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better possibility, the pledge attracts enough people that they are all
sent a message saying “Well done—now get going!” [3].
7.3.1.10 Carpooling Networks Carpooling networks or websites pro-
mote the “Go green” concept by decreasing carbon emissions from
vehicles by reducing the number of vehicles on the road. is is done
by connecting people who use the same route so they could travel in
a single vehicle instead of in separate vehicles. Websites that help to
advertise routes and other timing information to facilitate carpool-
ing are called carpooling networks. Today with the conglomeration
of social media technologies, many carpooling websites provide the
option to review the social media profiles and then choose travel part-
ners so that likeminded people can carpool.
7.3.1.10.1 Carpooling Network—Zimride Zimride (http:/ /www .zimride
.com) is a website that offers carpooling services. ose who are inter-
ested in joining the existing carpools or who want to advertise the avail-
ability of their vehicles for carpooling can use this website to provide
all relevant details such as route, timing information, and so on. is
website is also linked to social media networks such as Facebook and
Twitter. Using this option, any prospective carpooler can view the
social media profiles of others who are part of the carpool and choose
carpools of people with similar interests, hobbies, professions, and so on.
7.3.1.11 Use of Social Network Forums Today there is widespread use
of social media networks such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter as
platforms for community collaboration. Many times, specific accounts
or forums are set up to mobilize action on specific local issues and in
natural disaster situations such as earthquakes, storms, and floods.
In short, both IT-enabled city strategies and IT-enabled social ini-
tiatives are required for the emergence and sustenance of digital cities.
Both should exist in synergy to keep up the pace and momentum of
digital cities.
In the next section, we examine the various building blocks of the
ubiquitous city (U-city) or intelligent city. It should be noted that the
digital city is the first step in the evolutionary framework of cities and
it is not possible for a city without digitization to go to the next phase
of a city, termed an intelligent city.
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7.4 Ubiquitous or Intelligent City
U-cities are cities that have embraced higher levels of digitization
when compared to digital cities by using cutting-edge technology
blocks that go much beyond the Internet and Web 3.0 technologies
that form the basis of digital cities.
Ubiquitous cities are used to describe a unique urban environ-
ment in which the city’s physical infrastructures are embedded with
computing devices across the entire city, making them present in
the everyday lives of citizens in such a way as to be both omnipres-
ent and invisible. ese technological devices are fully integrated
through interoperability and connected through wireless networks
where everyone, anywhere in the city, will have access to computing
power, the Internet, and various applications at any time of the day.
Residential, medical, government, and business computers will all be
connected through a series of all-encompassing wireless networks,
broadband systems, and ubiquitous sensory networks [3]. e basic
building blocks of a U-city are summarized in the following diagram:
Web 2.0 and
social
networking
Interactivity
Advanced
analytics
Fact-based
decisions
Digitally
controlled
devices
Real-time control
Internet of
ings
Open access
to public data
Open standards,
SOA, and
ecosystems
IT assembly
Geospatial
platforms
Cloud
computing
Collaboration
platforms
Anytime/
anyplace
devices
Convenience
Ubiquitous
connectivity
Many eyes
Place-based data Real-time data
Always on Te amwork IT as a service
7.4.1 Ubiquitous Connectivity
Ubiquitous connectivity is the essential infrastructure requirement of
the 21st century. Access to the high-bandwidth, low-cost Internet is
the need of the day to meet the ever increasing demand of connectivity.
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e network infrastructure to support wireless networks is the vital
component for the effective use of mobile broadband and all other city
services that are made available to the residents via mobile devices.
According to the most recent statistics, the number of mobile broad-
band users as of 2014 is about 2.3 billion. e mobile network and
mobile device ecosystem with the fully equipped infrastructure in
place is the ideal platform to support the sophisticated network of
information sharing and communication required to operate a U-city
as almost half of the world’s population now uses mobile devices as
their main mode of communication.
7.4.1.1 Network Broadband Infrastructure Development A key national
investment in broadband is epitomized by the Australian govern-
ment’s A$40 billion network investment in a project called National
Broadband Network (NBN). is project has a fiber-to-the-home
open-access network that will provide 93% of Australia’s homes with
1 Gbps of connectivity. e rest of the homes will have a network
with 12 Mbps of connectivity that is provided with the help of satel-
lite and other wireless technologies. e project started in 2010 and is
expected to take eight years for completion.
7.4.2 Omnipresent Devices
Present-day smart phones can be termed anytime, anyplace devices
(omnipresent) because of the large-scale penetration of mobile broad-
band networks. Smart phones help us to access any type of content
from anywhere. Smart phones have also radically changed the way
we interact with the Internet. Facebook recently reported that they
have about 680 million active mobile users in addition to a billion
active monthly users. e various smart phone platforms, the sup-
ported applications, and play stores have virtually changed the way
people perceive various applications and their availability.
7.4.3 Collaboration Platforms
Present-day unified communications and collaboration platforms have
the capability to bring together many technologies such as voice, short
message service (SMS), calendars, online meetings, video conferenc-
ing, and other office automation tools that were previously available as
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standalone tools. ese integrated communication and collaboration
platforms can create borderless organizations, boost the productivity
of the teams, and facilitate mobile or remote working concepts. e
latest generation of online meetings and high-resolution video confer-
ence systems, such as Cisco’s WebEx and IBM® Sametime® meetings,
serve as genuine alternatives to face-to-face team meetings.
7.4.4 Cloud Computing
Cloud computing refers to a model of computing in which IT-based
services are made available to end-users on a pay-to-use basis over the
Internet. e IT services include software applications, platforms for
building applications, and huge amounts of storage space and other
infrastructural components that are needed by the various organiza-
tions. Cloud computing provides a cost-effective and viable alternative
for deploying IT-based city strategies and IT-based social initiatives,
as the usage of cloud models for deploying these services does not
involve any capital expenditure. Cloud-based technologies are already
creating a wave of IT innovation across cities because of the cost-
effectiveness and a simplicity of use that is offered by this model.
7.4.4.1 Cloud Computing for Intelligent Cities e European Platform
for Intelligent Cities (EPICs) is a pioneer project in the new “Smart
Cities” and “Living Labs” initiatives and it is funded by the European
Commission. is project experienced many technical stumbling
blocks because of which the implementation could not be fully com-
pleted. But with the support of IBM’s cloud infrastructure, they were
able to provision a Web-service delivery platform successfully for the
EPIC project.
7.4.5 Open Standards and Service-Oriented Architecture
One of the most important trends in the IT industry is the evolution
and development of open standards and published interfaces for devel-
opment of applications in various domains. is had paved the way for
various vendors to produce diverse types of hardware and software
systems using the concept of service-oriented architecture (SOA).
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is approach facilitates a more dynamic approach where applications
can be created or assembled by using the existing components and
Web services rather than having them built as monolithic projects.
is is an intelligent approach through which various solutions that
are required for the various aspects of city automation can be built and
deployed rapidly, avoiding huge amounts of waiting time that would
have been the case otherwise.
7.4.6 Geospatial Platforms
e availability of free or low-cost geographic information systems
such as Google Maps makes visualization of city-based information
very easy. ese maps, when combined with GPS and other location-
based services available in smart phones, have made it very easy to
manipulate and visualize various aspects of a city under different sce-
narios. For example, if there is an accident at a specific location in
a city, maps and other location-based services available in a smart
phone can be used to locate the nearest hospital and the type of facili-
ties available in the hospital, such as the number of emergency units,
ambulances, and so on. ese maps provide a powerful mechanism
to visualize and locate various assets, resources, and services that are
available in a city. ese provide highly effective ways for engaging
citizens in planning dialogues.
7.4.7 Neogeography in U-Cities
ere has been an increasing trend these days to create and distribute
various types of geographic information publicly—not by government
or organizations but by individuals. is stupendous development in
the field of maps could be attributed to two factors—the availability
of low-cost geographic information systems and widespread use of the
Internet. ese maps developed by individuals are often personalized
for their own use and provide useful information that can be used
by other organizations to create their own set of maps. For example,
Wikimapia and Open Street Maps are creating a huge footprint of
geographic information that can be used by other individuals or orga-
nizations. Google Earth is encouraging individuals to develop their
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