Smart cities have been making headlines recently by providing alternatives to the current state of unsustainability of many major cities across the globe. But the concepts behind smart cities have many city dwellers asking what a sustainable future would really look like when applied to their city. So let’s take a look at what makes up a “smart city.”

Energy

The root cause of many cities’ unsustainability is their energy practices. A major problem is the high level of carbon emissions resulting from the powering of homes and vehicles. In a smart city, all energy would be sourced from sustainable practices. For example, this may include outfitting homes with solar panels, allowing the area to be powered by solar radiation. This would make homeowners and renters energy independent, giving them control over their homes’ power. Another alternate solution to unsustainable energy practices is nuclear energy, where a very small plant could power an entire metropolitan area.

Transportation

Another major contributor to unsustainable living is the emissions resulting from the use of gas-powered vehicles. Several techniques could be used to cut down on these emissions. Electric public transportation could provide the citizens of smart cities with free and efficient transport, dramatically reducing carbon emissions. This could come in the form of an electric subway system, electric bus system, or even a free-use bike and scooter service. In addition, gas-powered vehicles could be phased out in favor of electric vehicles. While still keeping an autocentric city-wide architecture, carbon emissions could be significantly reduced. 

Alternatively, cities could be redesigned in favor of “walkability”: decreasing the need to use vehicles. In smart cities, citizens would be able to access all of the majority of their needs such as food markets, hardware stores, and many other facilities within walking distance of their homes. By making it possible for people to walk to most services, smart cities could prove extremely eco-friendly.

Waste Reduction

Within the artificial intelligence sector, many development teams have been researching the application of machine learning in order to reduce the amount of waste generated by cities. Using machine learning technology, garbage bins could be trained to recognize, classify, and sort waste into their most eco-friendly mode of disposal. They could sort waste into groups to be taken to permanent disposal sites, to be recycled, or to be composted. Through this technology, smart cities could be far more waste efficient than normal cities.

Food Sources

Smart cities also aim to eliminate sources of unsustainability, and one of the larger contributors to this is agricultural production. Land destruction, pesticide usage, and fertilizer runoff are all major dangers to the environment. In order to curb these sources of environmental degradation, lawns could be converted into gardens in which food crops could be cultivated. Lawns waste water, contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, and provide little benefit to society other than aesthetics. By converting lawns to personal gardens, homes could become food independent, the cost of food could be drastically reduced, and the environmental impact of the agricultural sector within that city could be decreased.

The Future of City Planning

The future of city planning could be drastically different thanks to these ideas. Several cities are already implementing smart strategies such as St. Louis, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. As technologies advance, smart cities may soon become the future of sustainable living for urbanites across the world.