13.5 Conclusion and Outlook
The findings above allow to evaluate the different aspects of Smart Cities in the light
of the UN SDGs (Sect. 13.2.2, pp. 224 and 225). Due to the waste of resources and
energies, Smart Cities violate SDG 12. As long as the huge amount of energy
required for Smart Cities will not be 100% covered by renewable energies, the
requirement of SDG 7 cannot be reached either. The increased material and energy
requirements needed to build Smart Cities and to keep them running will drive
material and energy prizes up – especially if the major part of required energy will
continue to be covered by fossil energy or by basically sustainable but expensive
renewable energies like solar energy (Schwarz-Herion 2015c with further references) or by cheap, ecologically and socially highly invasive and often rather inefficient renewable energies like wind energy (Molter 2016; Stratmann
2018) involving serious ecological problems along with health risks and security
implications, e.g., wind mills built too close to human settlements disturbing humans
and animals by noise and shadows in addition to windmills-related deforestation
removing essential natural CO
2 sinks (see Chap. 11, Sect. 11.3.6) as well as security
risks (Barnard 2017; Schwarz-Herion 2015c, with further references; SchwarzHerion 2018a, with further references). The high amount of electrosmog and light
pollution in Smart Cities significantly decreases the chance to reach SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy). If the energy required for Smart Cities would mainly be won
from fossil energies instead of renewable energies, SDG 13 would equally be
violated. Smart Cities should also have a sound disaster preparedness, proper
disaster response systems, and capable defense systems in place to deal with natural
or anthropogenic negligent or willful climate change and all kinds of weather
disasters including super-storms, earthquakes, and floods which can also be triggered or enhanced by military use of weather modification or climate engineering
techniques (Schwarz-Herion 2015c, with further references; Schwarz-Herion 2018a,
b, with further references).
The health threats from “smart” technology, above all from smart meters and 5G
technology, clearly violate SDG 3. The extensive spying activities by ultramodern
technology violate the second half of SDG 3, because the risk of steadily being spied
upon seriously impairs human well-being – in addition to the safety risks which may
emerge from spying activities by criminals and intelligence services, thus also
violating SDG 11. Even more importantly, the permanent espionage threats in all
spheres of life in case of a high degree of digitalization may put peace, justice, and
strong institutions at risk if governments and authorities are blackmailed by those
spying on them, thus strongly violating SDG 16.
The high risks associated with Smart Cities like cyber-attacks and mass fatalities
by CBRNE weapons of mass destruction in urban density centers show that Smart
Cities are generally unsuitable to fulfill SDG 11, requiring to make cities inclusive,
safe, resilient, and sustainable. The danger of civil wars in urban density areas as
indicated by projects like the ones in Schnöggersburg seriously endangers SDG 16.
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O. Schwarz-Herion
The findings above allow to evaluate the different aspects of Smart Cities in the light
of the UN SDGs (Sect. 13.2.2, pp. 224 and 225). Due to the waste of resources and
energies, Smart Cities violate SDG 12. As long as the huge amount of energy
required for Smart Cities will not be 100% covered by renewable energies, the
requirement of SDG 7 cannot be reached either. The increased material and energy
requirements needed to build Smart Cities and to keep them running will drive
material and energy prizes up – especially if the major part of required energy will
continue to be covered by fossil energy or by basically sustainable but expensive
renewable energies like solar energy (Schwarz-Herion 2015c with further references) or by cheap, ecologically and socially highly invasive and often rather inefficient renewable energies like wind energy (Molter 2016; Stratmann
2018) involving serious ecological problems along with health risks and security
implications, e.g., wind mills built too close to human settlements disturbing humans
and animals by noise and shadows in addition to windmills-related deforestation
removing essential natural CO
2 sinks (see Chap. 11, Sect. 11.3.6) as well as security
risks (Barnard 2017; Schwarz-Herion 2015c, with further references; SchwarzHerion 2018a, with further references). The high amount of electrosmog and light
pollution in Smart Cities significantly decreases the chance to reach SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy). If the energy required for Smart Cities would mainly be won
from fossil energies instead of renewable energies, SDG 13 would equally be
violated. Smart Cities should also have a sound disaster preparedness, proper
disaster response systems, and capable defense systems in place to deal with natural
or anthropogenic negligent or willful climate change and all kinds of weather
disasters including super-storms, earthquakes, and floods which can also be triggered or enhanced by military use of weather modification or climate engineering
techniques (Schwarz-Herion 2015c, with further references; Schwarz-Herion 2018a,
b, with further references).
The health threats from “smart” technology, above all from smart meters and 5G
technology, clearly violate SDG 3. The extensive spying activities by ultramodern
technology violate the second half of SDG 3, because the risk of steadily being spied
upon seriously impairs human well-being – in addition to the safety risks which may
emerge from spying activities by criminals and intelligence services, thus also
violating SDG 11. Even more importantly, the permanent espionage threats in all
spheres of life in case of a high degree of digitalization may put peace, justice, and
strong institutions at risk if governments and authorities are blackmailed by those
spying on them, thus strongly violating SDG 16.
The high risks associated with Smart Cities like cyber-attacks and mass fatalities
by CBRNE weapons of mass destruction in urban density centers show that Smart
Cities are generally unsuitable to fulfill SDG 11, requiring to make cities inclusive,
safe, resilient, and sustainable. The danger of civil wars in urban density areas as
indicated by projects like the ones in Schnöggersburg seriously endangers SDG 16.
240
O. Schwarz-Herion