Cities around the world are bringing different types of technology into our lives every day, from benches to transport systems; the way we navigate the world has changed because of the rapid advances we have experienced in technology. Over the past couple of decades, there has been a global shift toward greater technological advancement, greater connectivity, and cities growing into smarter ecosystems.
Smart Street Furniture
Some cities have started looking at the infrastructure and street furniture common to all cities and exploring different ways to modernize them. This has been done in Seoul, South Korea, where there is now a set of 26 ‘smart poles’ across 6 areas of the city, offering a wide range of functions, including Wi-Fi, CCTV, traffic lights, electric vehicle charging, smartphone charging, and streetlighting. The functions of each pole were based on information about what each part of the city needs, customizing the poles to specific areas.
Bigbelly bins are another way that everyday street items have been modernized and made more suitable to the times we are living in. Bigbelly designed a solar-powered bin that can increase its effective capacity by 5 due to its trash-compacting capabilities. Some smart features actually decrease fossil fuel usage, too, like these bins, which compact their contents using the power they generate from solar panels, this reduces the use of electricity generated from fossil fuels. It also reduces the use of fossil fuels powering vehicles because the bins need to be emptied less often, thanks to their large capacity.
Some cities have rolled out smart benches, which feature wifi, lighting at night, and phone charging ports, these benches are able to provide somewhere to rest or admire a view and to charge your devices after a walk around the area. It also provides a safer environment for people to relax at night because the benches are lit, and the design is again made possible because of the solar panels situated on the seat of the bench, which power it all. In a broader sense, this reflects how technology is being integrated into everyday routines, much like how people engage with digital platforms in their spare time, including services such as PlayStar Casino.
Transport
Waymo taxis are a common sight in San Fansisco; these driverless cars are available to take paying passengers on their journeys, which would have only been possible in films 20 years ago. Uber, Lyft, and Waymo have plans to expand into England this year, which would be a landmark advancement. The government has predicted that autonomous vehicles could add £42 billion to the economy and also create almost 40,000 jobs in the country.
Jaguars are used by Waymo, and they have 360-degree sensors scanning the route and can ‘see’ as far as 3 soccer fields ahead, all of the information and data is processed by a computer in the car’s boot, which controls the car’s reactions and actions in real time.
Many cities around the world have bike and scooter rental apps that let you rent a bike or e-scooter and get to where you need to be, then drop it off at a nearby location. Some of the schemes are even better because they don’t have specific locations; you can drop them off anywhere within a certain range, and then others can find them using the app. These schemes have made getting from one side of a city to the other quick and easy, and they also provide a way to get exercise. These schemes were started in a couple of places, even way back in the 1960s. Still, they didn’t really take off or soar to the popularity that they have done today, as of 2022, these schemes were offered in around 3,000 cities across the world, including Dubai, Mexico City, Montreal, and Paris.
These schemes make cycling an option for people who otherwise can’t afford a bike, don’t have anywhere to store it, or are maybe worried about it being stolen. These bikes are also cited as a solution to the ‘last mile problem’, which is commonly used to describe the experience of getting a train or bus somewhere but still having to get about a mile to your final destination.
Overall
There are so many ways that cities are introducing technology into our lives to make them more efficient, easier, and even more enjoyable. The seemingly little things in our lives are often where annoyance or inconvenience is caused, but these small elements added to cities and towns are where we can gain a lot of value. This value may be added from being able to get public transport more easily, driverless taxis, or using a publicly available bike rental, if that is what is important to you. You may never use these services, but might use a smart bench every day to sit and eat your lunch whilst you are at work, and put your rubbish in a Bigbelly bin afterward. Cities are also constantly looking for new ways to improve navigation and life within them, using the technology available.
