Definition of Smart City

The idea of intelligence it has traditionally been associated with the human mind. In a very synthetic way, we can say that we are beings endowed with intelligence because we know how to solve problems of a certain complexity. However, in recent decades there has been talk of machines and smart cities. This last tag is a translation of the expression English "smart city".

An idea associated with new technologies

A city is smart when it is capable of providing viable solutions to the needs of the citizens who live in it. For this to be possible, an adequate technological design is necessary and the coordination of the different organisms that make up the city.

The skill applied in urban life, it is present in all kinds of areas: economic, social, recreational, energy and operational. Obviously, citizens play a leading role in the consolidation of this urban modality.

Cities are endowed with intelligence as long as certain requirements are met:

1) I respect to environmental sustainability criteria,

2) prudent, responsible and efficient management and

3) a correct analysis of the times used by citizens to carry out their procedures and travel.

These criteria must be accompanied by a fundamental idea: the citizen has to be the protagonist of the city.

In short, it is a city in which there is a harmony and coordination between three agents: the administration, companies and citizenship.

Illustrative examples

In a smart city, technological tools are decisive. Thanks to them it is possible to provide all kinds of services:

1) bring the mobile closer to a screen to buy objects,

2) through geolocation systems a traveler can choose which is the most appropriate route to reach a specific destination and

3) Police departments that use screens in which the different patrols appear and in this way can fight crime more quickly and effectively.

These and many other examples are viable because the complex urban reality is no longer in paper plans or in administration files but is at hand on a phone mobile.

A city for everyone

Universal accessibility is another of the fundamental aspects. In this sense, a smart city must be designed for all citizens, including those who have some type of of physical or sensory limitation (those who move in a wheelchair, the elderly, blind, deaf, etc.).

Photos: Fotolia - SK99 / Rob Goebel

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