we can’t deny the merits of a smart city as it
gives us such a comfortable life. To compare with the life in the past, we can
easily recognize that our living standard are outstanding. So we need to make
full use of these functions in smart city and also learn how to use them
efficiently.
The future is now, and we are creating it, step by step. Thank you for watching
