This is not some dystopian vision of the future or a scene from a new sci-fi movie. In fact, in China, it's already happening. Located about 60 miles south of China's capital Beijing is Xiongan New Area. This former backwater is being transformed into a new high-tech smart city. Built entirely from scratch, it's one that could provide a model not only for new cities in China, but in other parts of the world. Envisioned as China's "city of the future," Xiongan's basic infrastructure is expected to be completed by 2022 and will have a population of 5 million.
Of the 1,000 smart city projects that are currently being built worldwide, China is home to half of them. Given that the smart city initiatives involve collecting large amounts of personal data, some experts are raising concerns over what's driving China's smart city boom and what the projects really mean for its citizens.
SMART CITY “PUBLIC SAFETY GOALS”
Monitoring the safety of buildings: Through the use of sensors, buildings can be monitored for structural damage. If a building is damaged or structurally unsound, the sensors can detect these changes and alert the proper officials so a solution can be implemented.
Gunshot detection: Using a distributed array of microphones, acoustic gunshot detection systems (AGDS) can quickly identify gunshots. This form of smart technology can also alert authorities to the location of the gunfire as well as the number of possible shooters, helping to improve response time and preparedness for the situation. SIDE NOTE: Two years after the launch of Houston’s ShotSpotter program, critics say the benefits are outweighed by the $3.5 million price tag. To date, 99 arrests have been made as a result and 107 guns have been seized. I believe the shot spotter is being used for nefarious illegal surveillance reasons.
Smart city traffic control: On-site devices like CAMERAS and sensors can control the timing of traffic lights based on factors like how heavy traffic is, the time of day, and weather conditions. Through the use of smart traffic technology, a streamlined traffic system can be created, helping to prevent congestion and traffic-related accidents. This technology also limits the need to widen roads by making the most of the space available.
Transportation efficiency: With the help of CAMERAS and sensors placed at bus stops as well as inside buses, cities are better able to gauge how many people are boarding each bus and at what times. Using this data, smart cities can optimize transportation systems and make the most of bus capacity.
Reduced environmental impact
Along with improving the quality and safety of day-to-day life, smart cities are also helping us to think more about our future.
Energy conservation: With smart technology, cities can reduce energy usage by employing sensors on streetlights that light up and dim based on real-time data. These sensors can be programmed to detect movement, turning on when motion is detected on roadways and dimming when roads are clear.
Transition to renewable energy sources: Like all grids, smart grid (makes you wonder what really happened when ERCOT went down) solutions connect all the energy producers and consumers and even other factors such as real-time data from the electricity market and weather forecasts to enable a flexible response to supply and demand. As the future of energy supply becomes increasingly decentralized this will become more and more important.
Water waste: Water leaks can waste significant amounts of water, cause environmental damage, and lead to costly downtime while the pipe is being repaired. With smart sensors, leaks in pipes can be detected at an earlier stage, allowing for quicker repairs.
Air pollution: Smart sensors continuously monitor air quality to measure levels of pollution and determine the source. Using the data gathered from these sensors, cities can better identify high-pollution areas and plan accordingly on how to reduce airborne contaminants in those areas.
Smart city challenges
As smart city technologies continue to evolve, there are growing concerns surrounding connectivity. Because so many smart functions within cities rely on internet-connected devices like sensors, meters, lights, and cameras, reliable connectivity is a necessity. This is especially important when it comes to public safety.
If a smart sensor placed in a building fails to relay information about damage to infrastructure due to connectivity issues, this would put individuals in and around the building in harm’s way. When implementing smart solutions, reliable connectivity should be at the forefront of considerations.
Another significant challenge of smart cities lies in the evaluation and testing of smart city solutions. This process often proves to be very difficult. So much of IoT is emerging tech, so it’s often expensive and hasn’t had a lot of practical testing in many other cities. Because of this, smart cities usually end up trying several solutions and sometimes don’t end up finding one that works with their budget or applications.
Cyber attacks can also pose a threat to the safety of citizens if hackers are able to gain control of critical functions like water, gas, and electricity. When it comes to keeping smart cities secure, much of the responsibility falls to implementing diligent software security measures.
One only has to look at the hi-tech nerve center that IBM built for Rio de Janeiro to see this Nineteen Eighty-Four-style vision already alarmingly realized. It is festooned with screens like a Nasa Mission Control for the city. As Townsend writes: “What began as a tool to predict rain and manage flood response morphed into a high-precision control panel for the entire city.” He quotes Rio’s mayor, Eduardo Paes, as boasting: “The operations center allows us to have people looking into every corner of the city, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.” But what about more nefarious bodies who are interested in specific individuals? As citizens stumble into a future where they will be walking around a city dense with sensors, cameras and drones tracking their every movement – even whether they are smiling
The concept of smart cities is inherently tied to mass surveillance. The benefits derived from smart city technology are dependent on constant data flows captured and aggregated by sensors, cameras and tracking applications.[11] This persistence surveillance however, raises a number of privacy issues. Mass surveillance through big data acts in a manner that reduces urban anonymity,[11] due to the breadth of information and potential uses which can be extrapolated when multiple data streams are analysed together by a single governmental entity. Advocates of smart cities (such as Vint Cerf) state that this is akin to the level of privacy experienced in small towns.[29] In contrast, critics state that information sharing in smart cities has shifted from horizontal information flows between citizens to a vertical, unilateral process between citizen and government, reflecting concerns about panopticism.[11
This looks like an ad for sly to run for higher office. Given the level of Graft and corruption in his administration I think he would make an excellent democrat candidate for a higher office.
This looks like an ad for sly to run for higher office. Given the level of Graft and corruption in his administration I think he would make an excellent democrat candidate for a higher office.
The Great Reset is the new Great Leap Forward: https://yuribezmenov.substack.com/p/how-to-repeat-history-part-2
You are something special for yourself I mean you have it all right!