Introduction

The City of the Future is designed in such a way that everything – from the energy grid to the very architecture – is interconnected and city operations are performed in order to increase efficiency and address issues related to the environment (with a focus on sustainability), economy (with a focus on circular economy) and society. Also known as a Smart City, the main goal the City of the Future is to enhance the quality of life of its inhabitants as well as provide efficient solutions for the economy, energy management, health care, transportation etc [1].

In 2014, the United Nations estimated that by 2050, around 66% of the world population will live in urban areas [2]. Furthermore, cities consume around 75% of the total energy produced which generates close to 80% of the world-wide greenhouse gases [3], [4]. This means that designing efficient cities is paramount for our future, as population continues to grow, urbanization to increase and energy sources to deteriorate.

A Smart City has four main characteristics: quality of life, sustainability, urbanisation and smartness. While designing the City of the Future, these characteristics need to be kept in balance, and – at the same time – their effectiveness maximised.

In order to achieve the four characteristics, a Smart City can be seen as being built on four pillars. The first pillar, institutional infrastructure, integrates organizations from all sectors (public, civil, private etc.) to ensure interoperation between services [4]. The second pillar, physical infrastructure, makes sure that all resources are used in a sustainable way in order to continue the operations also in the future. The third pillar, social infrastructure, aims to supply inhabitants with all they need to utilize and grow their potential and live a high-quality life. The fourth pillar, economic infrastructure, makes use of concepts such as circular economy, e-commerce and others that allow the Smart City to flourish.

By the end of this module, you will learn:

• how the City of the Future can be designed;
• which elements are crucial for the City of the Future;
• how interoperation between different services can be ensured;
• how can resources be used in a sustainable way;
• how can a sustainable life be ensured;
• what role does circular economy play in the design and development of the City of the Future.

Source: https://internetofbusiness.com/global-smart-city-platform-market/