Page 37 - Seniors Today - August 21 Issue

combination of data and digital
Electromagnetic car parking sensors can indicate where
open parking is located on city streets
Now that we have the background, let us
see what it means. By installing sensors
in the streets that identify empty parking
slots, proactively inform the motorists
about traffic jams, offer an estimated time
to public commuters, promptly getting
an ambulance in case of an emergency,
measure air, and water quality. The
sensors could reduce the amount of street
lighting when there aren’t any people
around and thus save electricity. A smart
city uses GPS sensors to improve the
urgent medical needs of its citizens. Even
the traffic lights detect ambulances and
urgent needs of any vehicular traffic.
Emergency services can manoeuvre
more smoothly throughout the city
and avoid any traffic mess! Using the
data, the citizens can send information
about broken potholes, malfunctioning
streetlights, overflowing dustbins, broken
sewage, etc. That way, the authorities
can send out a team to fix the issue as
soon as it is spotted. The data collected
on a real-time basis about all kinds of
things like traffic, water, air quality, and
solar radiation. With this information,
the government can be on ‘its feet’ to
solve nearly any problem in real time by
maximising social inclusion.
Smart cities offer an unparalleled
SENIORS TODAY | ISSUE #26 | AUGUST 2021
technology to make better decisions
and improve the quality of life. More
comprehensive, real-time data explains
how demand patterns are changing and
responds promptly and appropriately.
Some cities have the edge over others in
starting their transformational journey
with some inherent advantages – deep
pockets, lower per-capita population
density, and willingness to invest in
high-touch technologies. But even places
that lack this support can set themselves
apart with the vision to innovate and
adapt, good management, and a relentless
commitment to meeting the needs of
residents. In such cases, I would argue
that their canvas has a lot of blank space
to innovate to bring new technology on
board. In addition, the opportunities to
engage with the citizens are immense.
Individuals should be empowered to
shape the future of the cities they call
home.
Smart cities across the globe are at
the crossroads where cutting-edge
technology and urban planning would
have to co-exist, supporting each other to
make it more profound.
The bottom line is that Innovative
adaptation helps smart cities and model
them as evolving organisms that must
respond to challenges the environment
presents. Smart cities created by their
CITIZENS produce better outcomes
for their CITIZENS! It is the capacity
to adapt that makes a city smart, not
so much a particular set of resources
that it can deploy to do so. Let us not
forget that natural adaptation requires
a degree of sustainability. After all, it is
the COLLECTIVE INTELLIGENCE that
leads to COLLECTIVE WISDOM.
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