Signal 3 — The Future of City Lights
Many city leaders around the world are recognizing the value of smart street lighting and its role in the development of a smart city. Some of the benefits include better energy efficiency, public safety, traffic management, smart parking, environmental monitoring, and better cellular coverage and connectivity.
This, however, does not come without significant financial and organizational barriers. Some of them that need to be addressed are:
· Finance: Long-term cost savings aren’t always easily recognized by city officials, especially when being in power for a limited period.
· Customer Understanding: A lack of understanding can be a barrier towards the adoption of newer technologies.
· Utility-owned street lights: Moving to more energy efficient solutions can cause income of utilities and regulators to drop, thus incentivizing them to curtail the switch.
Chicago is an example of how the change can be implemented. The city is currently undergoing the project of replacing over 270,000 existing outdated High-Pressure Sodium (HPS) lights with new energy-efficient LED lights and create a modern lighting management system to streamline maintenance and repairs. This is being driven by the officials, looking at improved service, safety, energy savings, and reduced light pollution.
More cities around the world need to follow suit, as this is the future towards better and smarter cities.
Resources:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/pikeresearch/2018/04/06/smart-cities/#7220249913c8
