Just earlier this year, my city, Austin, TX applied for the federal Smart Cities Grant. This was a new opportunity for one American city to focus on future technologies and their impact on everything from traffic to environmental conservation. Unfortunately we didn’t get the $40 million grant, Columbus OH won, but at least smart cities are on the radar of the US government.
What is a smart city? How will smart technologies improve our urban life? Today’s graphic has those answers and more. First off, self-driving cars are no pie-in-the-sky achievement. Just recently the US government has published detailed requirements for autonomous vehicles. Uber has already started giving rides in self-driving cars in Philadelphia and could be worldwide by 2020.
Not just transportation will have a facelift, water conservation, green energy, pedestrian safety and real-time infrastructure will change. This means governments will be able to change traffic lights for emergency vehicles, remotely brighten street lights where accidents, or crime occur, and smart displays informing citizens on a multiple aspects of city news. Are smart cities our path to a better future? because the smart cities of tomorrow are starting to emerge now.
If smart cities are the future, we might even want to start at home, with these 9 gadgets for the apartment.