Towards Smart Cities: Challenges, Components, and Architectures

Abstract

Smart City is a new technology that is based on the concept of the Internet of Things (IoT). The rapid increase in population and urbanization worldwide have increased the basic ways to manage urbanization, with maximum impact on the environment and lifestyle of the occupants. The prior integration of new information and communication technologies (ICTs) into urban operations has promoted the concepts of digital cities. The design of the Internet of Things for Smart Cities resulted in ensuring smart cities’ goals with minimum human interactions. The smart city is provided as the best solution to face the challenges associated with the exponential increase in population and urbanization. However, in recent years, the concept of a smart city is still evolving and not being integrated into the world due to financial and technological hurdles. This document aims to provide a knowledge platform on the concept of the smart city. The work presents a brief overview of this concept, followed by its characteristics, architecture, composition, and implementation in the real world. Finally, we expose some challenges and opportunities during a literature review on smart cities.