THE FUTURE IS SMART

SAUDI ARABIA PUTS ITS FOOT ON THE PEDDLE AND ACCELERATED TO WARP SPEED WHEN VISION 2030 WAS ANNOUNCED, WITH A WHOLE SERIES OF AMBITIOUS 'GIGA' PROJECTS POISED TO ALTER THE WAY CITIES RUN, WHICH IS EXCITING NOT ONLY FOR THE KINGDOM BUT FOR THE WORLD.

The Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia, has caught everyone’s attention with its action-not-words approach to smart cities, and in doing so is creating a new future for human habitation. The most notable example of this is NEOM, slated to be the world’s most user-centric, environmentally friendly and technologically advanced ecosystem, a blueprint for tomorrow in which humanity progresses without compromising the health of the planet

NEOM aspires to focus on active, autonomous, electric, shared, and smart mobility options that will enable on-demand urban passenger mobility, in addition to introducing a new model for urban sustainability driven by 100% renewable energy. It promises to be the world's first zero-carbon region, with no automobiles and no conventional roadways.

This pioneering project will also see a smart water distribution network, which will reduce water loss to less than 3%, compared to 30-60% in cities throughout the world where antiquated infrastructure is prone to often-undetected leaks.

And while NEOM is making the headlines, other smart projects are being introduced throughout the Kingdom. In Riyadh, for instance, an artificial intelligence-based adaptive signaling project and a multibillion-dollar public transit project with driverless trains have caught the headlines.

Numerous Opportunities

By 2050, metropolitan regions are expected to play host to around 80% of the world's population, or 6.3 billion people. There is, therefore, an unmistakable opportunity to develop future green and resource-efficient smart cities, as well as resilient and sustainable urban infrastructure and services.

According to the UAE Ministry of Economy, the worldwide smart cities market is expected to nearly double to $873.7 billion by 2026 from $457 billion in 2021, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.8%.

Growing demand for various forms of green technology in the smart building market creates numerous opportunities for companies such as solar installers, battery manufacturers, Artificial Intelligence (AI) platforms that optimize energy usage, and businesses that can unearth imaginative techniques to reuse water. Businesses that can connect smart mobility platforms into ecosystems rather than current standalone solutions will benefit from this transformation drive too.

Smart Mobility

Governments in the GCC are implementing smart mobility into urban planning to reduce traffic congestion, accidents, and pollution. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, both of which have had significant population growth over the past 10 years, are likely to invest almost $50 billion in smart city initiatives by 2025.

On the whole, it is estimated that the transportation sector is responsible for up to 50% of emissions in developing countries, compared to roughly 30% in industrialized countries. One of the primary reasons for this is the poor utilization of public transportation in developing countries.

In Dubai, public transportation accounts for 17.5% of daily journeys, while in Riyadh it is 8.75%, and in Abu Dhabi 4.9%. Across other GCC cities, public transportation is used by even fewer people, and in comparison to other major cities in the world, such as New York (59%), London (37%) and Tokyo (33%), is lagging some way behind what is required in the modern world, taking into account climate crisis and other environmental concerns.

Smart mobility has the potential to revolutionize cities by making automobiles and transportation infrastructure technology-enabled and datainformed, with solutions such as autonomous vehicles, shared mobility, adaptive traffic signals, micro-mobility, and even flying taxis.

Getting Smart Throughout The Middle East

Today, Dubai is a little like Los Angeles in that the car is king. But the government is committed to moving 25% of transportation to autonomous modes by 2030. This initiative is aimed at earning $6 billion in income per year by reducing transport costs, carbon emissions, and accidents, as well as increasing the productivity of people who spend their days stuck in traffic.

Masdar City, a pioneer in sustainability and a hub for research and development in Abu Dhabi, provides an environmentally friendly self-driving shuttle service. Abu Dhabi Airports has inked an agreement with France's Groupe ADP to investigate the possibility of advanced air mobility, which uses electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft to transport passengers and freight.

Meanwhile, away from the GCC, Egypt intends to establish 15 new fourth-generation cities over the next few years in order to provide residents with first-class facilities and services, be a magnet for investment and job opportunities. A new administrative capital in Cairo Governate, which it is expected 6.5 million people will call home, is being built as a smart city, with infrastructure to monitor traffic and buildings that automatically ascertain the most effective methods to save resources.

Fourth-generation cities are urban projects that use modern infrastructure and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), which ultimately assist them in meeting the various issues associated with climate change.

IT’S TIME

City officials are discovering, after many years of learning and experimentation, that the heart of a smart city is the people, not the technology. The whole process is much more than simply incorporating digital interfaces into aging infrastructure or elevating civic operations. It is also about consciously exploiting technology and data to make improved decisions and deliver a higher quality of life. This quality of life, of course, has many facets, from the air that people breathe to how safe they feel walking around their neighborhood.

In the end, smart city technologies enable cities to make better use of their assets, whether they have substantial legacy systems or are developing from the ground up. The need to invest in physical assets and upkeep cannot be avoided, but smart technologies can provide new capabilities as fundamental components are upgraded. The time has come – let’s step into the future with confidence and optimism.