10 Economic Benefits of Smart Cities

The cutting edge technological innovations which make smart cities what they are require sizeable economic investments on behalf of the city, region or country. As with all investments, if smart city initiatives do not return any tangible value, they represent money going down the drain. With the way economies work, technological development or benefits to citizens might not be enough to sustain the continuous advancement of smart cities if they come at a great financial loss. Fortunately, the successful implementation of smart city initiatives comes with many economic benefits.

1. Automation  brings cost savings, with AI-based and IoT technologies automating city resources such as water and electricity, and saving significant amounts of money by doing so.
2. Ensuring Proper Efficiency. Smart city sensors are making sure that resources are used without losses, increasing efficiency and saving money.
3. Mitigating Risks and Reducing Damages in case of a disaster is another way in which a smart city can cut down expenses, as well as increase safety.
4. Quality of Life also has economic benefits, as happier citizens care more about the city and work to further improve and develop it.
5. Connectivity, the smart city feature of having every device connected to each other, improves the city’ s performance and this is strongly connected to its economy.
6. More Inflow of Talent, attracted by the safer, happier environment of the smart city, leads to a rise in the GDP and overall economy of the city.
7. A Sustainable Ecosystem, with reduced emissions and cleaner cities, greatly increases the standards of living, happiness and leads to economic growth.
8. Smart Transportation, reducing congestion and pollution, can have great benefits in terms of money and time saved.
9. Smart Buildings, connected with each other, saving resources, and even generating their own electricity and heating, can help sustainability and add to the economy on a daily basis.
10. Big Data, finally, are extremely valuable both to city authorities and ‘“especially- to companies, who find them very important for commerce, although strict ethical and legal standards have to be maintained with regard to these uses.

In short, smart cities are expected to see an overall economic development of 5% annually, which translates to almost $20 trillion in a decade, proving that smart cities are a great investment that can impact the economy in a positive way.

The original article can be found on INTERESTING ENGINEERING.