Edge Computing Is So Fun - Part 3: Help Save The Planet With Smart Cities

Figure 1. Singapore was ranked №1 on the Institute for Management Development’s 2020 Smart City Index Report. Credit: International Case Studies of Smart Cities

This is the third in a series of articles on edge computing, what is a smart city, why we need the smart city, smart city challenge, a transportation system for the future, climate-smart city, technology solutions for smart city, and what do we do now. You can read part 1 here and part 2 here.

What is a Smart City?

Figure 2. A Highway That Goes Through A Building. Gate Tower, Osaka, Japan. Credit: Osaka-info.jp

When we think of a smart city, many of us will think of the future city just like how they depicted it in the science fiction movies: a city filled with high-rise buildings, roads going through buildings (Please see Figure 2), and autonomous vehicles, etc. While some of it might be true, science fiction might have given rise to misconceptions about smart cities. So what is a smart city? According to Wikipedia, “A smart city is an urban area that uses different types of electronic methods and sensors to collect data. Insights gained from that data are used to manage assets, resources, and services efficiently; in return, that data is used to improve the operations across the city.”

However, a smart city is not just about data and technology. It is about using technology to solve problems, provide better services, and make life better for everyone. For some cities, it is about improving transportation and accessibility, improving social services, and promoting sustainability. 

Why We Need Smart City

Figure 3. Urbanization over the last 500 years. Credit: Our World in Data.

Since the industrial revolution, more and more people are moving away from rural areas into urban areas. The pace of migration into the urban areas has accelerated in the last twenty years and has exasperated the problems such as pollution, housing, and traffic jams, etc. Please see Figure 3. 

Figure 4. The number of people living in urban and rural areas worldwide. Credit: Our World in Data.

Over half of the world’s population currently lives in urban areas, and by 2050 that is projected to increase to 75%. Please see Figure 4. Traffic jams are getting worse, the public transportation system is failing and cities are overcrowded and polluted. People are getting fed up with it. With an ever-growing population, it is time to start designing smarter urban environments before it is too late.

Smart City Challenge

Figure 5. Smart City Challenges. Credit: US DOT

Back in 2015, the United States Department of Transportation (US DOT) launched the Smart City Challenge program, asking mid-sized cities across America to submit ideas on how to create a smart transportation system that would use data, applications, and technology to help people and goods move faster, cheaper, and more efficiently. But the Smart City Challenge was about more than just technology. The program called on cities to define their most pressing transportation problems and propose solutions that could meet the needs of residents of all ages and bridging the digital divide so that everyone can be connected to everything their city has to offer.

The US DOT received 78 applications. While each city is different, they faced similar urban mobility challenges: traffic congestion, public transportation to support underserved communities to work, inefficient parking system creating more traffic, movement of goods in and out of a city affected by traffic gridlock, lack of open systems and coordination to share data across the systems, and limiting the impacts of climate change. Please see Figure 5. 

A Transportation System For The Future

If the former President, Dwight D. Eisenhower is still alive, he is probably shocked to see that the U.S. interstate system he championed is so congested today. What was supposed to be the network of high-speed roads are not able to handle the traffic brought on by the urbanization in America.

Figure 6. Traffic jam on San Francisco Bay Bridge. Credit: spur.org

Many cities in the US are facing similar problems. Housing inequality has forced many workers to live further away from where they work. Traffic jams are getting worse and the daily commute to work is getting longer and longer. Even though many people would like to take public transportation to work instead of driving on the road but public transit is not reliable. Many cities realized that it is time to overhaul the transportation system.

To make the transportation system more efficient, cities need to collect, process, analyze, and share data. Using cameras and sensors, data can be collected on the movement of vehicles, reliability of public transit, and pedestrian and bicycle traffic. By establishing open data platforms and inviting citizens to participate, crowdsourced data from smartphone users can be used to improve traffic efficiency. Here are some examples of how data is being used to make daily commutes faster and less frustrating.

Many smartphone navigation apps are already providing real-time alerts to delays and help drivers choose the fastest route. On average, 30% of the traffic in the cities is caused by drivers looking for parking space. With smart-parking apps pointing drivers directly to available spots, drivers will spend less time looking for parking space. For public transit riders, using digital signage or mobile apps to deliver real-time information about delays enables them to adjust their routes on the fly. Sensors on existing physical infrastructure can help alert cities to fix problems before they turn into breakdowns and delays.

The examples above will help reduce carbon pollution. Depending on the city, these smart-mobility apps can also reduce commute time by 15 to 20 percent and save commuters an average of 15 to 30 minutes a day. 

Climate-Smart City

With over half of the world’s population lives in cities, the concentration of large numbers of people and the ecosystems built around their lives has been a contributor to climate change. According to a new report from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), cities are responsible for 70% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Figure 7: Green buildings reduce pollution. Credit: Park Royal Collection

There are a number of things cities can do to make their cities climate-smart  —  electrified public transportation and adding more green spaces like rooftop gardens for urban cooling, etc. See Figure 7. But to combat climate change, cities will need to do more to reduce carbon emissions.

By installing a variety of environmental sensors, cities can detect everything from air quality to road temperatures and conditions. The air quality sensors can help to identify the sources of pollution and provide real-time air quality information to the public. This will help to reduce both carbon emissions and negative health effects.

Technology Solutions For Smart City

Figure 8. Hardware solution with 4G/LTE and 5G technology from Supermicro, based on Converged Edge Reference Architecture (CERA), supports compute-heavy edge AI use cases, including traffic analytics and air quality monitoring, etc. Credit: Supermicro.

There is a wide range of approaches to resolving problems facing cities around the world as every city has its own priorities when it comes to smart cities. To support a variety of use cases, we need a smart city solution that is flexible and scaleable.

With a flexible hardware platform, it can support different hardware such as air quality, temperature, and camera sensors to capture data and image processing hardware such as Video Processing Unit (VPU) card to process the data. Please see Figure 8.

Figure 9. The SkyLab MEC platform interfaces with sensors, processes data at the edge, and connects to cloud infrastructure for easy management and admin control. Credit: Skylab.

To work in tandem with the flexible hardware platform, we also need a scaleable Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) platform to enable different types of smart city applications like the one in Figure 9. With the different interface options, it can support 4G, LTE, or 5G network connection. The ability to support multiple applications enables cities to combine different workloads on a common platform which helps to reduce complexity and operation costs.

What Do We Do Now?

A smart city alone is not going to save the planet but it will help to reduce carbon emissions. As the smart city is still in its infancy, it will be hard to gauge how much it can help in limiting the impact on climate change. However, the learnings from the pilot projects such as the Smart City Challenge supported by the US DOT have provided useful insights for cities that are interested in implementing smart service. Applying data is critical to the success of the smart city and how cities manage the data will determine their success.

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References

Intelligent Road Infrastructure eBook
"Transportation is in many ways the lifeblood of our society. Cities have historically been transportation hubs and…www.intel.com

Smart City Challenge: Lessons for Building Cities of the Future
DOT is committed to ensuring that information is available in appropriate alternative formats to meet the requirements…www.transportation.gov