Our world population continues to grow and the majority of it moves towards cities in search of better livelihood, resulting in cities getting larger, denser and complex. Cities today are functional 24×7, they are continuously expanding, going under construction, improving transportation, public safety, while trying to reduce pollution at the same time. The local authorities and municipalities are under constant pressure to implement sustainable infrastructure to improve the living standard of the people.
By 2025 the smart city service is estimated to reach $3 trillion.Modern day’s technologies like 5G, AI and IoT can play a pivotal role in the implementation of sustainable infrastructure. 5G holds the key for upgradation of living standards and enhancing the economy of a city with its ultra low level latency, massive connectivity and high bandwidth carrying capacity.
Improving quality of life along with creating a sustainable environment for future generations must be the ultimate goal for current leaders. A smart city boasts of an interconnected network of buildings, factories, universities, devices, commute routes, transportation units and much more. Private 5G brings sensors, data, IoT devices, remote work, online training, surveillance, smart healthcare and alot more under a single roof, utilising their capacity to upgrade the urbanisation to be sustainable and economical.
A world where human to machine communication is normal is almost near, and cities will lead the way as innovation and digitalisation will originate from its streets. 5G enabled CCTVs, streetlights, sensors can be used for surveillance, intelligent lighting, pollution monitoring and much more.
Transportation is crucial in driving a city’s pace, the transport system across the city primarily bus, train and flights holds the key to get the city moving. An inter connected city, leading to better information across the transport infrastructure can lead to better passenger experience, timely monitoring of movement of these systems will save an individual’s time without any hassle. A better traffic signal connectivity with an AI inbuilt will lead to reduced jams, while a connected parking system will guide drivers to vacant spaces. An overall diversion and better guidance can reduce traffic congestion across the roads. A simple example can be traffic management sensors coming into play, traffic management sensors can actively track data across multiple streets and send information to drivers. This gives the driver an alternative to change its route, hence the traffic gets diverted across streets saving time and fuel in the process.
Surveillance is another important factor needed to track and monitor a city’s movement. Mapping the city via drones, while continuously generating data in real-time can help authorities to figure out areas of high density and security. CCTV cameras along with motion sensors will continuously generate data for city authorities to make decisions more accurately. Cases of thefts and accidents can easily be traced, thus providing security and safety to civilians.
Healthcare across the city can take advantage of a city-wide 5G network. Connected ambulances equipped with features like real-time ECG, connectivity with doctors and tracking nearest hospital available according to patient’s requirement can save lives. Smart interconnected wearables can track a person’s heart rate, pressure and other vital parameters. During an emergency, alerts can be sent directly to emergency contacts and nearest healthcare. AR based remote surgeries will be performed smoothly, while participation of robots in healthcare will increase precision and save time.
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Waste management, accident detection, air-quality monitoring, water supply monitoring, and electric supply can be tracked and made better with automation and sensors installed across the city, thus paving the way for a better world. 5G is inevitable, it’s already being deployed in modern cities and continues to spread across the world unlocking the digitised era.
Image courtesy: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667305322000060
With leaders continuously trying to bring in changes for the betterment of their people, 5G will play a crucial role. Last-mile connectivity, continuous flow of data, edge computing and inter connectivity will lead to sustainable and smart decisions being taken. However, implementing and revolutionsing a stabilised settlement is huge, government and local bodies should prioritise and map out areas and key regions where a 5G network should be installed first. Private 5G network suppliers will play a key role in actively converting ports, warehouses, stadiums, enterprises and healthcare sectors to 5G enabled infrastructure. Embracing digitisation is mandatory for a better future, an enhanced and happy user living experience leads to better growth of the economy and unity across nations, making globalisation smoother and better.
