Moving from traditional models of cities to smart cities (smart city) not only requires the implementation of technology to make energy consumption in buildings and innovations in the organization of services more efficient, but it is also necessary to influence the behavior of citizens, said Víctor Hugo Arce Martínez, project engineer for Siemens.
“We can’t try to make someone smart. city by concept, to attack problems separately, we have to see it as a joint ecosystem”, said the specialist, during his participation in the XXXII National Housing Meeting, organized by Canadevi.
“If we as citizens, employees, students do not have that awareness, we can implement the technology that we want, but the goal will not be achieved.”
And it is that, for Arce Martínez, it is not only necessary to make technological changes in citiesbut it is also required to support the decarbonization of the planet through green areas and individual decisions.
However, the specialist pointed out that it will be with the support of digital processes that it will be possible to achieve objectives aimed at creating smart citiesfor example, through new generation telephones and real estate information exchange, but, he stressed, these are still isolated efforts.
Thus, in order to achieve an intelligent city, the specialist considered that it is necessary to influence the carbon footprint (energy and water consumption) in buildings, as well as the design of digital models before building them, in order to know the requirements that make them more efficient, in addition to a change in consumption from fossil to renewable energies.
“We are all connected, from our phones to our computers, to the internet, so buildings must also be connected and talk to each other to exchange data, compile statistics,” he mentioned.
Achievable and joint solutions
For the Siemens representative, the success of the efforts made for the creation of smart cities It will depend on strategies being developed as part of a whole and taking into account factors that changed social coexistence after the pandemic.
He pointed out that the urgency of taking this type of measure is because by 2050, seven out of every 10 inhabitants of the world will live in citieswhich will increase the demand for housing, which will require decent spaces with sufficient services.
“Right now as such cities they are already overwhelmed, the streets are already full of cars, there are no more, even if we build second floors, third floors, we are no longer going to optimize this issue any further, but we can implement more things, and the mentality of the citizens also intervenes here ”, Arce Martínez pointed out.
Thus, he commented that, for example, changes in habits such as stopping using the car to move individually, using public transport more and making it friendly to the environment are promoters of smart cities.
Smart challenges and slopes
For the specialist, for part of the population to adopt this series of recommendations based mainly on technology, it will depend on the security offered, both in data protection and on a day-to-day basis.
“The cybersecurity part is crucial so that the companies that implement the solutions know that it will not be a solution that puts their information at risk, it is something very important,” he said.
And it is that, making the decision to download an application, adding sensitive data such as location, personal data and schedules, can represent a risk situation for the inhabitants if that information is not adequately protected.
“We have to go ahead of hackers, of those who want to steal this type of information from us, and it also has to be a safe place, have all the services, public lighting, public security, so that those who are in the cities rest assured,” said the Siemens specialist.