Smart Cities — an introduction

Tyler Phillipi
Sep 7, 2018 · 3 min read

Cities are where culture and technology collide to form systems that enable people to exist in close proximity to one another.

Rome, Italy. Electric train running under ancient aqueduct.

Some evolved over thousands of years (Rome, Beijing), others seemingly sprung up overnight (Dubai, Shenzhen), but once they start they never stop, they don’t ‘reset.’

That’s because cities are living, breathing, defecating organisms. In most organisms, like an animal, the individual cells are there to support the overall health and growth of the animal, even at the expense of any single cell. Whereas in a city the individual cells, you and I, are what the city and all its various systems are there to support.

Systems that make up a city are not formed in a vacuum but formed around how humans think and live in that city. Differing cultures, religions, economic forces, and ways of thinking have created mosaics of technology within cities. And the phenomena is not new.

San Francisco, Market St. 1906 — Trolly, model-T, horse and cart, bicycle, pedestrians all sharing the road.

This mix of people and technology from San Francisco in 1906 is a great example (video left).

Each of the systems in a city evolves over time to be more intelligent.

A “smart city” is one where these different intelligent systems share information between them, as well as ‘up’ into an abstraction layer.

The parking system, for instance, it is evolving from a static spot into a fairly advanced, connected, and increasingly intelligent system. But parking is more than just a flat piece of real estate, it has rippling effects. When people slow down to find parking they cause traffic, increasing emissions, and delaying those not looking for parking. An often quoted study showed that

30% of traffic in a city was caused by people slowing down to find parking.

In a smart city, drivers are steered away from where parking is full, towards where there is parking available, or directed to a specific available spot. All of which helps get people to parking spots faster, reducing emissions and traffic.

The more information flows freely the more human and computer logic can work to create a greater understanding, find patterns and uncover holes. Ultimately creating a city that runs more efficiently and equitably, not simply by adding new capacity but applying some ‘smarts’ back into the city as it exists.

The first challenge for creating a smart city of tomorrow is in unlocking information, allowing it to flow between different systems, and upwards to new abstraction layer for people to build new experience from and help make the current system more efficient and equitable. The only way we help shape the vision of a smart city and bring it to life is by supporting people and companies that are driving real change, with an emphasis on being open and collaborative. By doing this we can help ensure that the solutions that are adopted are ones that we, the people, want and need.


Thank you for reading. I have a deep personal drive to help bring about the smart city of tomorrow. With 11 years in IoT and the last 5 years in transportation technology, I have built an understanding of these systems.

With an inside track on what is coming, I’m diving into the different aspects of a smart city, talking to those driving the innovation, and offering a peek of what the smart city of tomorrow will look like.

I encourage you to ask questions, offer suggestions for companies or people for me to interview, and join the conversation in the comments of this article to help shape what the smart city of tomorrow looks like.

Smart Cities — an introduction, Tyler Phillipi

Smart Cities of Tomorrow

Thanks to Erik Gordon

Tyler Phillipi

Written by

Driving Revenue for Connected Cars | Smart Cities | Helping Fleet Owners | Techstars 18'

Smart Cities of Tomorrow

What makes a smart city smart? Who are the companies and people helping drive the smart city of tomorrow? What technologies are bieng implimented to do so?

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