Chicago introducing new smart technology into the city

Chicago faces a huge problem when any new construction involves digging within the city. Chicago was incorporated in 1837 and many records of the network of underground pipes is hopelessly outdated.

Construction crews often find something unexpected and have to phone the city which then sends out a specialist who ascertains if the pipe is still being used. This can often cause significant delays in construction. The problems are so prevalent that the city even has an Office of Underground Coordination to pour over old maps in an attempt to find out what is underground before a crew digs.

The city is now using new technology to create a digital blueprint of Chicago's underground network of sewer, water, electricity, gas, and other services delivered by about 30 different companies. The construction manager will be able to access the data through his or her phone. This effort along with others is being done through a public-private partnership UI Labs (University industry). According to its website the partnership is designed to "address problems too big for any one organization to solve on its own". The company will create a 3D map of Chicago's underground infrastructure. It was started last October. UI labs is using a program Cityzenith that has already been used in Amsterdam, Barcelona, and even San Francisco in the US. When completed the digital map could replace the outdated paper maps.

The city is also using technology to map where rodents are likely to be so they can be controlled before complaints start to pour in. It uses reports on where garbage is overflowing, where there are planned sewer repairs and other happenings that are likely to increase the number of rodents. The effort to collect more data on rodent infestation started several years back. Chicago also put tracking devices on all its snowplows so that citizens will know where snowplows are. The city also has GPS in every bus that provides the city not only with information about the arrival time of buses but also allows the city to estimate where there will be traffic congestion.

Chicago is also to introduce free wifi described as follows: "The new internet kiosks coming soon to downtown Chicago will be way bigger than the iPad-sized screens dotting New York — they'll be 55-inch touchscreens, the project's developer says. As part of a AT&T Smart Cities pilot in Chicago, Civiq Smartscapes will install five interactive Civiq Waypoint touchscreen kiosks on Michigan Avenue and in other locations downtown." While the kiosks will provide free Wi-Fi, the screens will also provide information about attractions, activities, and points of interest. Some analysts have criticized the system as discussed in this article. George Burciaga who is managing director of global development at Civiq Smartscapes said: "It's geared to instigate citizen engagement. We're providing a device that connects people with different services and information." The appended video discusses other aspects of Chicago's use of new technology and data collection.

Chicago is hosting a Smart Cities Summit Conference on October 16, and 17th this year. The agenda can be found here.

Chinese smart city model is not Beijing or Shanghai but Yinchuan

China is creating their first smart city not in Shanghai or Beijing but in the relatively small city of Yinchuan in the north of China the capital of Ningxia Hui autonomous region.

As seen on the map at the Wikipedia entry on the city, Yinchuan is in mid-north of China not too far from the Mongolian border:" It has an area of 4,467 km2 (1,725 sq mi) and a total population of 1.99 million. Its built up area is home to 1,290,170 inhabitants spread on three urban districts.[4] The name of the city literally means "silver river".Thanks to the Yellow River, Yinchuan enjoys beautiful natural scenery and favorable conditions for agriculture and has long earned the fame of a "River Side City in the Northwest" and "Home to Fishes and Rice". Yinchuan is now the permanent site for China-Arab Expo which is an international platform for cultural and economic exchanges between China and Arab countries. The city has now hosted the TM Forum's Smart City InFocus for the last two years. TM Forum describes itself: "As a neutral, non-profit member organization, TM Forum represents over 850 member companies generating US$2 trillion in revenue and serving five billion customers across 180 countries." 

 

 Yinchuan is to be the blueprint for the development of smart cities across China. Yinchuan is just one of China's 193 smart city projects, Yinchuan is using technology such as facial recognition systems in transport buses, solar-powered waste bins and other innovative employment of technology. Carl Piva, the TM Forum's vice president of strategic programs explained why Yinchuan rather than Beijing or Shanghai was picked out to be the smart city leader: “The problem is these cities are already too big. A blank canvas like Yinchuan can more flexibly adopt new technologies, and then ‘attract people that would otherwise have gone to Beijing or Shanghai.'” Piva said that China is attempting to create a repeatable pattern or blueprint so that it can in effect roll out a smart city. 

 

In general, the smart city harnesses advanced technology as a way of life to improve the life of citizens. The extensive use of technology to collect data about citizens brings up questions of privacy and control of citizens using that technology. As part of its bundle of smart services, Yinchuan is distributing RFID tags. These can track the automobiles and collect information about their movements. So far about 300,000 of 500,000 autos have been tagged. Privacy regulations in Europe would no doubt prevent their use there. However there are ways that the data collected could be made anonymous. 

 

Yinchuan has a smart traffic management system, a big data collection approach, has optimized garbage collection services, and has an extensive system of telemedicine services. In Yinchuan you can make payments by "your face" as face recognition can be used to operate like a credit card. The same type of software is used on public transportation instead of fare boxes. Solar powered trash bins also act as compactors allowing the bins to contain five times as much garbage as an ordinary bin. When the bin is full it sends out a signal so garbage collectors can come and empty it. At the city hall greeters have been replaced by holograms. There are QR codes on the wall that enable people with mobile phones to access answers to frequently asked questions without waiting in line. These are just a few of the new services in the city. As shown in the appended photo, the Yinchuan area is also noted for its wines.