How do smart cities stay smart?

 
“Cities are under threat but they also remain nodes of innovation that will test, pilot and deploy technologies that address the biggest threats to humanity. The key to success will be a learning mindset that allows open technologies, allowing cities to embrace disruptive technologies of tomorrow,” said Alex Herceg, Lux Research analyst and lead author of the report titled, ‘Cities as technologies: Using data and analytics to grow from smart to brilliant’.
 
Smart cities will have to adopt technologies to solve issues pertaining to air, water and other natural resources. Beijing struggles with dismal air quality, while many other cities struggle with water or other natural resources. Analytics vendors are jumping in to help; IBM Smarter Water, for example, is developing networking solutions aimed at reducing water and energy use.

 
Public transit can alleviate pollution, congestion, parking, and a host of other environmental and practical ills. But the rise of ridesharing services like Uber, and Apple’s rumoured autonomous electric car, may be cheaper, better ways to move people and goods in city spaces.
 
Smart cities will also have to provide proper physical safety and security to dwellers. “Threats like earthquakes, snowstorms, crime, and terrorism all worry city dwellers, but they are concerned about pervasive surveillance from police drones and spyware too. Citizen-led hackathons can provide better technologies and a balance of power, as Nairobi’s Ushahidi shows,” said Lux Research in a report.