Smart City Initiatives Research Articles

Contextualised guidelines and indicators for smart and sustainable urban project definition at local level in developing countries

Cities are undergoing significant transformations and face substantial challenges due to climate change and rapid urbanisation. Consequently, planning strategies around smart and sustainable urban development are key to addressing some of the most pressing challenges, such as climate change mitigation and adaptation, and improving resource efficiency. However, local governments have limited financial resources to achieve their development goals, and many times no criteria of sustainability are followed to define local projects. In this sense, it is necessary to include sustainable indicators that help local governments; in order to allow an efficient use of resources, ensure a greater impact and benefit for the citizens and residents of the area of intervention, as well as consolidate with them the established policy guidelines. This research is based on the work of MGI Morgenstadt Global Smart Cities Initiative in Piura-Peru, a project funded by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), with the primary objective to mitigate the consequences of climate change in the pilot cities, increase their resilience to climate risks, and preserve their natural resources. As part of this broader project, this paper seeks to define valuable contribution to sustainable principles oriented for the definition of urban development projects within the framework of the elaboration of the Metropolitan Development Plan Piura – Catacaos – Castilla – Veintiséis of Octubre 2020–2040. It explores the potential of science-based frameworks that consider sustainable aspects in the description of the project idea and strategies at the local level and provide relevant sustainability indicators for the measurement of the project scope regarding its outcomes and impacts. The methodology contributes to generating projects to transform Piura into a model city of ecological, economic and social sustainability, with accessible public spaces, adequate urban infrastructure designed for its inhabitants.

Connections between Big Data and Smart Cities from the Supply Chain Perspective: Understanding the Impact of Big Data

This study explores the impact of Big Data and smart city initiatives on supply chain management. The effects of smart cities and SCM integration on sustainable development are also examined. Big Data, smart cities, and supply chain characteristics have all received a significant amount of attention (supply network structure, governance mechanisms). Based on literature reviews, we created a comprehensive model for supply chains, Big Data, and smart cities. The study concluded that smart cities have various consequences for network architecture and governmental systems. Future research directions in supply chain management and smart cities are also addressed in this paper. A comprehensive model was developed that can be used to undertake empirical research on the implications of smart cities and Big Data on supply chain management and sustainable development in the future. Big Data, smart cities, and supply chains have more than merely causal interactions, and Big Data and smart cities will hugely impact sustainable development and SCM operations. Several studies have recently examined the use of information technology in supply chains, but few have specifically addressed smart cities and Big Data, according to literature analyses.

Improving Urban Resilience During COVID-19 Pandemic by Implementing Smart City Initiatives: A Case of Tangerang City, Indonesia

Many cities in Indonesia are prone to disasters, and the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic taught a lesson on how important for a city to be resilient to disaster. Previous studies indicated that smart city initiatives could improve a city’s resilience toward disasters. This paper sheds light on how implementing innovative initiatives can improve a city’s resilience toward disasters. We review the existing literature on smart city and resilient city concepts and conduct a focus group discussion with the representative of the local government of Tangerang city, Banten province of Indonesia, to understand how the city improves its resilience towards disaster by implementing smart city initiatives. The results indicate that city has developed various software applications and community engagement programs to break the chain of transmission. The results also suggest that city leadership and citizen engagement play an essential role in developing a smart and resilient city.

Sustainability of Smart Cities in Malaysia and the Philippines using ESG Model

Using the environmental, social and governance (ESG) model, this study examines the sustainability of local communities living in smart cities in Malaysia and the Philippines. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to 400 respondents living in smart cities in Malaysia and the Philippines. PLS-SEM was used to analyse the data using the Singapore smart city initiatives framework. Findings show that local communities' awareness, perception and readiness to participate in the smart city initiatives impact smart city sustainability. In line with SDG 11, towards a more sustainable city, the study provides micro-level data to show the significance of local communities who are ultimately the end-users. Keywords: smart cities, benchmarking, quality of life, SDG 11 eISSN: 2398-4287 © 2022. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under the responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians/Africans/Arabians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v7i22.4157

Humanoid robotic system for social interaction using deep imitation learning in a smart city environment

IntroductionA significant resource for understanding the prospects of smart development is the smart city initiatives created by towns all around the globe. Robots have changed from purely human-serving machines to machines communicating with humans through displays, voice, and signals. The humanoid robots are part of a class of sophisticated social robots. Humanoid robots can share and coexist with people and look similar to humans.MethodsThis paper investigates techniques to uncover proposals for explicitly deploying Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robots in a smart city environment. This paper emphasis on providing a humanoid robotic system for social interaction using the Internet of Robotic Things-based Deep Imitation Learning (IoRT-DIL) in a smart city. In the context of the IoT ecosystem of linked intelligent devices and sensors ubiquitously embedded in everyday contexts, the IoRT standard brings together intelligent mobile robots. IoRT-DIL has been used to create a free mobility mode and a social interaction mode for the robot that can detect when people approach it with inquiries. In direct contact with the actuators and sensors, robotic interface control is responsible for guiding the robot as it navigates its environment and answers questions from the audience.Results and discussionFor the robots to function safely, they must be monitored and enforced by a central controller using Internet of Robotic Things (IoRT) technology in an emergency. DIL aims to facilitate robot-human interaction by integrating deep learning architectures based on Neural Networks (NN) and reinforced learning methods. DIL focuses on mimicking human learning or expertise presentation to govern robot behavior. The robot's interaction has been tracked in a smart city setting, and its real-time efficiency using DIL is 95%.

The Social Digital Twin:The Social Turn in the Field of Smart Cities

Complexity theory has become a conceptual framework and a source of inspiration for Smart City initiatives. In addition to many other conceptions, the Urban Digital Twin (UDT) became both a concept and a tool for generating the revolutionary act of data-driven 3D city modeling. Indeed, the UDT has increased the ability of planners to make decisions vis-à-vis data-driven city models; at the same time, however, it has attracted criticism because of its focus on the physical dimensions of cities. In facing these challenges, we seek to join the conceptual and practical efforts to generate a social turn in the field of Smart Cities and urban innovation. Creating a UDT with a social focus, we maintain, is not only a 1:1 translation of the built environment into the social realm, but also demands interdisciplinary knowledge from the fields of sociology, anthropology, planning, and ethics studies. This article makes theoretical and methodological contributions. Theoretically, it discusses the potential contribution of the Social Urban Digital Twin (SUDT) to the theory of urbanism, enabling us to represent the physical and the social environments as a single fabric. Methodologically, it enhances the know-how of the City Analytics research community by advancing a six-phase protocol for developing SUDTs, each phase of which integrates technological conceptions and social-theoretical content. The phases of the SUDT protocol are demonstrated using a specific case study: the experience of elderly residents of the Haifa neighborhood of Hadar—a low-income neighborhood in Israel characterized by ethnic and national diversity—during the Coronavirus pandemic. We conclude by discussing the contributions and limitations of the SUDT.

SPubBin: Smart Public Bin Based on Deep Learning Waste classification An IOT system for Smart environment in Algeria

Over the past few years, Internet of things (IoT) has become one of the most important technologies of the 21st century. Nowadays, it is possible to connect different objects to the internet via embedded devices. By means of this technology, physical objects can share and collect data with minimal human contribution. In this inter-connected world, digital systems can record, monitor, and adjust each interaction between connected things. The IoT technologies support smart cities initiatives around the world in order to promote greener and safer urban environments, with cleaner air and water, and better public services and mobility. Smart environment is an inseparable part of smart cities. In our environment, wastes are objects that we put in the Bin. Waste management sorting and recycling are two central elements in the fight against climate change. Existing solid waste management policies and methods are being challenged by the exponential population expansion in urban areas. In fast-growing cities, where increasing garbage output exceeds the capacity of current facilities, the issue becomes even more difficult. Waste avoidance, recycling, reuse, and recovery are essential factors for reducing solid waste discharged in landfills, particularly in rapidly increasing cities where more sustainable management techniques are required. In smart home, effective household waste management is essential to building habitable cities however remains a challenge for many developing countries and cities. In this context, as any other important aspect of city management, a good waste disposal strategy plays a crucial role for making cities more glamorous. In this paper, a novel approach for waste sorting is proposed. Baptized SPubBin (Smart Public Bin), the presented solution is based on transfer learning, and uses, three CNNs models: VGG16, Dense201 and Resnet50. In order to validate the proposed approach, we have developed a tool supporting it.

SPubBin: Smart Public Bin Based on Deep Learning Waste classification An IOT system for Smart environment in Algeria

Over the past few years, Internet of things (IoT) has become one of the most important technologies of the 21st century. Nowadays, it is possible to connect different objects to the internet via embedded devices. By means of this technology, physical objects can share and collect data with minimal human contribution. In this inter-connected world, digital systems can record, monitor, and adjust each interaction between connected things. The IoT technologies support smart cities initiatives around the world in order to promote greener and safer urban environments, with cleaner air and water, and better public services and mobility. Smart environment is an inseparable part of smart cities. In our environment, wastes are objects that we put in the Bin. Waste management sorting and recycling are two central elements in the fight against climate change. Existing solid waste management policies and methods are being challenged by the exponential population expansion in urban areas. In fast-growing cities, where increasing garbage output exceeds the capacity of current facilities, the issue becomes even more difficult. Waste avoidance, recycling, reuse, and recovery are essential factors for reducing solid waste discharged in landfills, particularly in rapidly increasing cities where more sustainable management techniques are required. In smart home, effective household waste management is essential to building habitable cities however remains a challenge for many developing countries and cities. In this context, as any other important aspect of city management, a good waste disposal strategy plays a crucial role for making cities more glamorous. In this paper, a novel approach for waste sorting is proposed. Baptized SPubBin (Smart Public Bin), the presented solution is based on transfer learning, and uses, three CNNs models: VGG16, Dense201 and Resnet50. In order to validate the proposed approach, we have developed a tool supporting it.

Hybrid Approach for Developing Strategic ICT Framework for Smart Cities—A Case Study of Dubai’s Toll Gates (Salik)

Information and communication technologies (ICT), systems, and people are driving innovative approaches and actions to address issues such as urbanization, demographic change, and carbon footprints of cities. Current research on smart city technologies is typically focused on the areas of technology and applications. As a result, a holistic strategic framework is lacking, as partner organizations often fail to adopt and comply with the necessary interoperability standards, which can undermine the effective and rapid roll-out and transformation of smart city project strategies. This study aims to develop an ICT framework on the determinants of smart city adoption that is developed to help society and policymakers achieve the goals pursued under the smart city initiative, such as maximizing synergies between different ICT infrastructure activities and avoiding large-scale investments without increasing their potential or focusing on short-term solutions without considering long-term needs. Based on data from the literature review and expert interviews, combined with a case study of the United Arab Emirates, this paper identifies the relevant determinants, which are conceptually grouped into seven basic dimensions. For each of these dimensions, relevant sub-dimensions are specified. The framework was developed and validated through three methods: interviews with experts, a desktop study of 62 smart cities, and finally a case study of the Salik system in Dubai based on the concept of the framework. By identifying key adoption determinants, the framework provides a useful analytical perspective for policymakers and researchers involved in the strategic feasibility roll-out and transformation of smart cities.

Economic Impact of Smart City Investment: Evidence from the Smart Columbus Projects

We introduced a research framework for the economic impact assessment of smart city investment using a computable general equilibrium model. Smart Columbus, the first smart city initiative funded by the U.S. federal government to improve urban mobility in central Ohio, was adopted as a case study. The analysis shows that smart city investment has varying effects on the local economy during the construction and operational phases. In addition, the results of distributional impacts on household income suggest that social equity should be given more attention in future planning and decision-making on smart city development, both in Columbus and beyond.

Privacy Goals for the Data Lifecycle

The introduction of Data Protection by Default and Design (DPbDD) brought in as part of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in 2018, has necessitated that businesses review how best to incorporate privacy into their processes in a transparent manner, so as to build trust and improve decisions around privacy best practice. To address this issue, this paper presents a 7-stage data lifecycle, supported by nine privacy goals that together, will help practitioners manage data holdings throughout data lifecycle. The resulting data lifecycle (7-DL) was created as part of the Ideal-Cities project, a Horizon-2020 Smart-city initiative, that seeks to facilitate data re-use and/or repurposed. We evaluate 7-DL through peer review and an exemplar worked example that applies the data lifecycle to a real-time life logging fire incident scenario, one of the Ideal-Cities use cases to demonstrate the applicability of the framework.

An emergent taxonomy of boundary spanning in the smart city context – The case of smart Dublin

Smart cities emphasize the use of advanced technology to deliver better services to and improve the well-being of their residents. Since the administrative authorities that manage cities often lack the knowledge and skills needed to transform their operations in this way, smart city initiatives usually involve a complex set of actors, from local urban authorities and their technical departments to small and large IT firms, academics, and civic organizations, as well as individual citizens. Mediating organizations are often set up to coordinate and manage such interactions. However, little is known about the roles and activities of such bodies. Using data from the Dublin smart city projects, this study draws on the concept of boundary spanning to develop a taxonomy of the work of such intermediaries. Divided into technical, political, social, and cultural domains, the study demonstrates the critical role of the work done by such bodies in enhancing collaboration among and the participation of a diverse group of citizens, IT and digital strategy departments of local authorities, universities and local/international IT companies (e.g., Google, Facebook or Airbnb), leading to a bottom-up governance style of leading smart city initiatives and projects.

Secure advance metering infrastructure protocol for smart grid power system enabled by the Internet of Things

The incorporation of Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) into Smart Grid applications has piqued the interest of Internet of Things (IoT) experts, who have aided smart city initiatives. One of the fundamental building components of AMI for information sharing is wireless communication networks. Wireless communication networks are prone to a variety of security threats, which causes issues when developing the AMI system in smart city projects. Confidentiality, integrity, availability, and privacy are the primary criteria of cyber-physical systems such as AMI. To meet the needs of cyber-physical systems, we worked on a wireless communication protocol that solves data transmission dependability and data security while consuming little power and overhead. We proposed a novel Secure and Reliable AMI (SRAMI) protocol in this paper using a lightweight cryptographic technique and trust-based mechanism for reliability for Wireless Sensor Network (WSN)-assisted AMI. The trust-based approach presents a trustworthy data transfer technique between two communicating AMI entities. In this regard, the next-hop is chosen based on trust-evaluation characteristics such as energy expenditure, geographical distance, and bandwidth availability. Furthermore, a lightweight hybrid approach based on Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) is introduced to meet the data integrity and privacy requirements in the AMI network. SRAMI's performance was improved compared to state-of-the-art protocols in terms of throughput, Packet Delivery Ratio (PDR), average energy consumption, latency and communication overhead.

LIVEABLE CITY DIGITAL TWIN: A PILOT PROJECT FOR THE CITY OF LIVERPOOL (NSW, AUSTRALIA)

Abstract. In recent years, the concept of Digital Twin (DT) for cities is increasingly at the core of most smart city initiatives, as it has been identified as a critical tool for tackling the challenges of this century. A robust city modelling framework is essential if local, state and national governments are to move towards sustainable built environments and work together across complex multi-sectoral problems to drive impacts that improve urban liveability and climate adaptability. Furthermore, the level of collaboration and interoperability required to address these cannot be achieved without proper standardisation of DT components. The aim of this project is to develop a demonstration DT that integrates existing data using a standardised 3D format based on CityGML and that embeds analytics, such as sun exposure and tree coverage, to assess liveability within a 3D city modelling framework. Common urban features such as buildings, roads, railways, vegetation and water bodies are also processed and incorporated. Additionally, IoT sensors are integrated into the model and all processes are performed using open-source tools to improve accessibility and repeatability. Details of the workflow, including the storage of the city features in a 3D City Database (3DCityDB), the 3D upgrading of urban features commonly available as 2D data as well as a few use cases are illustrated and discussed in this paper.

PUBLIC SPACES UNDER THE SMART CITIES PARADIGM IN INDIA

Abstract. Rapid urbanization in the emerging economies leads to immense pressure on existing amenities and urban services, and hence the congregation of smart technologies, with efficient data-driven solutions are a desirable requisite for a better quality of life, thus forming the basis of Smart cities. The concept of a smart city is multi-dimensional and is a mix of multiple factors and indicators that constitute the core concept of sustainability. One of the key indicators of a smart city is active public spaces and their consolidated wholesome implications on well-being. Hence, addressing the consequences of smart city initiatives, with respect to the access to the public realm to engage, interact, share, and recreate, through extensive literature review and case-based study seemed of prime importance. This paper attempts to unpack the smart city paradigm in India, in conjunction with aspects of social sustainability, technological interventions, and the on-ground reality while learning about their implications on the quality of life, specifically, in the case of the marginalized groups. The literature review and case-based study of three Indian smart cities, namely New Delhi, Indore, and Bhopal have opened possibilities for the identification of factors responsible for the smartness of public spaces and a realization of the extent to which theoretical concepts translate from paper to ground realities, and their immediate implications on the ‘informal’ aspects and groups of our society.

The role of organizational capacity to foster digital transformation in local governments: The case of three European smart cities

Organizational capacity is required to explain what it takes for local governments to succeed in their digital transformation. However, the current literature largely ignores how local governments are adapting their organizational dynamics in order to change. This paper aims to contribute to better understanding how local governments enhance their organizational capacity to achieve digital transformation. We conduct a comparative case study that includes three cases of digital transformation through smart city initiatives in Milan, Barcelona, and Munich. Our findings show that these cities made decisions to enhance specific attributes of their organizational capacity mainly related to the dimensions of management (having a strategy, leadership, and a dedicated unit) and collaboration (public-private partnerships, collaboration with citizens, collaboration with other levels of government).

Weaving the Net: Making a Smart City Through Data Workers in Shenzhen

This article focuses on data workers in Shenzhen, who, since 2013, have been recruited to fill positions in the city’s Weaving the Net program (zhiwang gongcheng, 織網工程). The program, furthering both the expansion of city gridding management techniques and local experiments with China’s Social Credit system, is designed to generate a daily set of data to inform the city’s “Smart Brain”, and is a core way of managing the city’s “floating population”. In this article, we approach the grid management of Shenzhen and its connection with histories of Chinese social control through data workers themselves. We argue that data workers expand our understanding both the integration of human-technological assemblages into smart city initiatives and the labor of data generation for programs of state social control. Extending STS approaches to smart city infrastructure, we use the figure of the data worker to the present both familiar and distinctive characteristics of Chinese Smart City initiatives.

Is This a Good Idea? A Case Study on Civil Perception of Smart City Projects

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this research is to pursue a better understanding of citizens' needs in a fast‐changing medium‐sized town transitioning to a smart city. The investigation focuses on the citizens' perceptions of smart city projects, the use intensity of said projects, and further examines what other factors play a part in shaping a citizen's opinion on smart city initiatives concerning their hometown. It was discovered that the majority of citizens perceive smart city projects positively, even though the projects are rarely used. Their behaviour and opinion were not related to their age, gender, and education in contrast to claims from previous research. Citizens had positive perception of the city's offer to involve them in urban planning, but otherwise refrain from actively getting involved. This was mostly due to the fact that they either did not feel the need to do so or were not confident enough in their contribution.

From urban vitality to urban vitalisation: Trust, distrust, and citizenship regimes in a Smart City initiative

This paper presents a shift in attention from urban vitality to urban vitalisation as a process that reflects ongoing interactions between residents, communities, and urban government agencies. To explore urban vitalisation, we offer a conceptual framework connecting two theoretical terms, trust/distrust and citizenship regimes, and we ask in what ways relations between trust/distrust (of residents in their municipality) and citizenship regimes explain residents' engagement in smart urban vitalisation. To answer this question, we present a case study of a group of Haifa residents who used a digital platform to push for improvement in the ways the local government accommodated their needs. Based on our analysis, we make two arguments of potential interest to scholars and stakeholders involved in smart city initiatives. First, both trust and distrust can motivate residents' involvement in smart city initiatives. Second, examining trust and distrust in light of the relevant citizenship regime (individual-liberal and civic-republican) sheds light on relational and dynamic configurations of residents' involvement in the process of smart urban vitalisation.

Progress of Standardization of Urban Infrastructure in Smart City

After the Smart City initiative was put forward, cities all over the world started the pilot practice of developing Smart Cities. This triggered a series of thoughts: what is a Smart City, how do we determine the scope of work of a Smart City, and how do we formulate a new strategic agenda of the Smart City to make city smarter and more sustainable? The answer lies not only in finding Smart City solutions, but also leads to the research on the definition of Smart City terminology and the determination of corresponding tasks. Stakeholders of Smart City (e.g., policy makers, municipalities, solution providers, industry, and academia) develop technical and management standards for these tasks jointly. This paper reports the standardization planning on Smart City by the international standardization development organizations (SDOs), that is, the standardization framework of Smart City. It also presents one of the important aspects, namely, the progress of standardization activities on urban infrastructure that are being carried out by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) via its Study Group 20, in supporting the adoption of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in Smart City. These standards include the classification of urban infrastructure, the interoperability between urban infrastructure and smart city platforms, and the requirements of detailed infrastructure from the perspective of ICT and the Internet of things (IoT). This paper also provides the use cases of application of some standards in global cities.