Cement, Energy and Environment

Sustainable Infrastructure SMART CITIES ARE BUlLT BY t1 ,.... By GC Alex Peng India must avoid the mistakes that London and Shanghai made in the execution of their smart city plans Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has set an ambitious target to invest R98,000 crore in building 100 Smart Cities by 2025. This , in fact, is part of a new global match, which involves most major cities and countries in the world, with the fundamental aim of becoming "smarter''. Smart cities are essentially built by utilising a set of advanced information and communication technologies (ICT), including broadband networks, wireless sensors, Internet of Things, Big Data, cloud services, mobile devices and apps. In this context, ICT as an enabling smart city technology will generate radica lly new "smart" services and facilities across all areas of a city, including transportation, healthcare, public safety, food management, education, energy and so on . These smart services are widely perceived by government leaders, academics and industrial experts as the key to resolve many global grand challenges related to climate change, Consequently, most developed (such as the US, the UK and Japan) and developing (such as China and India) countries have put smart city as a top priority in their national development agenda. Nevertheless, although the smart city concept is driven by advanced technologies, its success is highly dependent on the engagement of citizens. More specifically, if smart cities are to be successful, it is essential for local citizens to be fully aware of the existence and usefulness of the smart services available, as well as to be able and willing to use these services. The daily usage and engagement of smart services can then encourage and lead to behaviour changes of citizens, such as shorter showers, frequent energy usage monitoring and recycling . These behaviour changes can eventually generate economic and environmental benefits, such as cutting resource (such as energy, water, materials) usage, saving on energy bills and eventually reducing carbon dioxide emissions. However, practical evidence shows that the importance of citizen engagement has often been underestimated by governors even in leading cities, and some essential mistakes have frequently occurred worldwide . For instance, London (one of the smartest pollution, the ageing population, ~~ia~~~~~~ food crisis and energy shortage, to name a few. cities in the UK) launched the country's (and, in fact, Europe's) largest on- street smart parking project in 2012. This smart service aims to improve traffic congestion by helping local drivers find a 54