The Future Possibilities and Security Challenges of City Digitalization

Abstract

To adapt to current changes, such as globalization, climate change, and demographic growth, modern cities must embrace the digitalization of city management. In this paper, we examine a concept for digitalizing a city based on Rotterdam’s digital twin showcase. Data-processing frameworks for different sources of data are presented. Security risks and the potential of smart cities for military usage are discussed. Lastly, using an example of available datasets for air quality and public lighting consumption, functions of the Rotterdam digital twin are compared with the Brno city digital platform. It was found that every city has its approach to digitalization, and it is probably impossible to unify every city’s digitalization process. This means that the digitalization of the city is very individual. Both systems in their current form make it possible to visualize the collected data about the city. So far, however, these systems do not use advanced functions such as AI-assisted decision-making and prediction of various events in the city. Even so, they are a source of very interesting data that can be used by third parties.