Smart Cities and Autonomous Driving

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What is a Smart City?

A smart city is a city that is better able to cope with the demands of an increasingly over-populated, more globalised world. A smart city is highly data-driven which demands world leaders to understand technology such as the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (A.I.), and the myriad of digital technologies now available.


The idea of a smart city originated as “a development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”1 A city is smart or sustainable when it is turned into a “self-sufficient, economic, social and environmental system.”2

Source: McKinsey & Company and Bloomberg

The Problem?

In terms of urban mobility challenges, it is forecast that by 2050 that 70% of the world’s population will reside in cities – which will mean:

  • Increase in carbon emissions by 5 times

  • Increase in the cost of living by 4 times

  • Increase travel time up to 3 times the current rate

Transport congestion, pollution, environmental sustainability and over-crowding will be issues to be contended with.

Source: Tesla

The Autonomous Vehicles Solution

To manage these problems, the Autonomous Vehicle (AV) presents itself, along with other modern technology, to exist to help make our lives easier. It is estimated that by 2040, four out of every ten vehicles on the road will be autonomous.3 Autonomous vehicles play a key role in addressing current challenges to develop smarter and safer cities. 4

Studies showing that AVs can:

  • Cut urban travel time by 1/3

  • Reduce greenhouse emissions by 2/3

  • Minimise the number of vehicles in already crowded cities by 30% 5

Source: Business Insider

To develop cities to make them “smart”, it entails making them more “inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.”6 This will involve considerations such as:

  • Need for higher data transfer speeds

  • Greater storage capacities

  • Better sensors

  • Faster vehicle-to-vehicle infrastructure exchanges 

We contend with modern technologies to alleviate the changing situation.

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Other Considerations
There will be relevant legal, social, and ethical implications correlated to autonomous vehicles such as:

  • Environmental impact

  • Regulating traffic and accidents

  • Consequent privacy and cybersecurity risks


In the Smart Cities and Autonomous Driving course, students will have to consider all of these challenges in their application of robotics.

 

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Citation

1. Autonomous Vehicles for Smart and Sustainable Cities: An In-Depth Exploration of Privacy and Cybersecurity Implications, Hazel Si Min Lim and Araz Taeihagh, National University of Singapore
2. Ibid
3. Autonomous Driving: The Emerging Battlefield, www.accenture.com
4. How Autonomous Vehicles Are Driving Change for Smarter Cities, www.information-age.com
5. Ibid
6. United Nations (UN), 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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