People-smart cities
Digital technologies are evolving rapidly, transforming the future of cities. But for urban centres to be truly liveable and sustainable, people must be at the core of the vision for smart cities.
Smart devices, from wearable technologies to phones, have undergone a significant evolution over the past decade. They’ve gone from niche tools into indispensable technologies that millions of people use daily. Initially focused on fitness tracking and communication, these devices now serve a wide variety of functions. From health monitoring to contactless payment systems and access control, they have become integral to our increasingly connected lives.
At the same time, city centres are rapidly changing in response to technological advancements and the growing demand for sustainability. As populations surge, existing infrastructure is struggling to keep up, requiring innovative approaches to city planning and design. Smart technology that shares information between urban assets, and the people who live and work in the city, is part of the solution.
Growing cities
More than half the world’s population currently lives in urban cities. This number is projected to grow to 68 per cent over the next 30 years. Urban areas that aren’t equipped to handle significant population growth may experience negative impacts such as overburdened infrastructure and environmental degradation. Therefore, reducing the quality of life for the people who live and work there. The physical security, health and safety of residents also needs to be considered in line with population growth for a city, and its surrounds, to remain economically viable and liveable.
Many cities already use sensing technologies and data analytics to manage urban assets such as roads, public transport and waste systems. According to Dr Nicole Gardner, researcher, architect and author of the book Scaling the Smart City: The Design and Ethics of Urban Technology, sensors and Internet of Things (IoT) devices gather data about how the city functions. The data is then combined and fed into smart systems — like a digital dashboard showing how the city is performing. The data helps create insights and automate systems to improve city operations in real time. For example, sensors can help manage traffic flow, coordinate waste collection or optimise energy distribution. Smart parking meters, streetlights and sometimes even rubbish bins generate data that can be used to improve efficiencies.
The potential of smart cities
Technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR) have the capability to address key challenges. This often includes issues such as mobility, crime and outdated infrastructure. AR technology adds a layer of interactivity that can enable people to engage with their surroundings in innovative ways. AR overlays can be utilised in the design phase to plan infrastructure and used operationally to inform a crisis management plan. It can also help visitors navigate their way around the city. AI can address the challenges of limited budgets and resources by automating processes and delivering predictive insights. By analysing complex data patterns, city leaders can predict trends in such areas as traffic, events and community needs.
Smart cities of the future
More advanced cities have started to innovate further, putting data into the hands of end users — residents and businesses — to drive better decision-making. This involves leveraging technology not only to improve infrastructure but also to transform cities into fully connected ecosystems. These “smart cities” go beyond managing urban assets with sensors and data. They are designed to support the health of residents, reduce environmental impacts and actively involve businesses, residents and visitors in decision-making. By integrating technology at all levels, these cities aim to remain economically competitive, while improving the quality of life for citizens. As stated in the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Handbook on Smart Urban Innovations, a city must respond to “the needs, realities and aspirations of its citizens, using technology and innovation to improve their lives and livelihoods”.
Human-centred design
In the report Forces of Change: Smart Cities from the Deloitte Centre for Government Insights, authors William Eggers and John Skowron explain that the next iteration of smart cities will focus on the 3Ds: data, digital and human-centred design. These cities will harness the knowledge, experience and participation of the people who live and work there to make cities more sustainable and liveable. Instead of relying solely on data and technology or top-down decision-making, this approach encourages collaboration between governments, businesses and residents.
To solve real problems in ways that are meaningful to residents, advantageous to business and encourage lasting changes in behaviour takes a collaborative approach. Eggers and Skowron describe this dynamic as “tapping into the collective intelligence of the city”. It involves collecting data from citizens who live and work in the city, regarding how they use public spaces and interact with city services.
Wearable technology and smart devices
Wearable devices such as smartwatches and fitness trackers serve a purpose in a smart city vision. They are able to integrate user-centred, real-time data with the broader smart city network. These technologies include GPS, accelerometers and environmental monitoring apps that gather data about location, mobility patterns, air quality and even noise levels. Personal data tied to specific times and places combined with data from other sources can reveal trends and patterns. The data on how people interact with their environments, can help cities make improvements. By downloading an app, residents and city workers can effectively turn their smartphones or digital devices into sensors.
“Significantly, wearables collect user-centred data at a more granular level, for example health statistics including heart rates, skin temperature and motion and mobility detection such as gait and steps taken,” explains Gardner. This data is valuable because it is inherently user- or person-centred. Importantly, it’s also tied to geographic locations and environments where activities occur. “For example, a smart watch collects and processes data that can be used to create a metric for how many steps a person takes over time, but this data also relates to where and in what specific time period those activities occur,” Gardner adds.
The value of wearable tech and the performance of smart city systems relies on network effects. That is, when more people and things become networked and more data is generated. This can improve the efficiency, accuracy and reliability of smart city systems. For example, devices tracking pedestrian movement can optimise traffic flow and inform infrastructure improvements. Meanwhile health monitors may contribute to identifying public health trends.
Health, safety, mobility
A key application of wearable tech is in the areas of urban mobility and public health and safety. According to Gardner, there is already a transition towards creating “smart” public health systems and this is occurring in a range of ways. “At an individual level, wearable tech for fitness tracking has enabled automated and convenient ways to track movement, glucose levels and other health indicators. Creating systems that make this kind of personalised health data accessible has contributed to raising an individual’s awareness of their health status and catalysed more proactive approaches to staying healthy,” she explains.
At an infrastructural level, the integration of wearable medical technologies (MedTech) into public healthcare has provided new ways to monitor certain health-related conditions remotely. Remote-care monitoring technology has provided early intervention that can reduce hospital presentations and support people to continue to live well and safely in their own homes. During the COVID-19 pandemic, MedTech supported public healthcare initiatives such as virtual hospitals, helping relieve pressure on overstretched systems.
MedTech wearables are a potential avenue to collect health data across a population, providing valuable insights. Gardener cites AttentivU glasses as an example. Prototypes of these wearable smart glasses are being developed in the MIT Media Lab to address safety and wellbeing for various tasks and scenarios. “The AttentivU glasses integrate electroencephalography (EEG) electrodes to detect brain activity and electrooculography (EOG) electrodes to detect eye movement in order to measure cognitive performance and prevent fatigue, for example, while driving,” Gardner explains.
Privacy and security concerns
According to Gardner, the success of networked systems depends on how many devices are connected and how much data is shared. Data collection often hinges on user consent and product-specific terms and conditions. Citizens, often unknowingly, transform their smart devices into sensors simply by carrying them. This introduces challenges, particularly concerning privacy and ethics.
Gardner notes that wearable IoT devices, while empowering individuals with personalised insights, create data pipelines that are vulnerable to breaches. “The same smartwatch that tracks your child’s walk to school can also produce data that others may hack,” she warns. While some sensor-based systems, like motion detectors, produce relatively impersonal data, others, such as smart glasses with cameras, collect highly personal and potentially identifying information. Even seemingly anonymous data can become identifying when combined with other datasets.
Technology, data, the law, and ethics
Designing privacy-preserving systems is crucial. However, there’s an inherent trade-off between individualised insights, and potential compromises to personal data security. Where data is collected in legal and ethically responsible ways, it can be aggregated to generate rich insights. We can learn more about disease patterns and their relationship to events and environments. “The sticky ethical questions these examples raise include to what extent do we, as a society, agree to the collection and sharing of our personal data if it contributes to social good?” says Gardner.
Developers must grapple with trade-offs. As they claim to offer valuable, personalised data insights, they must manage the compromises to privacy and security that come with increased data collection. Regulation plays a vital role in managing these risks and ensuring devices are fit for purpose. However, the rapid growth of wearable technologies and apps creates challenges for regulatory bodies. These agencies face the dual task of safeguarding both the security and functionality of wearable devices, a task that grows increasingly difficult as the market expands. To address these challenges, critical issues like data storage, ownership, security and visibility must be tackled proactively. Legislation must evolve swiftly to keep pace with technological advancements.
Negative health impacts
Gardner agrees that in addition to privacy harm, there are other potential harms and unintended consequences associated with wearable tech. These include potential physical harms, such as devices emitting radiation (EMFs). Other risks include devices malfunctioning and overheating, or device materials causing skin irritations or injuries. Additionally, the datafication of daily life has psychological and behavioural implications. For example, access to precise, real-time data about one’s health can be empowering for individuals. Users might feel motivated to take control of their wellbeing. But, users may also be prone to anxiety, stress, restrictive or addictive behaviours. Over-reliance on specific metrics also poses concerns.
It’s important to be mindful of these potential risks. In regard to concerns with EMFs, using wearables with lower emissions or taking regular breaks from wearing them, especially overnight, can help reduce prolonged exposure. Additionally, there’s maintaining good sleep hygiene – practices such as creating a calming bedtime routine. Using wearables in moderation can ensure these devices enhance rather than interfere overall health and wellbeing.
When it comes to the large amount of data these devices record, Gardner references Goodhart’s Law: “When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.” Striking the right balance between providing actionable insights and avoiding unintended consequences is an ongoing challenge.
Concerns with a technology-first approach
In 2020, the city of Toronto abandoned plans to build a smart city. A waterfront neighbourhood led by Sidewalk Labs, a Google-backed company. The vision was for a neighbourhood featuring sustainable architecture, sensor-based surveillance, autonomous vehicles and responsive, data driven services. Residents and stakeholders objected due to significant privacy concerns, lack of a data governance framework and fears about “surveillance capitalism”. This concept refers to corporations monetising personal data at the expense of individual rights and safety. Key criticisms centred on how data collection would be handled. These included the lack of transparency around how the personal data that was collected would be used. The project collapsed primarily due to resistance from the community and experts who feared that prioritising technology over human needs would result in privacy harm. Failing to prioritise the impact on citizens, the project was incompatible with public interest.
Cities demonstrating a person-first approach to smart design
Several cities around the world are implementing smart city initiatives with citizens at the centre of their vision. Singapore has introduced several digital initiatives. Contactless payment technology, MedTech monitoring devices, and numerous digital projects, Singapore aims to assist the ageing population to live safely and independently in their own homes. Singapore is also planning the development of an eco-smart city located in the western region of Tengah that aims to have a low carbon footprint with plans for sustainable construction and centralised cooling. Biophilic designs that connect people more closely with nature aim to support residents’ physical, social and emotional wellbeing.
Helsinki is another example of a city that has embraced a human-centred approach to urban living. Prioritising sustainability and innovation, the city uses smart technology in transportation, energy and public services to improve life for residents. It also promotes collaboration and transparency by openly sharing data to improve efficiencies and create new services. Helsinki aims to become carbon neutral by 2035.
A futuristic city under development
NEOM is a global hub under development in Saudi Arabia. Envisioned as a people-first and environmentally conscious city, NEOM is intended to redefine urban living. At its core is THE LINE, a zero carbon, car-free city, powered entirely by renewable energy. NEOM is designed to span 170km in length, 200m in width and 500m in height. It aims to eventually accommodate up to 9 million residents, all within a 34-square-kilometre footprint.
THE LINE is planned as an example of “zero-gravity urbanism”, where city functions will be layered vertically. The design allows pedestrians to move freely in three dimensions: up, down or across. Public spaces, schools, homes and offices will be integrated within a five-minute walk for all residents. A high-speed transit system will replace roads, enabling end-to-end travel time of just 20 minutes.
While NEOM’s vision is bold, its development has not been without significant challenges. Debates over environmental impact and cultural heritage have drawn international scrutiny. Recent reports also indicate that Saudi Arabia has scaled back its medium-term goals due to financial constraints, construction delays and logistical challenges.
Closing the digital divide
Explosive population growth will present challenges to low- and middle-income cities. Places that don’t have the funds to invest in digital technologies to ease the burden on transport and infrastructure. The United Nations (UN) emphasises the need for global support to help underdeveloped and developing countries adopt smart city initiatives. Importantly, digital divides between developed and underdeveloped countries can be closed. The UN’s Global Digital Compact is a framework that outlines strategies to improve connectivity and increase digital literacy within these populations and increase access to affordable finance. The strategies require global cooperation and encourage public-private partnerships to enable equitable access to technologies. Without such measures, these countries risk being left behind in the transition to a digital future.
Urban populations will likely continue to grow. The people-first smart city model provides a solution to many of the challenges that dense population centres face. These mean addressing core issues from resource management to healthcare access. Resilient cities need to consider human connectio. How do people want to live in, and interact with, their neighbourhoods? Quality of life for citizens can be enhanced by integrating essential services such as healthcare, education and housing into seamless, accessible systems. But for the approach to be person-centred, regulation needs to keep up with the rapid pace at which these digital technologies evolve. Importantly, citizens will need to empower themselves. Understanding of the privacy, data security and health impacts of the technologies themselves is critical.
