Smart Cities Review

New technologies push forward the development of smart cities. In 2008, IBM issued "smart earth", which aims to solve the problems faced in the development of global cities using new technologies. This proposal generated the concept of smart cities and was met with consensus across the world. In China, in 2012, the ministry of housing and urban-rural development proposed the smart city pilot project, marking the beginning of China’s official movement on smart city construction. Regarding the definition of a smart city that is most widely accepted in China, Zhen Feng’s(2014) article "the application of big data in smart city studies and urban planning", published in International Urban Planning, mentioned that smart cities are not only a certain field or a simple Informatization method, but rather rely on information technology to promote policies related to the urban social economy, the environment, space, multi-scale interconnection, interoperability and interaction, and the government in all aspects. Smart cities cannot be developed all at once, but should involve a process of continual updates, in which changes in the way society and the city operate are reflected in technology.

In 2008, according to the report "Super Smart City" , published by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, of the more than 1000 smart city building projects in the world, China ranked the most with over 500. The construction of China's smart cities has entered a period of rapid development. In fact, the current smart cities have begun to take shape, and the “sports-style” construction method in the early stage has gradually slowed down. In the course of development, the government has gradually realized that government-based construction lacks sustainability and that smart city construction also requires the power of universities, enterprises and citizens. The government must clarify its role and relationship with other related forces and have them take part through policy guidance to achieve the goal of building a high-quality smart city based on advanced technology and high efficiency.

The challenges and opportunities for the construction of smart cities in China coexist. China is experiencing an unprecedented stage of rapid urbanization. China's cities have huge room for development. However, although China's smart city construction is huge, it is still in its infancy , and its service content and operation models are still in the exploration stage.

This smart city research project starts with the overview, development background, history, main driving force, key role and influence of smart cities, and analyses domestic and international cases. We summarized the development characteristics of smart cities globally and in China, combined the characteristics of China's smart city development with the trend of China's urban development, analysed the vision of China's smart city development around 2035, and explored the potential opportunities in smart city development for Hitachi to clarify business entry opportunity points.

We are sharing the summary for the full report of the planet review for smart cities which is financially supported by Hitachi.