with hydroponics
6 with LED lamps, amounting to about 30% of the nutrient needs of
city residents (Thorpe 2018). Thus, urban farming techniques should ideally be
supplemented by hinterland farming around cities which has many obvious advantages: It is safe and hygienic, reduces energy consumption and noxious emissions
from long transportation routes, keeps crop-failure-caused food waste down by
growing food in a controlled environment, and improves health by fitness if people
participate in growing food (Thorpe 2018). Hinterland farming also reduces water
pollution by nutrient recycling and the need for artificial fertilizers due to organic
waste recycling. Moreover, it makes pesticides and herbicides obsolete and leads to
greater water efficiency due to water recycling (Thorpe 2018).
In any case, due to the inefficient use of land in cities, conventional agriculture
will never be entirely replaced (Thorpe 2018). Cities should sustain existing farms
and fertile soil in and around cities while optimizing traffic connections for public
transport of passengers and goods between urban and rural areas rather than jumping
headlong into mega construction projects for ostensibly “sustainable” housing,
because any additional building projects will lead to further soil sealing.
13.3.4.8 Smart Traffic
While city dwellers already use a variety of transportation options including
car-sharing, ride-hailing, bike-sharing, greenbelts, and pedestrian paths, the current
variety is even further expanded by a number of innovations in this field including
autonomous
7 vehicles, digital mobility platforms, sensor-based adaptive pricesetting, mobile collaboration-enabled transportation models such as ridesharing,
and new social transportation apps (Corwin et al. 2018; Deloitte 2018a). Further
mobility trends include on-demand vehicle services and car pools, all-in-one traffic
planning solutions, autonomous networked cars, shared autonomous cars, fleet
communication, smart-traffic management, and smart-parking by sensors and the
IoT, coupled with commuter GPS and Bluetooth (Deloitte 2018b, c; National League
of Cities 2016; Government2020 2018). Tesla, Uber, Ford, GM-Lyft partnership,
and some others have introduced autonomous vehicles as fleets for ridesharing (Tay
2017).
Citibrain, a consortium supported within the scope of Horizon 2020 (Citibrain
2018a) offers a Smart Traffic solution consisting of cheap sensors installed in the
city streets and crossroads, providing a nonstop traffic monitoring with wire-free
interaction (Citibrain 2018b). This allows management systems and authorities an
immediate and efficient traffic control while enabling citizens to reach their destination under consideration of the current traffic conditions, alerting mobile applications and calculating the best route, facilitated by a steady data flow of urban traffic,
6 Hydroponics is a subset of hydroculture, the method of growing plants without soil, using mineral
nutrient solutions in a water solvent (dos Santos et al. 2013).
7 Also known as self-driving vehicles.
13 The Role of Smart Cities for the Realization of. . .
225
6 with LED lamps, amounting to about 30% of the nutrient needs of
city residents (Thorpe 2018). Thus, urban farming techniques should ideally be
supplemented by hinterland farming around cities which has many obvious advantages: It is safe and hygienic, reduces energy consumption and noxious emissions
from long transportation routes, keeps crop-failure-caused food waste down by
growing food in a controlled environment, and improves health by fitness if people
participate in growing food (Thorpe 2018). Hinterland farming also reduces water
pollution by nutrient recycling and the need for artificial fertilizers due to organic
waste recycling. Moreover, it makes pesticides and herbicides obsolete and leads to
greater water efficiency due to water recycling (Thorpe 2018).
In any case, due to the inefficient use of land in cities, conventional agriculture
will never be entirely replaced (Thorpe 2018). Cities should sustain existing farms
and fertile soil in and around cities while optimizing traffic connections for public
transport of passengers and goods between urban and rural areas rather than jumping
headlong into mega construction projects for ostensibly “sustainable” housing,
because any additional building projects will lead to further soil sealing.
13.3.4.8 Smart Traffic
While city dwellers already use a variety of transportation options including
car-sharing, ride-hailing, bike-sharing, greenbelts, and pedestrian paths, the current
variety is even further expanded by a number of innovations in this field including
autonomous
7 vehicles, digital mobility platforms, sensor-based adaptive pricesetting, mobile collaboration-enabled transportation models such as ridesharing,
and new social transportation apps (Corwin et al. 2018; Deloitte 2018a). Further
mobility trends include on-demand vehicle services and car pools, all-in-one traffic
planning solutions, autonomous networked cars, shared autonomous cars, fleet
communication, smart-traffic management, and smart-parking by sensors and the
IoT, coupled with commuter GPS and Bluetooth (Deloitte 2018b, c; National League
of Cities 2016; Government2020 2018). Tesla, Uber, Ford, GM-Lyft partnership,
and some others have introduced autonomous vehicles as fleets for ridesharing (Tay
2017).
Citibrain, a consortium supported within the scope of Horizon 2020 (Citibrain
2018a) offers a Smart Traffic solution consisting of cheap sensors installed in the
city streets and crossroads, providing a nonstop traffic monitoring with wire-free
interaction (Citibrain 2018b). This allows management systems and authorities an
immediate and efficient traffic control while enabling citizens to reach their destination under consideration of the current traffic conditions, alerting mobile applications and calculating the best route, facilitated by a steady data flow of urban traffic,
6 Hydroponics is a subset of hydroculture, the method of growing plants without soil, using mineral
nutrient solutions in a water solvent (dos Santos et al. 2013).
7 Also known as self-driving vehicles.
13 The Role of Smart Cities for the Realization of. . .
225