Everything you wanted to know about smart cities: The Internet of things is the backbone

Abstract

This article is a single-source introduction to the emerging concept of smart cities. It can be used for familiarizing researchers with the vast scope of research possible in this application domain. The smart city is primarily a concept, and there is still not a clear and consistent definition among practitioners and academia. As a simplistic explanation, a smart city is a place where traditional networks and services are made more flexible, efficient, and sustainable with the use of information, digital, and telecommunication technologies to improve the city's operations for the benefit of its inhabitants. Smart cities are greener, safer, faster, and friendlier. The different components of a smart city include smart infrastructure, smart transportation, smart energy, smart health care, and smart technology. These components are what make the cities smart and efficient. Information and communication technology (ICT) are enabling keys for transforming traditional cities into smart cities. Two closely related emerging technology frameworks, the Internet of Things (IoT) and big data (BD), make smart cities efficient and responsive. The technology has matured enough to allow smart cities to emerge. However, there is much needed in terms of physical infrastructure, a smart city, the digital technologies translate into better public services for inhabitants and better use of resources while reducing environmental impacts. One of the formal definitions of the smart city is the following: a city "connecting the physical infrastructure, the information-technology infrastructure, the social infrastructure, and the business infrastructure to leverage the collective intelligence of the city" [4]. Another formal and comprehensive definition is "a smart sustainable city is an innovative city that uses information and communication technologies (ICTs) and other means to improve quality of life, efficiency of urban operations and services, and competitiveness, while ensuring that it meets the needs of present and future generations with respect to economic, social and environmental aspects" [12]. A broad overview of various components needed in a smart city is depicted in Figure 1. Any combination of various smart components can make cities smart. A city need not have all the components to be labeled as smart. The number of smart components depends on the cost and available technology.