The Internet of Things

Smart city technologies is aimed to improve the quality of life of populations living in suburban areas. Implementing this type of technology can help implement better sustainability practices that can aim in efforts to reduce the number of car in urban areas, thereby reducing the need of car ownership in those neighborhoods. An additional benefit that implementing this technology presents is the a reduced infrastructure costs by allowing efficient usage of assets for future populations.

Implementing smart city technologies can look like a variety of functions. As noted by TWI Global, Singapore has implemented this technology for monitoring crowd density, the cleanliness of public spaces, and the traffic of vehicles. Cities in the United States like San Diego also use this technology to optimize traffic, increase environmental awareness, and improve public safety efforts.

When considering implementing this technology in smaller cities like Chico, we could benefit in using it to better monitor traffic and public safety. We could see the most improvements in installing this in the busy streets of downtown Chico and in areas where the unhoused typically camp out. 

While continuous efforts have been made to decrease the amount of unhoused residents in Chico, these residents are still underserved in terms of safety and access to emergency care. Having a system to scan, assess, and alert law enforcement and first responders to public safety concerns of a vulnerable population could help decrease the amount of reports we see of violent assaults and preventable injuries.

Link:

https://www.twi-global.com/technical-knowledge/faqs/what-is-a-smart-city