Covid-19 and the State of the Smart City

As of now, many smart cities skew more toward idea than action—and those ideas cover a lot of tech buzzwords.

Case in point: Terminus Group recently unveiled plans for an “AI City” called Cloud Valley in Chongqing, China. Planned amenities include carbon-neutral living, complete 5G infrastructure, and a robot-friendly park.

Behind the hype

Due to poor connectivity, red tape, and lack of skills/funding, smart city progress is “proving harder than imagined,” per a recent World Economic Forum summit.

Covid-19 isn’t helping. The number of smart city projects in the U.S. is projected to drop 7% in 2021, before rebounding the following year.

What would help: A recent survey found that 80% of industry leaders would be more likely to invest in a smart city venture if it were based on existing tech infrastructure.

Tech giants hear that loud and clear. Amazon is gearing up to officially launch Sidewalk, its smart neighborhood network that doesn’t require any new hardware.

• The goal: expand connectivity beyond home Wi-Fi, using wireless low-energy Bluetooth and 900MHz radio signals. It’ll help keep IoT devices (think: outdoor lights) connected.