TCitySmartF: A Comprehensive Systematic Framework for Transforming Cities Into Smart Cities

Abstract

A shared agreed-upon definition of ''smart city'' (SC) is not available and there is no ''best formula'' to follow in transforming each and every city into SC. In a broader inclusive definition, it can be described as an opportunistic concept that enhances harmony between the lives and the environment around those lives perpetually in a city by harnessing the smart technology enabling a comfortable and convenient living ecosystem paving the way towards smarter countries and the smarter planet. SCs are being implemented to combine governors, organisations, institutions, citizens, environment, and emerging technologies in a highly synergistic synchronised ecosystem in order to increase the quality of life (QoL) and enable a more sustainable future for urban life with increasing natural resource constraints. In this study, we analyse how to develop citizen-and resource-centric smarter cities based on the recent SC development initiatives with the successful use cases, future SC development plans, and many other particular SC development solutions. The main features of SC are presented in a framework fuelled by recent technological advancement, particular city requirements and dynamics. This framework-TCitySmartF 1) aims to aspire a platform that seamlessly forges engineering and technology solutions with social dynamics in a new philosophical city automation concept-socio-technical transitions, 2) incorporates many smart evolving components, best practices, and contemporary solutions into a coherent synergistic SC topology, 3) unfolds current and future opportunities in order to adopt smarter, safer and more sustainable urban environments, and 4) demonstrates a variety of insights and orchestrational directions for local governors and private sector about how to transform cities into smarter cities from the technological, social, economic and environmental point of view, particularly by both putting residents and urban dynamics at the forefront of the development with participatory planning and interaction for the robust community-and citizen-tailored services. The framework developed in this paper is aimed to be incorporated into the real-world SC development projects in Lancashire, UK. INDEX TERMS Smart city, crowdsourcing, Internet of Everything (IoE), cloud, edge/fog/MEC, smart planet, IoT.

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“…In this manner, to alleviate the problems of rapid urbanisation and to improve the liveability of citizens, there are many concerns to be taken into account in urban development and management [43], [44]. Recent advances in cyber-physical domains, cyber-physical-social systems, cloud platform, cloudlet, and edge/fog platforms along with the evolving Big Data (BD) analytics, Internet of Everything (IoE), Automation of Everything (AoE) [45], Advanced Insight Analytics (AIA) [45], ubiquitous sensing, location-independent real-time monitoring and control, dynamic vision analysis, heterogeneous network infrastructure, and cutting-edge wireless communication technologies (e.g., 5G and beyond) within the Industry 4.0 are providing many opportunities and urging city governors to pursue the ways that enable efficient and intelligent management of cities with effective public services [43] involving the effective use of FAGVs within SC contributing the sustainability and mobility of the city. To reduce the burden on cities and to make them smarter and sustainable, a novel framework entitled "TCitySmartF" was proposed in a recent study [43] that demonstrates a variety of insights and orchestrational directions for local governors and private sector about how to transform cities into automated and connected smarter cities from the technological, social, economic and environmental point of view, particularly by putting residents and urban dynamics at the forefront of the development with participatory planning for the robust community-and citizen-tailored services.…”

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