Sustainability and Sensing

In the last 30 years, the world has witnessed a massive change and evolution especially in the IT sector. The pace in which this technological revolution has increased has influenced how people live, think or act. The constant need of always being mobile, reachable, accessible and having 24/7 access to information has become the lifestyle of over 3 billion people who have access to the technology and the internet. This concept of mobile lives, according to Elliott and Urry are lived, experienced and reflected upon in the course of day-to-day life (2010, p 155).

However, in order to experience this new lifestyle and all the benefit that technology is constantly bringing to its users, there has to be a constant production of new electronic equipment, adaptable infrastructure, transport etc . For example, faster cars, smartphones and tablets, personal computer, faster internet, smart buildings etc. On the positive note, these gadgets and tools are contributing to the concept of building smart cities around the world.

Smart city, “use modern digital technology to improve the quality of life and performance (Contributor, 3p, 2017). De Lange (2013) states that “the smart city taps into the potential of digital technologies to help solve urban issues. As it operates on mixed fields of digital and urban design it has to have a certain underlying take of the hybrid nature of cities, however implicit.” (p 1).

However, the UN Sustainable Development Goals states that “it is important to engage in this development process which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs “(2017). They emphasize on the importance of thinking about the future of our planet rather than simply creating and building for the present. One of the issues that is of a concern is climate change. This is due to the fact that is it already affecting the food, water, peace and security ( UN, 2017 ). Therefore, the UN Sustainable Development Goals have also state that if it is neglected,” it will roll back the development gains that is already been made over the last decades and will make further gains impossible” (2017).

References

 Contributor, 3p. “Smart Cities Enable Urban Sustainability”. Triple Pundit: People, Planet, Profit. N.p., 2017. Web. 24 Apr. 2017.

De Lange, Michiel. “The Smart City You Love To Hate”. http://www.bijt.org. N.p., 2017. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.

Griggs, David et al. “Policy: Sustainable Development Goals For People And Planet”. Nature 495.7441 (2013): 305-307. Web. 23 Apr. 2017.

Netzband, Maik, Charles Redman, and William L Stefanov. Applied Remote Sensing For Urban Planning, Governance And Sustainability. 1st ed. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 2007. Print.

UN. “Sustainable Development Goals”. Un.org. N.p., 2017. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.