Advancements in technology are changing every aspect of our human life. The way we live, the way we work, eat, sleep, everything is being augmented by technology today.

The great thing about the technological landscape is that it never stops. It continuously strives to make things better, easier and more convenient. The only thing constant is change.

One such area where we are at the cusp of a major transformation, is the cities themselves. As we already know, making everything ‘smart’ seems to be the trend going forward and the next thing to get smart will be cities.

There are various projects and technologies that have been worked upon for quite some time now and now they all seem to be nearing completion so that they can all come together and make smart cities a reality and a default in the future. Let’s take a look at some of these technologies.

1. Smart Transportation

Transportation is going to see a huge change in the coming decade. There is a readiness for a global level transformation towards electric and autonomous vehicles which will totally optimize the way we use our roads.

Right now, cars are not connected to each other and that can lead to inefficient use of roads leading to traffic jams and congestions in particular areas of the city.

A connected hub of cars will solve that problem and will result in much efficient use of the infrastructure. We will also begin to see a shift from owning your own vehicles to simply renting them or ordering on demand, though that might take quite a while.

2. Smart Energy

The generation and use of energy is a very important aspect for a city. In a smart city, not only will energy generation see a greater independency from the grid, energy usage will see a major efficiency upgrade as well.

Solar power is getting cheaper every year and companies like Tesla are making it possible to stay completely off the grid. The grids themselves will get smarter that will allow for different data to be gathered for optimal monitoring.

Also, the buildings in cities themselves will be smarter in design so they require least heating/cooling and leverage the design to accomplish the same. Also, use of LED lights will be the default as well as smart streetlights.

3. Smart Data

There is a lot of data that can be collected about a city and the inhabitants therein relating to virtually everything possible. All this data if analyzed in the right way, and towards problem solving, could make the foundation of a smart city.

There would be sensors virtually everywhere around a smart city that would collect an enormous amount of data like traffic, weather conditions, condition of infrastructure, water management, energy management, and a lot more. A lot of data would also be collected without sensors that relate to the societal aspects of a city.

There are patterns and valuable insights hidden within the data that if analyzed, could make more efficient use of the existing resources and make the life of inhabitants better in so many different ways.

4. Other Smart Facilities

To make life hassle free, there need to be a lot of smart facilities available to the citizens anytime they wish for it. They may include anything like free wifi to touchscreens around the city for real-time information.

Also, a smart city would have city apps that would keep them informed about vital information like air quality, building inspection scores, sanitation scores of eateries, emergency crisis and also about the various landmarks and places of interest throughout the city like museums, parks, etc.

There should also be a wide acceptance of mobile payments so people can pay on the go. But perhaps, most importantly, a smart city should be environmentally friendly with as low CO2 emissions as possible.