Author(s)

M. Somayya, R. Ramaswamy

Abstract

‘Smart City’ is the new buzzword creating ripples in the urban well. This new urban paradigm shift is all set to usher sustainability, content, and joy to a hitherto troubled and challenge-ridden urban life. The main objective of building Smart Cities is to provide Quality of Life (QoL), economic development and ecological balance. These cities are the nodal points for civic services like safety, health, sanitation, power supply, potable water, houses and city administration in a technological way. Though the concept of ‘Smart Cities’ can be traced back to 1992, its first name was “Digital Cities”. This got transformed into several other names denoting sustainability, such as Wired Cities, Connected Cities, Internet Cities, I Cities, Cyber Cities, Ubiquitous Cities, Intelligent Cities, Sustainable Cities, and finally, Smart Cities. Considering the high significance of planning environmentally sustainable, easily manoeuvrable and economically feasible urban settlements, this research article provides an overview of the fundamental concepts of a sustainable city. This manuscript takes up Amsterdam as a case study, explaining how the old fishing village, Amsterdam has transformed into the present day Sustainable Smart City. This article is based on an exploratory study, in line with the case study methodology. Data was collected from online, including blogs, white papers, research reports, notes and articles, while the scripting was done through thematic narration. The outcome discloses that the city is deploying an enormous number of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies for civic services available in 24×7. With less pollution, less waste and number of green buildings, these cities are contributing largely towards sustainability. New urban solutions are developing with the help of Almere Smart Society, 3D Print Canal House, City-zen-Sustainable District Heating, and Vehicle2Grid projects, to name a few.

Keywords

Smart Amsterdam, sustainable cities, renewable energy, 3D printing