Smart City Vs. Normal City: What Are the Differences? 智慧城市与普通城市有何差别？

陈康

Smart cities are a hot buzzword right now as cities all over the world look to how they can use new technologies. These cities are no longer futuristic scenarios dreamed up by creative thinkers. Instead， real places around the globe are discovering innovative ways to incorporate smart technology into peoples everyday lives.

Lets take a close look at a smart city vs. a normal city. What are the differences between them？ In other words， what makes a smart city， well， smart？

The conceptualization of Smart City， may vary from city to city and country to country depending on the level of development. But simply put， Smart City is an urban area that uses Information and Communication Technologies （ICT） to ease up the livelihood of its people. It is a municipality that uses ICT to augment operational efficiency， share information with the public and improve both the quality of government services and citizen welfare.

The main purpose of Smart City is to create a society which can perform effectively and efficiently making effective use of city infrastructures through artificial intelligence. It also focuses to optimize city functions and drive economic growth while improving quality of life for its citizens using smart technology and data analysis.

Connected objects

Think about the sorts of things you might see when youre walking down an average city street—buildings， cars， lampposts， trees， trash cans， and more. In a smart city， you might want to take a second look at some of these everyday objects. The Internet of Things opens up a huge range of possibilities.

According to Technology Strategy Board1–IoT Special Interest Group， “IoT refers to a state where Things （e.g. objects， environments， vehicles and clothing） will have more and more information associated with them and may have the ability to sense， communicate， network and produce new information， becoming an integral part of the Internet.” Practical examples can be found in many industries such as manufacturing， transportation， utilities， healthcare and consumer electronics.

Lets use lampposts as an example. A regular city has regular lampposts. But in a smart city， there could be a whole lot more going on than meets the eye.

A smart lamppost will not only incorporate things like LED light bulbs to reduce energy usage， but could also have sensors installed. These sensors could measure a slew2 of different things， like whether or not there are people on the street in order to dim and brighten lighting as necessary. It could even measure something city government officials are interested in studying， like air quality.

Another good example would be an app which tracks and manages cargo vehicle fleets. The app along with the IoT web platform will allow the company to monitor the status of the vehicles in the fleet.

Engaged citizens

In a smart city， citizens create the city. Theyre active participants in shaping the city and how it works. This difference between smart cities and normal cities often gets overlooked， but citizen participation is essential to a smart city.

That means smart cities are adaptable to their citizens needs， and can grow and change with their residents.

Detroit recently did a smart city project where they gave teens kits to collect their own data， like foot traffic3， air quality， and temperature—and then come up with solutions. The very same technology is also used in cities around the world to measure structural integrity. They adapted it so that anybody could use it on the go to help make their city a better place.

That means that citizens can work on4 solutions to problems quickly and flexibly. It also means that real peoples everyday problems can be addressed. Sometimes， city officials in a regular city may not even realize that a certain issue needs fixing. But in a smart city， citizens can make sure they know about it， and even offer solutions.

Streamlined transportation

In a regular city， you might have to wait for a long time for the next bus to come without a good idea of when it will actually show up. On the city planning side， theyre making a best guess at what bus routes citizens need.

In a smart city， youll be able to consult up-to-the-second information about bus arrival times， whether thats with a smartphone app or a bus station with a display with the latest information. The bus routes will also be able to be optimally planned using data about real peoples behavior. You could even have a bot， like our own Intelligent City Bot5， to help guide people around the transportation system.

All around， this makes the transportation process more efficient and effective for everyone.

Environmentally friendly

Theres a difference between smart cities and sustainable cities， which are solely focused on making cities environmentally friendly. But there is a lot of overlap， so smart cities often end up being sustainable ones， too.

Tracking data can help cities design more energy-efficient policies and identify areas they can improve. It can help cities figure out what its citizens are really doing and present more efficient solutions.

By using smart lampposts like the ones we described earlier， the city of Barcelona reduced their energy usage by 30%， resulting in $37 million saved each year.            ■

全球各地的城市都在考慮如何使用新技术，智慧城市因而成为当下的时髦热词。智慧城市不再是对未来天马行空的设想。这些城市真实存在，遍布全球，正探索将智能技术融入人们日常生活的种种新途径。

让我们探究一下，智慧城市与普通城市有何不同？换言之，是什么让智慧城市有了智慧？

智慧城市的概念对不同的城市与国家来说各不相同，这取决于它们的发展水平。但简单来说，智慧城市是指城市利用信息通信技术改善民生，市政府利用信息通信技术提升城市运行效率、与公众分享信息、提升政府服务质量及市民福利水平。

智慧城市的主要目的是通过人工智能有效利用城市基础设施，实现社会有效、高效运作。此外，在运用智能科技与数据分析改善市民生活质量的同时，致力于优化城市功能、推动经济增长。

实现物联

想一想走在普通的城市街头，你会看到建筑、汽车、灯柱、树木、垃圾桶等各类事物。但在智慧城市，物联网能赋予一些司空见惯的物品很多不一样的功能，让你禁不住再看一眼。

英国技术战略委员会—物联网特别利益团体称：“物联网指的是一种状态，在该状态下，‘物体（如物品、环境、车辆和服装）将拥有越来越多与之关联的信息，且可能具备感知、交流、联网和产生新信息的能力，进而成为互联网不可或缺的一部分。”在制造业、交通运输业、公用事业、医疗保健和消费类电子产品等诸多行业都有物联网应用的实例。

以灯柱为例。普通城市的灯柱不足为奇，但在智慧城市，灯柱内部却大有文章。

智能灯柱不仅装有LED灯泡等各种节能部件，还可安装传感器。这些传感器可以进行各种判断，比如感知路上是否有行人并酌情调节照明亮度，甚至还能测定空气质量等市政府官员想要研究的事项。

另一个范例是可以跟踪管理货运车队的应用程序。公司可使用该程序和物联网网络平台监测车队的车辆运行状况。

市民参与

智慧城市由市民创建。市民积极参与城市创建和城市运作。智慧城市与普通城市的这一差别往往被忽视，但市民参与对智慧城市来说至关重要。

这意味着，智慧城市能够顺应市民需求，能够与市民一起成长和改变。

最近，底特律开展了一项智慧城市项目，为青少年提供各种装备，让他们收集各自的数据，如过往行人、空气质量、气温等，然后提出解决方案。该技术在世界各城市也用于评估结构完整性。各城市对其进行调整，让所有人都能在行程中使用该技术，为优化城市助力。

这意味着市民可以快速灵活地制定各类问题的解决方案，也意味着日常生活中的各类现实问题有望得到解决。有时，普通城市的政府甚至意识不到有待解决的问题。但在智慧城市，市民可以确保政府了解到问题的存在，甚至还能为政府提供解决方案。

高效交通

在普通城市，可能要等很久才能乘到下一班公交车，而且也无法得知车辆的到站时间。市政规划部门现在做的就是对市民出行所需的公交路线进行最佳估测。

但在智慧城市，使用智能手机应用程序或站台显示屏，就能查阅车辆到站的实时信息。根据市民实际出行行为的数据，可以规划出最佳公交路线。甚至还能使用类似“智能城市机器人”这样的机器人，让它为市民交通出行提供导航方案。

总的来说，这些技术使交通出行更加方便高效。

绿色环保

智慧城市和可持续型城市有所区别，后者只注重环保。但两者有诸多相同之处，因而智慧城市最终也往往会发展为可持续型城市。

数据跟踪能协助城市制定更多节能政策，发现可改进之处;还能帮助城市了解市民实时动态，提出更高效的解决方案。

巴塞罗那使用类似前文提到的智能灯柱后，能耗减少了30%，每年节省开支3700万美元。                                           □

（译者为“《英语世界》杯”翻译大赛获奖者;单位：江苏省无锡市玉祁高级中学）

Smart cities do not mean creating jungles of concretes or sophisticated cities of glasses with HiFi technologies. But a smart city means a city， where humans， trees， birds and other animals can grow with all their glories， imperfections， freedom and creativity.

―Amit Ray， Peace on the Earth—A Nuclear Weapons Free World