Easy Life in Smart Cities

Zhang Lijuan

“Using the City Brain to enhance traffic control is the first step，” said Hu Xiaoming， president of Aliyun. “In the future， it will be applied to urban planning， environmental protection， weather forecasting， urban security management， tourism and many more areas.”

“The key focus of the development of smart cities is to make life easier for urban residents and to improve urban efficiency through technological innovation，” declared Li Tie， chairman and chief economist of China Center for Urban Development （CCUD）. Although China was not the first in the world to start building smart cities， thanks to its rapid urbanization and efficiency at building public infrastructure， the country has achieved much in the realm. It is already sharing technology and experience with neighboring countries.

Testing Grounds for Innovation

In many Chinese cities today， people use their mobile phones to pay things like personal income tax. Facial recognition is even widespread in some areas. Digital technologies such as big data， cloud computing and artificial intelligence （AI） are very much part of daily life， whether official business， family life or traveling. Digital technologies， the mobile internet and the Internet of Things are now basic infrastructure resources—just like water and electricity—enabling all residents to enjoy the benefits of connectivity in smart cities.

According to many sources， construction of smart cities in China has far exceeded expectations. Zhejiang Province as a good example： In its capital city Hangzhou and other major cities， the government is cooperating with local telecom carriers and digital technology enterprises such as Ant Financial and AliHealth （of Alibaba Group） to provide smart city services such as “internet plus government services”， “internet plus transportation” and “internet plus medical care”. Mobile payment without cash is possible in most application scenarios.

Smart cities use the internet， cloud computing， the Internet of Things， 3S （RS， GIS， GPS—Remote Sensing， Geographical Information System， Global Positioning System） and other technologies to manage the intelligent monitoring and operation of the cities and make life there more efficient. Upstream and downstream scientific and technological enterprises in the industrial chain of smart city solution are playing an important role in Chinas smart urban development.

Ping An Insurance has made big strides into the future. Its “smart finance” application is now operating in the governments of Guangdong Province and Shenzhen and Harbin cities， providing support in “bookkeeping” and “saving money.” In the six months it has been operational in Nanning， it has amassed cumulative direct savings in financing costs for the local state-owned enterprises amounting to over 37 million yuan （US$5.7 million）.

Since the Nanning property information platform went live， a total of 60 transactions of various types of property investment projects have been completed， with the total target amount of nearly 900 million yuan （US$140 million）， at a premium of over 20 percent.

Smart cities are now developing rapidly in China and around the world. According to a recent report released by Deloitte & Touche， more than 1，000 smart cities are operating or under construction around the world， 500 of which are pilot cities in China.

“Along with the development of internet technology， China has made considerable innovation in developing smart cities，” remarked Li Tie. “Over the last five years， China has seen rapid progress in high-tech industries. Its development of the internet， the Internet of Things and internet-based sharing economy is in a leading position globally. With increasing overseas operation of Chinese high-tech enterprises， Chinas leading technology will provide Chinese solutions for the development of smart cities around the whole world.”

Urban Problems Solved in the Cloud

To address “urban maladies” such as air pollution and traffic congestion and alleviate pressures of urban development， smart cities development programs have been launched successively around the world over the last decade. Li Tie believes that the development of technology provides new solutions. The extensive application of smart technology in the development of smart cities has brought new opportunities for mankind.

Kuala Lumpur is a city with 1.8 million people and 4.8 million automobiles. Traffic congestion has become a suffocating problem. On January 29， 2018， the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation （MDEC） and Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur （DBKL， Kuala Lumpur City Hall） announced the launch of the Malaysia City Brain in collaboration with Aliyun， the cloud computing section of Alibaba Group. AI will be widely applied to traffic control， urban planning， environmental protection and other areas in Malaysia. In the first phase， it will be applied to 281 road intersections in Kuala Lumpur， which is expected to ease the congestion in the city through the dynamic regulation of traffic lights， traffic accident detection and emergency vehicle right-of-way.

Tengku Adnan， the Malaysian Minister of the Federal Territories， remarked at the project signing ceremony that the introduction of Aliyuns AI technology is expected to solve urban problems with digital technology to make cities smarter and life easier.

“Using the City Brain to enhance traffic control is the first step，” said Hu Xiaoming， president of Aliyun. “In the future， it will be applied to urban planning， environmental protection， weather forecasting， urban security management， tourism and many more areas. The core operation of the City Brain is processing the large amount of data produced by the city and forming it into an important foundation for urban decision-making.”

In addition to Malaysia， Aliyun has also dispatched technical and market service teams to Singapore， Indonesia， the United Arab Emirates， Germany， France， the United Kingdom， the United States and Japan， helping wire Chinas leading cloud computing and AI technology into cities around the world.

“Compared to Amazon， Microsoft and other global giants， Chinese internet businesses have had access to cloud computing， big data， AI and other new technologies for a relatively short period of time，” Hu added. “As pursuers， we should strive to provide better services and adopt more innovative approaches.”

Hu sees Chinas AI industry facing new opportunities. First， China is vigorously implementing a national strategy for big data， which will accelerate digital transformation. The mechanism for the collaborative technology innovation and application by the government， enterprises， consumers and scientific research institutions will organize social resources efficiently. Secondly， thanks in large part to construction of the Belt and Road， more Chinese enterprises will be “going global.” As China opens wider to the outside world， more foreign companies will begin operating in China and Asia. Chinese internet companies will be ready to provide them with support and services.