What is a smart city - a high-tech city that functions sophisticatedly and intelligently?

In recent years, with the full use of IoT, AI and big data from both the public and private sectors, there has been a shift toward a "cross-sectoral type" that comprehensively links and optimizes multiple fields such as transportation, tourism, disaster prevention, health, medical care, energy and the environment, and "MaaS" that sees mobility as a service is an example.

Nowadays, "smart mobility," such as connected cars, and "smart grid," which is the next generation power grid, are both separated into different fields. Currently we are in the process of integrating “Smart” into a single platform to achieve seamless management and operation of each infrastructure.

In order for smart cities to function and develop "sustainably" as defined, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism requires not only government-led public infrastructure development, such as transportation, power, and telecommunications, but also collaboration among technology developers and service providers, urban developers, city managers, residents, and local businesses. In many countries, creating a dedicated management system is a new trend in “smart city” concept, for the purpose of supporting the next generation of IoT technology (seeds) from the private sector to constantly match the needs of local governments and residents.

Examples of Smart city Initiatives

Europe and the United States are taking the lead when it comes to the realization of smart cities, but in Asia, the progress of China and Singapore seem to be experiencing a rapid increase in recent years. In this section, we will introduce examples of smart cities in the United States, the Netherlands, and China, which are in the advanced groups, as well as ongoing initiatives in Japan.

New York City, USA: Citywide Gigabit Communications Available! LinkNYC.

Source: LinkNYC

New York is a city that is making progress in all areas of smart city projects, but one of the most internationally acclaimed is LinkNYC, a next-generation urban communications infrastructure.

By replacing the old public phone booths that were "obsolete" due to the widespread use of mobile phones with "high-speed Wi-Fi bases" equipped with Android tablets and 55-inch HD displays with gigabit high-speed Internet, antennas, and information apps, New York has evolved into the world's top communications city where citizens and tourists can use the Internet in a "smart" way.

The tablet provides access to maps and route information, as well as free phone calls to anywhere in the United States. The LinkNYC network currently has 6 million unique users and a cumulative total of 8.6TB (the equivalent of about 1.3 billion songs) of data. According to Intersection, the most frequently searched words are "jobs, housing, sanitation, and public benefits," you can see that for New Yorkers, LinkNYC is more than just a handy tool; it's part of a "lifeline" that's essential to their lives.

"ASC Program" in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. To become the world's most energy-efficient city.

Amsterdam is the first city in Europe to realize an intelligent city and to promote the Amsterdam Smart City (ASC) program. The key idea is to change the energy consumption behavior of citizens. In order to create a smart city that is capable of both improving energy efficiency and the quality of life for the people of Japan, thorough reforms are being pushed forward, from how energy is made to how it will be used. Specifically, the program will be measured in the following four areas:

1.Sustainable Living: The introduction of smart meters to visualize power consumption and promote changes in citizens' environmental awareness and power usage behavior (lifestyle)

2.Sustainable Working: Converting to smart buildings with improved lighting, heating, cooling and security features and reducing energy usage

3.Sustainable Transport: Electric charging between ports and ships, the widespread use of EV vehicles, and expansion of charging points

4.Sustainable Public Space: The use of EVs for garbage collection and the introduction of solar-powered garbage compactors

Hangzhou, China - Traffic jams have disappeared! 'ET Urban Brain' developed by Alibaba

The city of Hangzhou was a quiet ancient capital on the shores of West Lake, beloved by literary artists and calligraphers, and with many narrow, single-lane roads, even an accident could instantly cause traffic jams and paralyze the entire city. Especially since there was no subway system until 2012, citizens had to take buses or taxis, which took a lot of time to get around. As a result, air pollution, which impedes not only daily life but also the landscape of scenic spots, which badly impact the inbound demand.

ET Urban Brain is an AI-powered traffic control solution, the main functions are

・Traffic flow is adjusted by signal control to prevent and control the occurrence of traffic congestion.

・The signal is switched to "blue" when an ambulance or other emergency vehicle is moving, shortening the arrival time.

・The system automatically recognizes traffic violations and accidents from surveillance camera images and calls the police in an emergency.

Traffic flow is adjusted by signal control to prevent and control the occurrence of traffic congestion. The signal is switched to "blue" when an ambulance or other emergency vehicle is moving, shortening the arrival time. The system automatically recognizes traffic violations and accidents from surveillance camera images and calls the police in an emergency. While similar traffic control and monitoring systems are being gradually introduced in Japan, in the case of ET Urban Brain, for example, in the event of a major accident, the signals in the predetermined emergency vehicle lanes will turn "green" in all cases. As a result, the average speed of emergency vehicles increased by 50 percent and arrival times improved, more than 15 minutes faster, reducing the time by less than half.

In addition to the early resolution of traffic congestion, the system also contributes to the prevention of secondary damage and the improvement of the life-saving rate for those at the time of the accident. In the event of a fire, the system notifies the local fire department of the location of the fire, the condition of the surrounding roads, and the presence or absence of large combustible materials such as gasoline, oil, and gunpowder. In addition, the system shares the photo, audio, and text data from the arriving fire brigade with the emergency services, police, water, and power companies.

ET Brain, which will play a central role in the security management and maintenance of the city of the future, now automatically controls a quarter of Hangzhou's intersections and has begun trials in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which suffers from the same severe traffic congestion as Suzhou and Hangzhou.

Initiatives for Smart Cities in Japan

In the previous section, I touched on the framework of the Smart City Concept outlined by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, and the following four cities selected by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry for the Next Generation Energy and Social System Demonstration Project are currently undergoing projects led by private companies. We are seeing some improvement after the project implementation such as reducing CO2 emissions, so here we introduce two major initiatives.

・Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture

・Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture

・Kyoto Prefecture Keihanna Gakken City

・Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture

Yokohama City: Progress of smart projects with energy reform at the core

Yokohama City, the second largest city in Japan with 3.73 million people, has implemented a total of 15 projects over a five-year period centered on the Community Energy Management System (CEMS) in collaboration with 34 companies, including Tokyo Electric Power Company, Meidensha, and Toshiba. Specifically, the introduction of below projects:

・HEMS (Home Energy Management System)...4,200 households

・PV (photovoltaic power generation): equivalent to 37 megawatts

・Electric vehicles (EVs): 2,300 units

As a result, we have achieved a reduction of approximately 40,000 tons of CO2, exceeding the target. In addition, as part of its efforts to implement BEMS (Building Energy Management Systems), the company has asked buildings in the Minato Mirai area to participate in the project and has confirmed that demand response is more effective than HEMS by lowering electricity bills and paying incentives in accordance with energy-saving fees.

Although the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism (MLIT) has not yet reached its goal of "cross-sectoral development," it has begun to focus on the "horizontal development" of smart cities which focusing on energy reform, including plans to install emergency storage batteries in elementary and junior high schools that will serve as bases in times of disaster.

Toyota City begins a demonstration test of ultra-compact EV sharing service

On September 9, 2019, a demonstration test of Ha:moRIDE, a sharing service that uses COMS, an ultra-compact EV developed by Toyota Motor Corporation, began in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture, the home of Toyota Motor Corporation and home to many related companies. Ha: mo RIDE members who agree and participate in this demonstration experiment will be evaluated on a five-point scale for safe driving, and Ha: mo points will be given to members who are committed to safe driving, which can be used to pay for the next usage fee or exchanged for Toyota Eco Points and PeX Points.

This is a convenient service that allows vehicles to be ridden and dropped off between installed stations at various locations.This initiative to realize a smart city is called "EV x Sharing", which improves the convenience of urban transportation and reduces CO2 emissions.

What is the future of the smart city?

Before the emergence of the new trend, the main goals of smart cities were to conserve energy-generating resources and protect the global environment, but now there is a need to promote work style reforms, create new business models, and complete an integrated community that responds to diversifying needs and MaaS.

The arrival of "Society 5.0" is just around the corner, human society development has come a long way, from the very beginning stage of hunting (Society 1.0), follow by farming (Society 2.0), industry (Society 3.0) as well as recent information society (Society 4.0).
The "Society 5.0" is a concept of ultra-smart society that has high degree of convergence between cyberspace (virtual space) and physical space (real space), with the expectations for the realization of smart cities which can provide goods and services without disparities in region, age, gender, or language. However, since smart cities are only a mechanism that is considered essential in the advent of the advanced IoT era, related groups like to put the acronym "digital" in their recommendations, but if civil society is unable to utilize the technology that has been introduced, it could be a waste of effort.

The key point is to achieve a balance between solving social issues and enriching "humanity”.

If AI robots and self-driving cars can support people's lives in the city, and if we can break down the stagnation and create smart cities where everyone can respect each other through innovation, we will soon be able to realize a "sustainable society" where future generations can live enriched lives on a beautiful planet.