Cities around the world have faced hardships since the Covid-19 pandemic hit. Every metropolitan area has been affected, even the emerging smart cities of the future. The epidemic has opened up a whole new perspective on the planning and developments of a smart city as they evolve in the future. The smart cities evolution needs to be re-written.
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There must be proper developments in these cities after the end of the epidemic to ensure they are not trapped in a moribund global economy. The future of the cities, in regards to the pandemic, will have to undergoe reassessment for them to be built and maintained based on digitization. Through this, it can handle any future outbreak that is on a global scale.
Trends
The Covid-19 pandemic has led to the emergence of smart technology for building resilience against future pandemics. These technologies have already started being adopted by cities all around the world. Some of these technologies are newly developed surveillance techniques using drones, digital twins, as well as real-time dashboards. The future of urban resilience within emerging modern cities will get adopted within other urban developments and centers: A new smart cities evolution.
Research
Future city developers have implemented many of their resources into research and development of technologies that can be used in the future to prevent outbreaks of pandemics from spreading exponentially. Research organizations have also made joint efforts to increase the time needed to develop these technologies before another epidemic takes over the world.
Measures
The measures that have been taken by within cities in their technological developments have been based on improvisation. It is what the rest of the urban locations have been doing during the Covid-19 pandemic. Improvisation, even if on high levels, are not viable to deal with raid infectious diseases and so the steps taken have to be specific and evidential. Urban localities have had an advantage using improvisation, but the future of their development or pandemic resilience relies on scientifically proven methodologies that are practical. The technologies of the future within these locations have to be inherently flexible for any emerging issue.
By using these technologies, responses will have to be fast to curb infections from person to person. It will ensure measures are taken as soon as possible to limit the number of casualties both infected and affected by an outbreak. Every action will have to be regarded as a dire emergency. Acting fast is key to the efficiency of the city in dealing with pandemics.
Emerging Industry Trends
Every part of a city will have to implement emerging trends when designing and redesigning their infrastructure. Issues such as social distancing, which will seem to be the norm, soon will have to be considered anywhere within a city’s geolocation. Proximity working will eventually have to fade away, but the cities will have to develop ways that can ensure this doesn’t affect the growth and development of firms across the globe.
Strategies on digital transformations will ultimately need to be accelerated in the smart cities evolution. It comes in as virtual communication increases due to the pandemic. There is no way this can go back even when the epidemic ends. More developments will have to be made on communication networks in preparation for any pandemic that may emerge in the future. The communication systems established will be enough to ensure people continue working while at the same time controlling any widespread with adverse outcomes.
City curbing solutions
There are ways in which cities have already started curbing the contagion of Covid-19. Some of these technologies are available, but most are developed for use post-COVID-19. These technologies have become critical as they can be part of a whole preparation strategy is any infectious diseases emerge. Some of these solutions that will be used in the future are real-time maps, disinfectant spraying drones monitoring temperatures remotely.
Real-time maps
The maps are developed to be monitor crowd levels whenever people gather somewhere. It is essential in determining the numbers that might evolve just in case there is an infection among the crowd. It is also useful if people need to avoid crowded places in fear of being infected by any virus. Real-time maps, in turn, reduces the number of people who will be affected as people gather.
Use of drones
Within cities, the use of drones to spray disinfectants can be beneficial in curbing the rapid spread of any infection. The disinfectants can be sprayed in public places and vehicles that could be carriers of the pathogens. It is crucial since it is efficient and effective when it comes to disinfecting large areas. In the future, smart cities can also adopt drone technology to transport testing samples. This is key to the reduction of human contact during a pandemic. The transport cycle of any supplies of samples that don’t need any human contact can significantly reduce the risks of infections if drone technology is implemented. Air transport within smart cities is being considered in preparing for any anticipated issue that has a threatening potential to human survival and nature.
AI and IoT
Both artificial intelligence and IoT developments will be critical in the future of such cities in dealing with pandemics. The programming for recognition of pandemic trends can enable institutions and organizations to foresee an upcoming threatening situation. It can allow them to use the probabilities in establishing enough preparations against the problems before they blow out of proportions. These technologies can also be used to issue warnings about a potential outbreak soon as one measure in the smart cities evolution.
Use of Data
Developed cities have technological advances at the core of their developments. The epidemic has shown a rise in data usage for various reasons, such as contact tracing and analysis of infections. Data usage will change as soon as the pandemic is complete. Preventive measures will begin to be implemented in preparation for the next epidemic. All cities need to have a strategy that can have people voluntarily provide their data for the safety of everyone. The data provided by individuals can help in having rapid responses in an emergency, especially for an outbreak. Collecting and analyzing the data can help in showing how severe a pandemic is and deal with the situation before it gets out of hand.
Ethical Issues
Using personal data for the prevention of undesired outcomes can be very useful but not everyone is willing to be part of it. It is due to mistrust from the governments on their use of such technologies for mass surveillance. Modern cities will need to build trust with the locals and establish a sense of professional rapport to be able to use real-time data from people’s devices within the connected city for any rising, threatening issue in the future.
Security Threats
Threats to the use of these technologies will always emerge, but this should not be a basis for not embracing the advantages that come with it. Smart cities will have to have all forms of security to ensure all information they get is not breached as are from credible sources. The better the facts, the better the preparations will be, and the reduction of negative results.
Conclusion
All in all, digitization of all cities globally can improve the way a pandemic is handled in the future. Cities will have to benchmark from a developing connected city and out enough resources for more and better advancements in these technologies. Having a smart city has a wide array of advantages if data is used for the good of the citizens instead of selfish reasons. The developments in the cities are inevitable and if you are looking for a respective strategy: Contact us.
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