Access, security, crowd management, and a satisfactory customer experience are the variables that optimize “cities within cities,” adopting a global urban technology driven by new concepts of urbanization and allowing increased implementation of technological innovations.
It has not been uncommon in recent days to encounter surprising technologies in spaces such as shopping malls, banks, or airport entrances, which have come to facilitate operations, movement, access to specific areas, or their specific functionalities.
It is true that the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated these processes that seemed inevitable but were originally envisioned for the short or medium term. Now, it seems as if we are in an endless race toward technological development with constant changes, where everyday experiences will become increasingly better, safer, and more efficient.
All of this is part of the innovation that frames the development of “smart cities,” which will soon be a fundamental factor in the comparative assessment of major urban centers. In the future, the strong focus of large cities on tourism will go hand in hand with technological possibilities that allow residents and visitors to move through spaces and use various services quickly, efficiently, securely, and systematically.
Cities are at the center of all technological innovation. However, this will be impossible if viewed from a unified administration of data collection, interpretation, and automatic response generation for the platforms that aid in the technological solution of major urban issues.
As mentioned in a previous article, smart cities are destined to improve the quality of life for citizens amidst the chaos faced by these major urban areas, and the automation of many interactions will make this possible. But the entire mechanism that allows cities to be the hub of technological innovation would be impossible if not viewed from a unified administration of data (collection, interpretation, and automatic response generation) that helps in the technological solution of major urban issues, such as interconnected public transportation, smart environments, intelligent surveillance, smart homes, and healthcare.
Key Factor in Technological Innovation
All this technological operation requires that the collected data be decentralized so that city administration can be done in specific parts, making localized decisions and optimizing resources amid reduced external interactions. Thus, the collected data is more manageable and has greater relevance for people who are part of a specific environment or space. This is called smart micro-cities, which behave in the same macro way as the smart city but are gradually localized in urban areas or sites characterized by high concentrations of the public, such as airports, train stations, shopping malls, office clusters, corporate or university campuses.
Micro-cities are crucial in increasing the implementation of technological innovations, and their solutions contribute to a positive environmental impact and advances in areas such as access, security, crowd management, and customer satisfaction.
This means that developers of applications for these smart micro-cities resort to technologies such as robotics, automation, biometrics, digital signage, digital cameras, and the inevitable use of Wi-Fi networks, as well as the advantages offered by 5G technology in speed, latency, and reliable communication. Indeed, all these innovations and solutions will contribute to a positive environmental impact, along with advancements in areas such as access, security, crowd management, and customer satisfaction. Smart micro-cities are therefore a key factor in increasing the implementation of data analytics, artificial intelligence, IoT (Internet of Things) platforms, and some industrial systems.
According to the study “Smart Urban Concepts – Microcities and Cities-in-a-city,” conducted by ABI Research, a global leader in research, analysis, and guidance on transformative technologies since 1990, a wide range of smart city service and technology providers are focusing on product and solution strategies for one or more types of micro-cities. According to the study, there are more than 13,000 micro-cities adopting global urban technology.
Adapting to Change
In a recent interview, ABI Research’s Vice President of End Markets and Verticals, Dominique Bonte, stated that in their studies, the company has long seen “great interest in technology for airports, ports, shopping malls, places, and campuses. Many technology investments seem to be directed at micro-cities as these are focal points of economic activity, social activity, and urban life in general.”
Associated with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), smart micro-cities, in their interaction with each other, begin to play a leading role in solving many of the problems of major cities. There is no doubt that with the effects caused by COVID-19, technological changes and adaptations in cities were unusual.
Smart micro-cities, with less risk, allow the incorporation of fourth industrial revolution technologies, then replicating the most effective ones on a macro level in major cities.
Online shopping, remote work, the subsequent return to high-traffic spaces, as well as the needs and behaviors demanded by the pandemic, slowed the growth of airports, shopping malls, and business parks, among others. Still, it also meant that they quickly adopted measures to support change. Smart micro-cities will help accelerate these changes supported by sustainability, resilience, and everything that digital lifestyle behaviors will imply.
For Edgar Salas, CEO of the multinational AZLOGICA®, a leader in the Latin American region in applying solutions from the Internet of Things, “smart micro-cities are the best way to transform communities, allowing the incorporation of all fourth industrial revolution technologies with less risk. This enables the adoption of the most effective technologies, which can then be replicated on a macro level in major cities.”
And as our major cities find viable specific spaces for the incorporation of this concept, the multinational AZLOGICA® has a range of platforms with registered trademarks, such as Things Manager®, Ecodrive®, Evolucion®, Pay As You Drive®, and Team Manager®, among others, which are available to develop solutions for the management, optimization, and control of various variables in these fronts of action for the development of these smart micro-cities.”
