De la ciudad tradicional a la inteligente // From the traditional to the smart city
Transcripción de un artículo publicado por el Instituto del Futuro el 4 de julio de 2019.
Al preguntar “¿Qué entendemos por ciudad inteligente?”, probablemente la mayor cantidad de veces la respuesta sea “una ciudad con avances tecnológicos” y, aunque esta definición no está del todo incorrecta, queda bastante incompleta. Pensarán, además, “¿Por qué deberíamos conocer qué es una ciudad inteligente?” y es que es desde los ciudadanos que nace su definición.
Una Smart City (en inglés) puede ser definida como un espacio urbano que aplica las Tecnologías de Información y Comunicaciones (TIC) como un medio para mejorar la calidad de vida de sus habitantes.
Partiendo de esto, son nuestras necesidades la razón por la cual una ciudad se vuelve inteligente, siendo las TIC un método, más no un objetivo. Tomémonos un segundo, entonces, para imaginarnos una “ciudad que siente,” una ciudad comprensiva con sus ciudadanos que recolecta información desde distintas infraestructuras para ofrecer soluciones orientadas a nuestro bienestar. Al entender la ciudad como un gran sistema holístico en el que todas sus capas están interrelacionadas, el modelo de ciudad inteligente no solo tiene incidencia en el espacio físico urbano, sino también en su operatividad, la participación ciudadana y la gestión pública.
Existen muchas iniciativas “inteligentes” para ciudades, pero algunos ejemplos simples son los siguientes: una plataforma digital donde podamos presentar nuestras recomendaciones sobre distintos temas urbanos, un sensor de humedad que nos indique en que momento exacto debemos regar un jardín para evitar el gasto de agua innecesario o un aplicativo móvil que nos muestre en qué lugar específico de la ciudad se encuentra el bus que queremos abordar.
En un caso más acotado imaginemos un poste de alumbrado público con sensores de movimiento que solo se enciende cuando las personas se acercan. Este poste no solo ahorra energía, sino que también puede medir cuantas personas pasan por esa calle en un día. Ahora imaginemos que estos “postes sensibles” se encuentran por toda la ciudad; podríamos entonces medir las vías donde hay más flujo peatonal y luego usar estos datos para tomar distintas decisiones como el ancho de veredas, la presencia policial, la planificación de nuevas zonas comerciales, etc. Esta cantidad enorme de información recolectada la conocemos como Macrodata (Big Data), mientras que la interconexión de estos sensores se denomina Internet de las Cosas (Internet of Things).
Al tomar decisiones basadas en datos, las municipalidades pueden responder de manera más acertada a las necesidades reales de la población. A largo plazo, la inversión inicial en estos sensores, software, hardware e infraestructuras será recuperada mediante economías de escala. En el ejemplo anterior sobre el poste de alumbrado, el ahorro económico es proporcional al energético sin mencionar la ventaja que esto representa para el medio ambiente y los objetivos de desarrollo sostenible de las Naciones Unidas.
Según William Mitchell, quien fue en vida decano de la Escuela de Arquitectura y Planificación del Massachussets Institute of Technology, hay una red creciente de conexiones directas a los sistemas de edificios, aparatos domésticos, maquinarias de producción, sistemas de transporte, redes de energía, agua o residuos y sistemas para casi cualquier actividad humana imaginable. Si las aplicaciones y softwares como Google o Facebook se han vuelto de vital importancia para el desarrollo de nuestra vida intelectual diaria, ¿No podrían serlo también para nuestras ciudades?
Transcript of an article published by the Institute of the Future on July 4, 2019.
When asking “what do we understand by smart city?”, the answer will probably be “a city with technological advances” and, although this definition is not entirely incorrect, it is quite incomplete. You will also think, "why should we know what a smart city is?" and it is from the citizens that its definition is born.
A Smart City can be defined as an urban space that applies Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) as a means to improve the quality of life of its inhabitants.
Our needs are the reason why a city becomes smart, with ICT being a method, but not an objective. Let's take a second, then, to imagine a “city that feels,” a citizen-friendly and comprehensive city that collects information from different infrastructures to offer solutions oriented to our well-being. By understanding the city as a great holistic system in which all its layers are interrelated, the smart city model not only impacts the urban physical space, but also on its operability, citizen participation and public management.
There are many “smart” initiatives for cities, but some simple examples are the following: a digital platform where we can present our recommendations on different urban issues, a humidity sensor that tells us at what exact moment we should water a garden to avoid the expense of unnecessary water or a mobile application that shows us in which specific place in the city the bus we want to board is located.
Imagine a street light with motion sensors that turns on only when people approach. This lamppost not only saves energy, but it can also measure how many people pass through that street in one day. Now imagine that these "perceptible poles" are found throughout the city; We could then measure the roads where there is more pedestrian flow and then use this data to make different decisions such as the width of paths, the police presence, the planning of new commercial areas, etc. This huge amount of information collected is known as Big Data, while the interconnection of these sensors is called Internet of Things (IoT).
By making decisions based on data, municipalities can respond more accurately to the real needs of the population. In the long term, the initial investment in these sensors, software, hardware and infrastructure will be recovered through economies of scale. In the previous example on the lighting post, economic savings are proportional to energy saving, not to mention the advantage that this represents for the environment and the United Nations SDGs.
According to William Mitchell, former dean of the School of Architecture and Planning of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, there is a growing network of direct connections to building systems, household appliances, production machinery, transportation systems, energy networks, water or waste and systems for almost any human activity imaginable. If applications and softwares such as Google or Facebook have become vitally important for the development of our daily intellectual life, could they not be for our cities as well?
A Smart City can be defined as an urban space that applies Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) as a means to improve the quality of life of its inhabitants.
Our needs are the reason why a city becomes smart, with ICT being a method, but not an objective. Let's take a second, then, to imagine a “city that feels,” a citizen-friendly and comprehensive city that collects information from different infrastructures to offer solutions oriented to our well-being. By understanding the city as a great holistic system in which all its layers are interrelated, the smart city model not only impacts the urban physical space, but also on its operability, citizen participation and public management.
There are many “smart” initiatives for cities, but some simple examples are the following: a digital platform where we can present our recommendations on different urban issues, a humidity sensor that tells us at what exact moment we should water a garden to avoid the expense of unnecessary water or a mobile application that shows us in which specific place in the city the bus we want to board is located.
Imagine a street light with motion sensors that turns on only when people approach. This lamppost not only saves energy, but it can also measure how many people pass through that street in one day. Now imagine that these "perceptible poles" are found throughout the city; We could then measure the roads where there is more pedestrian flow and then use this data to make different decisions such as the width of paths, the police presence, the planning of new commercial areas, etc. This huge amount of information collected is known as Big Data, while the interconnection of these sensors is called Internet of Things (IoT).
By making decisions based on data, municipalities can respond more accurately to the real needs of the population. In the long term, the initial investment in these sensors, software, hardware and infrastructure will be recovered through economies of scale. In the previous example on the lighting post, economic savings are proportional to energy saving, not to mention the advantage that this represents for the environment and the United Nations SDGs.
According to William Mitchell, former dean of the School of Architecture and Planning of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, there is a growing network of direct connections to building systems, household appliances, production machinery, transportation systems, energy networks, water or waste and systems for almost any human activity imaginable. If applications and softwares such as Google or Facebook have become vitally important for the development of our daily intellectual life, could they not be for our cities as well?
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