A smart city uses resources efficiently and provides solutions sustainably. It provides solutions that are cost effective which reduces the carbon footprint. These solutions include the implementation of green buildings, electric powered vehicles and the use of alternate renewable energy sources. Smart cities are based on integrated systems that interact to form an efficient and productive economy.
A smart city is a city that is developed to reduce negative environmental impact. It is based on integrated systems that interact to form an efficient and productive economy, i.e: the interaction of medical facilities with police stations, transport systems and schools. “It is a system of systems”. Everything is interlinked. Like one big network for all sectors to interact and therefore be able to perform at their optimum. Smart cities aim to tackle three core issues: energy security, climate change and balancing supply. Smart grids have been developed to tackle energy security and to use energy in a better more sustainable way. Smart energy and technology, although are initially expensive, are cost effective in the long run and reduces pollution.
Water management is crucial for safe, decent water to supply the entire city. Transport systems in smart cities are efficient and reliable. It focuses on optimising existing systems, improving integrated public transport whether it be by bus, rail, subways or taxis. Smart cities include and promote the construction of green building which reduce the cities carbon footprint, uses resources efficiently and is cost effective in the long run. This is due to the use of passive building strategies which enables the building to use natural lighting and to reduce heating or cooling costs by orientating the building correctly, designing the right building envelope and using natural vegetation to the buildings advantage, these strategies reduces energy consumption of lighting, heating and cooling. Green buildings are energy efficient, they use solar power and some may even use LED lights or censored lights that only switch on when a person is occupying the room.
The Term Paper on Industrialized Building System
1.0) INTRODUCTION The industrialized building system (IBS) can be generally interpreted as in which all building components such as floors, walls, columns, beams, and roofs are mass produced either in a factory or at site factory according to specifications with standardize shapes and dimensions and transported to the construction projects site to be assembled into a structure with minimal site ...
Well designed ventilation systems for example windows with censored flaps that open when a person is occupying a room allows in natural light as well as reduces the need for air conditioning. These buildings are constructed using recycled material which are quite effective in reducing the buildings impact on the environment, for example walls are insulated with recycled paper mesh stuffing reducing the need for heating. Green buildings make use of collected rain water to flush toilets and to supply washing machines with water, this ensures water wastage in the city is minimised and used as efficiently as possible. Green buildings are responsive to the environment and contributes largely to the reduction in pollution and sustainability. The core aspects or issues that affect South African cities include energy production, transport, inefficient use of resources and lack of green buildings.
We need to implement alternate ways to produce energy to power our cities such as use solar panels on buildings, harnessing tidal or wind power or even geothermal energy. South African cities have a highly unreliable and unsafe public transport system. In developed cities, transportation has reached a much more advanced and environmentally friendly level, where people make use of electric bikes and cars. Public transportation is affordable, and extreme safety measures are put in place to encourage people to use the public transportation. Not only is this cost efficient, but also environmentally friendly as less harmful exhaust fumes are emitted.
The Essay on Middle Colonies England South Cities
It seems important to understand the similarities of the colonial regions in order to comprehend the implications they had. By comparing the Middle Colonies and New England, and by contrasting the future North to the South, it becomes relatively easy to draw patterns. In 1760, the population in New England counts 16, 000 Africans, 29, 000 for the Middle Colonies whereas the South populates 205, ...
South Africa, however, does not fit this profile. Public transportation isn’t very secure, and isn’t found in abundance and isn’t very convenient. Many South African citizens purchase vehicles to suit their needs and the use of these cars only adds to the pollution. South Africa has limited resources which are misused and misallocated. The inefficient and use of our resources is unsustainable and contributes to global warming. The lack of technology and funds prohibit the development of green buildings in our cities and therefore this further increases our carbon emissions. This lack of South Africa being technologically orientated has led to the ability to create electric bikes and cars, and the money to import them, is far beyond our reach and capabilities unlike developed nations.
South Africa runs on power stations that depend on coal, which further adds to pollution. The amount of electricity used in South Africa is immense and electricity isn’t generated in an efficient way. Other smart cities run on solar and wind power stations, which not only is safe, but also energy efficient. South Africa cannot afford to build up a solar or wind power station. This then leads to another aspect; financial difficulty. South Africa is a developing country, which means that maintenance of the cities isn’t up to par.
South Africa isn’t financially able to afford to keep up with latest technology, or the cleanliness of the environment. Due to the high poverty rate in South Africa, many informal settlements are all over the place and are in fact increasing each year. The government is unable to provide basic necessities to most citizens such as housing thus compelling them to create unappealing informal housing on the outskirts of most of the roads in the country. However, South Africa is making attempts to shift towards smart city status, implementing the MiCiti Project in Cape Town which is primarily focused on integrating transport systems and investing in sustainable development.
To summarise…
In our opinion, inefficient public transport systems and the lack of technology makes South African cities inefficient. South African public transport services are unreliable and unsafe. This discourages people in cities to use public transport and so they use their personal vehicle which increases traffic congestion in CBD’s. People are slowed down by the lack of fast efficient transport and therefore reduce productiveness. First world countries such as USA and UK have subways, car sharing, cheap bicycle rental around the city and other services that are highly effective. The lack of technology and finance in South Africa limits the developments of integrated systems in South African cities.
The Essay on What Is Better: Living In A City Or The Country
I. Introduction Thesis statement: In my opinion, living in a city is much better than in the country due to well-developed infrastructure, education and work opportunities and variety of entertainment. II. Body Paragraph 1 Topic sentence: Well-developed infrastructure. Supporting idea a): Efficacious transport opportunities Supporting idea b): Presence of advanced educational centres, ...
Simbiocity
This is a smart city that is self-reliant and to effectively supply most of its own basic needs. A simbiocity must be built on land that can support them, that’s arable, has available natural resources and where energy demands can be met. It makes use of integrated system strategies such as using domestic waste to produce energy and sewage waste to produce fuel. These cities essentially try to provide high quality standard of living and environment as well as being economically functionally thus satisfying the triple bottom line.
Smart cities think for the future but implementing it is easier said than done. It is a costly affair, the technology, expertise, materials and services required to develop such cities do not come cheap and are not easily accessible. Developing countries such as South Africa will find it difficult making the shift toward smart cities. Although South Africa is a part of BRICS, it is still a maturing nation after the political instability it was ravaged with during apartheid and it still has a large percentage of its population living under or close to the poverty line. Sustainability is a responsibility we all share but choosing to use resource and money for sustainable development or to feed the starving, shelter the homeless and educate the youth is a tough call.
For priority sake we choose the latter however, there is plenty that can be done without biting off more than we can chew. South Africans as a nation need to be encouraged and made aware of the seriousness of climate change and the importance of taking steps to reduce the negative impact we have on the environment. If we all practiced sustainable living, reduced, reused and recycled we would decrease our carbon footprint substantially. We believe a little goes a long way and the sooner we start the better.
The Term Paper on City or Country Living
City or Country Living Melody Miller ENG 121 Denise Ward 03/15/2010 Life is a learning experience and it can also be like that when you are deciding where to live. If you were born and raised in the city could you imagine living anywhere else? Or say that you were born and raised in the country and someone asked you what it is that you like about country living. How would you reply? If you have ...
