Artificial intelligence (AI) has become one of the most talked about concepts across industries. It’s all over the news headlines, and you’re using it in your daily life in ways you may not even realize.
In 2024, AI is no longer just a buzzword. Forbes has shared some powerful statistics regarding AI adoption:
- Half of U.S. mobile users use AI-powered voice searches every day.
- 72% of businesses around the globe have adopted AI for at least one business function.
- AI is expected to see an annual growth rate of 36.6% from 2023 to 2030.
We’ve already seen massive industries like Life Sciences and Healthcare adopt AI to transform their business operations through automation and provide potentially life-saving treatments for patients using the power of virtual twins and precision medicine. Big brand retailers like Sephora have used AI to create more personalized shopping experiences for customers like ColorIQ which can scan your face and find shoppers the perfect makeup shade.
One industry uniquely positioned to test the impact of AI applications is Cities and Public Services. With several interconnected systems, cities face significant challenges like privacy, security, and legislation that make the prospect of integrating AI into this ecosystem feel intimidating.
Can city planners use AI to design sustainable, inclusive and efficient urban centers that people can thrive in for generations to come?
Can we design smarter cities in the age of AI?
What is a smart city?
First, let’s define a smart city. A smart city is an urban area that utilizes technology, information intelligence, data, machine learning or AI to improve the efficiency, sustainability and lives of its citizens.
Smart cities will vary in appearance depending on geographic location, size and budget. City officials may choose to focus on a singular initiative like improving public transportation, street lighting, sustainable energy sources or waste collection, just to name a few. There’s also the potential for larger-scale projects that utilize virtual twin technology for cities to connect entire systems and departments and address long-standing urban challenges.
How can AI be used for smarter cities? 6 benefits
Before discussing the challenges of incorporating AI into city planning, let’s consider the key benefits. With the power to generate greater collaboration between stakeholders, engage citizens, and make data-informed decisions with sustainability at its core, AI certainly has the potential to transform cities for years to come.
1. Develop data-driven public policies – that citizens actually want!
It’s no secret that governmental bodies collect large amounts of data. Leveraging AI in the analysis of big data enables governments to gain deeper insights into their citizens’ expectations and improve public services. For example, virtual twins, which have powerful AI capabilities, can help policymakers visualize and simulate any scenario before it manifests in the real world and allow them to see the implications of various policy choices. As citizens’ needs evolve, governmental officials can continue to use AI to sort through feedback to make citizen-informed public policies across domains like healthcare, economy, environment and transportation.
2. Transform urban design and construction
The city urban planning process is complex, it involves many stakeholders and is impacted by numerous regulations (ie: Local urbanism plan, net zero artificialization areas) and often requires running numerical simulations that are time-consuming and tedious for the people who are working through them. However, AI and machine learning algorithms offer a solution by using the information fed to them and turning it into a compelling 3D representation of diverse design options. You now can use AI to translate regulatory text into parameters which ensures these designs comply with local urban plan regulations. The combination of AI and urban design facilitate the analysis of multiple options to choose from. In addition, having a visual representation of future assets like new public transportation routes and their impact on the neighborhood’s air and noise pollution leads to more informed and optimized urban planning decisions.
3. Improve collaboration among public administration professionals
Traditionally, urban environments have found it challenging to connect various systems and departments for smooth collaboration and decision-making. AI-powered tools, like virtual twin technology, provide a central and secure platform where public administration professionals can gather and organize comprehensive, publicly available data to improve decision-making, service delivery, and communication among stakeholders to facilitate consensus and adoption. This secured collaboration can be extended to private contractors in the context of Public / Private partnerships to smooth interactions among multiple disciplines and actors..
4. Enable citizens to provide feedback on the things that matter to them
To be a truly progressive and smart city, it will require receiving and acting upon the feedback given to them by the people who live there. A simple way to do this is through data analytics tools with AI, natural language processing, and semantic analysis capabilities. These tools can capture huge amounts of citizen feedback through surveys, social media posts and other digital communications. For example, mayors can receive daily citizen feedback on newly announced projects or recent events in the city. By automating the process in which feedback is captured, the city can do a better job of meeting the community’s needs.
5. Tackle climate and sustainability issues
City planners increasingly need to consider climate change and sustainability goals when starting new projects or optimizing a city to make it smarter. To do this, planners need a clear picture of the city’s carbon footprint and how current and future activities will have an environmental impact. By collecting and analyzing data through the power of AI, planners can draw conclusions about mobility flows, logistics, pollution, energy consumption, and pollution throughout the city. City planners can take this a step further with the power of virtual twins to simulate certain weather crisis situations like heat waves or flooding and anticipate deadly natural disasters. These factors are not only detrimental to the health of the city but also to the quality of life for the residents who live there.
6. Enhanced safety and security
Every city is faced with the potential for crime and forward-thinking cities should always be looking for new ways to help citizens feel safe as they move through the world. AI-enhanced technology can take things like streetlights, video surveillance cameras, crime mapping, and weapon detection and make them “smarter” by picking up on patterns and cross-referencing them with things like criminal databases. Law enforcement professionals are alerted quicker than before and safety measures can be put in proactively rather than in response to a crime.
What are the challenges and risks of using AI for cities?
Incorporating AI applications into the design, planning and maintenance of cities is not without its challenges. One of the most commonly cited concerns regarding the deployment of AI-driven urban management systems is ensuring infrastructure regulations and security are enforced.
Infrastructure regulations & security
Traditionally, all of the different systems and departments in a city have been siloed and individually regulated. For example, water, electricity and heating are often governed by a separate set of rules when it comes to the collection and use of data. In order for AI in smart cities to work, systems will need to become increasingly interconnected and even more closely regulated to ensure the safe handling of personal data. This is where having a central platform that ensures data sovereignty for cities and public services will be crucial. With the ability to connect ecosystems across major cities and set up security regulations specific to each program, cities can ensure the safe handling of data and personal information.
What is an example of a smart city?
Around the world, smart cities powered by AI are becoming increasingly popular due to all of the benefits they offer the people who live there. Barcelona has successfully implemented smart meters to improve energy efficiency and cut down on costs, a sensor system that leads drivers to available parking spots, and lamp post sensors that detect human or transportation movement and only light streets as needed.
Dassault Systèmes is proud to have supported the city of Rennes Métropole by providing an urban design environment. The solution, 3D EXPERIENCECity Virtual Rennes, was able to address the complexity of the city and involve stakeholders in planning and building new districts. The city can facilitate remote data sharing in a safe and secure way to simulate, plan and manage the city in a sustainable way. Additionally, they can create visual representations of new projects of the city to share them with inhabitants and engage the discussion.
Preparing for the rise of AI-powered smart cities
With AI continuing to infiltrate almost every industry, Cities and Public Services have an opportunity to embrace AI-powered technology to automate processes, drive collaboration among stakeholders, improve safety and security measures, accelerate urban design, and tackle climate issues. However, deploying this kind of technology is no easy feat and raises concerns regarding data sharing, privacy, and local law regulations.
In order to prepare your city for the immersion of AI, it is going to require the following steps:
- Determine your goals – ie. sustainability, climate-resilient infrastructure, transportation, and inclusivity.
- Deploy reliable and safe technology that utilizes virtual twins like the 3DEXPERIENCE platform.
- Educate yourself on your local laws and regulations.
- Inform stakeholders and citizens of the changes to come.
As the adoption of AI continues to accelerate and data-driven decisions continue to lead the way, city planners will need to take a strategic approach toward planning the city of tomorrow. By continuing to educate oneself on the benefits and challenges of an AI-powered world, cities have the potential to thrive in the generations to come.