Smart Sanitation, Smart Transportation, and Smart Sustainability (Oh My!)

Smart Cities are growing across the world. From California to Singapore to Copenhagen, cities are using increased connectivity and data to improve the lives of their citizens, making them smarter and more efficient than ever. Smart systems can be found in three important areas of these societies, all of which are necessary for the health and safety of every smart city citizen. These areas are sanitation, transportation, and sustainability.

Sanitation is an important and necessary factor in any smart city because it improves the health and safety of all residents. An environment must be clean for it to be productive, and many smart cities around the world utilize smart systems to enhance their sanitation productivity. Sweden is one such smart city. This Scandinavian urban area has an extensive waste management system that has almost entirely eliminated its need for landfills. Over 99% of Swedish household waste is either recycled or converted into energy, according to Smartcitysweden.com. The city derives much of its heating and electricity from this system, and it is estimated that about one million homes in Scandinavia are heated by energy generated from waste (Blue Ocean Strategy, n.d.). Part of this recycling is done in plants that utilize Near Infrared (NIR) sensors to sort plastic and metals from local waste. NIR technology is used to determine an object’s properties without changing or damaging its material. This allows Swedish plants to sort out plastics and metals to prevent them from being incinerated and contributing to CO2 emissions. Once these materials are sorted, they can be recycled into new materials. The data collected from this process allows authorities to determine which industries are contributing the most to plastic and metal waste, which localities are wasting the most of these materials, and how much recycled material can be garnered on any given day. Policy is then effected as authorities decide how to enhance their sustainability and waste management even further. There are many other smart systems in place that can help other cities reach this level of efficiency. In India. It is estimated that over 1000 children every day die from contaminated drinking water and food (Kodali and Ramakrishna, 2017). This contamination is attributed to a lack of public toilets, reliable sewage systems, and public awareness. To address this issue, researchers at the IEEE Region 10 Humanitarian Technology Conference in 2017 came up with a new type of toilet that could be utilized by communities in India to prevent waste buildup and also save energy. As soon as users walk into the public stall, they are saving energy. The lights turn on automatically and draw power from a built-in solar panel above the structure, while sensors for exhaust fans are utilized to ensure that the toilets are only running at full power when they are in-use. The toilet also flushes automatically, requiring only about 1.5 liters of water. This is a stark contrast to the 8–10 liters of water typically used by an ordinary toilet. GPRS telemetry is used to monitor these toilets for the data collection of local officials in charge of sanitation and waste management. The frequency of stall usage, water and electricity consumption, and trash buildup are all monitored daily. This data is then used to inform waste management authorities of where facilities can be expanded, and where to dispatch cleaning crews to clear trash bins.

The clearing of trash is also a factor in sanitation that can be improved with smart systems. For example, in Singapore, sensors are utilized in public trash bins to report to authorities if the bin is full and needs to be empty. These trash bins are also equipped with trash compactors that are solar powered, allowing for more time between cleaning and more data collected on the frequency of trash in any given area around the city (futureelectronics.com). Along with these new types of smart trash bins is the introduction of apps that connect citizens with their local waste removal services. Apps like ”Citizen App” allow citizens to report trash bins that need to be emptied, as well as areas high in litter. This type of reporting system removes the traditional need of monitoring systems like sensors and data collection services by giving more control to citizens. Not only does this perfect waste management systems in smart cities, it also serves as a way to increase civilian trust in public services by giving them live examples of their local authorities working to improve their communities.

Reliable transportation allows citizens of smart cities to travel quickly and safely for work, school, or personal matters. It is an important aspect of enhancing efficiency amongst citizens by saving them travel time. Public transportation in particular can be an incredibly helpful option for citizens who want the ease of getting around their communities quickly, without having to pay for a personal car or waste time in traffic. In Pennsylvania, SEPTA (South-Eastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority) introduced a Digi WR44-RR mobile access router to its train and subway system to monitor speed, signal oncoming trains, prevent derailments, and avert crashes (digi.com). The system signals and receives this important data as soon as it is recorded. This allows for authorities to change schedules, prevent trains from going to dangerous areas, and reroute typical directions instantaneously to keep passengers safe and on time. Although this information makes public transportation sound extremely safe and convenient, many pessimists believe that as transportation becomes more ingrained with IoT technology, we will begin to see more cyber-terrorist acts committed within transit systems. However, because transportation systems have been targeted by terrorists in the past even without modern technology, we can look to current innovations in transportation as a way to curb these attacks and make public transit safer than ever before. Cameras and other monitoring equipment can immediately signal to authorities when physical attacks take place in public areas, while cyber attacks can be mitigated through multilayered system security and encrypted communications amongst transit operators. By utilizing these types of smart systems, technology can be used not only to prevent cyber attacks, but also to prevent traditional means of terrorism that involve physical attack methods. Private transportation will also be made safer through smart systems. For example, South Korea recently introduced an AI-driven traffic prediction system (nec.co, 2022). This solution incorporates adaptive traffic signals while collecting data on driving speeds, congestion, and accidents to help predict traffic flow. This data can be immediately reported to citizens to make their commutes safer and more efficient. A similar system in Portland, Oregon uses AI to track traffic flow in order to prevent pedestrian accidents. This AI system works with intersections to report pedestrian traffic to any nearby smart cars to warn of busy intersections and incoming walkers enroute. This helps both drivers and pedestrians stay safe. But cars are not the only private transportation option that is utilizing smart systems. In Barcelona, Spain, a cycling program called “Bicing'' was recently introduced. The initiative grants paid access to over 400 bike stations around the city through a phone app that accepts payment for bike rentals, locates nearby bike stations, and unlocks bikes from stations using QR codes (bicing.com, n.d.). With this data being tracked from all users who download the app, local authorities can be better informed on how popular cycling is in local areas and where infrastructure can be updated to take cyclists into account. The app’s implementation also boosts the overall health of the local citizens and tourists, while also contributing to sustainability efforts.

As the world continues to fight climate change, communities have been tasked with taking sustainability into account when planning future infrastructure and initiatives. The UN reported in 2016 that by 2030, climate change will cause several hundred thousand deaths every year, and that currently, 88% of urban populations are exposed to levels of outdoor air pollution that exceed the World Health Organization’s air quality guidelines. These facts will make sustainability a necessary component of any smart city for many years to come, but many smart cities around the world are already addressing climate change as one of their top issues.

Singapore is one such city. The island city-state has embraced vertical farming as a way to fight food scarcity, enhance organic farming, and even save water and energy. The Singapore-based agritech company “Sky Greens” has developed an innovative vertical farming technique that employs low-carbon and hydraulic technology to grow organic vegetables in minimal space. The main smart system they have developed includes rotating tiers of plant-filled troughs that can be built as high as 9 meters tall. The troughs have tiers that can each be filled with specific soil and nutrients for the plants selected for that tier. The device rotates throughout the day to ensure that all plants receive equal amounts of light and water, and is constantly monitored by sensors, cameras, and an ever-growing workforce of agri-technicians who man the machinery. The environment is fully controlled to maximize output and assure quality of all vegetables, and all data collected on sunlight exposure, amount of water, and length of growing periods is used to ensure quality of harvest, as well as food safety. This level of care and data collection ensures that Singapore will have a reliable, sustainable food source that can continue to grow with its population. Not only does this serve the nation with a sustainable food source, but the system also cuts out greenhouse gas emissions by preventing the need for imported food from countries that have more land to spare for traditional farming. Green spaces are another sustainability initiative that many smart cities are introducing in order to curb CO2 emissions, increase air quality, and improve public health. Smartcity.press suggested that mesh Wi-Fi networks be used in planning green spaces to enhance connectivity without destroying the natural environment or adding unnecessary physical structures that would mar the natural landscape of city green spaces. These types of wifi networks would allow for more reliable security systems in natural areas, and also offer a valuable and easy way to track data. These systems would track the amount of people who typically visit these green spaces, how long they stay, and even what their typical route is through these spaces. This data can then be used by authorities to plan future green spaces, enhance the experiences of existing space, and get a better idea of the health and well-being of their citizens. Since green spaces and even Smart Parks (parks that utilize technology to enhance the experience of their visitors) are relatively new concepts that are gaining traction across the world, the most valuable resource available to smart city officials is data concerning these concepts. Research data is used to improve these spaces for current and future visitors as we learn more about what people need from parks in order to feel healthy, happy, and fulfilled in their otherwise urban environments. For example, parks across the United States, led by the United States National Parks Service, are going so far as to track air quality with modern devices that report live conditions of pollutants, overall air quality, and specific particular matter present in local air. Officials can then work to influence local and national policy to enhance the quality of these areas for their visitors. One such device is the PurpleAir. According to the National Parks Service’s website, the PurpleAir is a cost-effective monitoring device used to track atmospheric concentrations of particulate matter in local areas. It requires no special weather-safe shelter or extensive power grid, it only needs access to line power and a WiFi connection to operate successfully. The air quality data collected by this device is available to the public, granting transparency to locals and tourists on air conditions in real time. This transparency also creates accountability for park officials and local authorities. Areas with higher levels of pollutants will be expected to update air quality policy to rectify low standards, leading to better and safer parks for localities across the country.

Sanitation, transportation, and sustainability are all necessary factors in smart city development. The success of these factors will be dependent on the effort that officials and citizens alike put into improving and maintaining their local smart systems.

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