The cities and society are bound to change, and the residents want them to be pleasant places to live. Modern digital technology can provide different solutions that can solve several problems that cities are facing and can be applied to existing infrastructure as well. However, merely implementing the technology is not enough, and cities need to exploit the potential of digital resources, accept and utilize digital resources to support their strategies, and leverage each technology. Since digitalization has a broad impact on both organizations and society, this chapter will review the concept of digitalization as an enabler and facilitator of smart cities together with presenting the concept of a smart society and its impact on the green future. Several research areas are outlined in the chapter with important elements of a smart city and society that assure a green and sustainable future.
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Digitalization has far-reaching effects on both companies and society. Digital transformation, which is receiving a great deal of attention in academia and business, is changing companies' key business operations, management concepts, products, processes and organizational structures. Numerous definitions can be found in the literature, but practitioners also perceive the phenomenon from different angles. Managing digitalization is becoming increasingly difficult due to the constantly evolving innovations and the difficulty of managing the associated technologies. Moreover, these technologies have the potential to affect the quality of life of every individual as well. Finally, these issues are challenging not only for organizations and individuals, but also for cities and society. This transformation is affecting a wide range of areas, including mobility, the environment, public governance and, most importantly, the lives of current and future citizens.
Throughout human history, an important need has been to live together, to create a safer environment for populations, and to achieve a better quality of life through easier management of people and resources. Aware of this, people invented places where they could more easily provide these services and learn to live together. However, many cities today face challenges resulting from rapid urbanization and the inability of infrastructure to cope. By the end of 2050, the urban population is expected to account for about 70% of the total population (United Nations, 2018). As a result, several smart city initiatives are emerging as smart cities address key issues of modern life.
In rapidly growing cities around the world, mobility and transportation cause a variety of problems that need to be solved. Smart cities can provide solutions by using digital technologies that enable sensing, data processing and communication between objects connected to the Internet. Overall, smart city initiatives, along with smart mobility initiatives, should aim to improve the quality of life and ensure a green future for residents by taking their needs into account and avoiding the unnecessary construction of unwanted or useless infrastructure that would overwhelm and annoy citizens. To support the development of such a smart city, several aspects need to be considered. Among them, digital transformation, sustainability, and smart society are the concepts that are referred to as the most important.
With this in mind, this chapter first presents established definitions and research areas related to the concept of digital transformation as key to the emergence of smart cities, as well as research areas related to the concept of smart cities and society. Finally, the problems and challenges presented are not only relevant to cities, but the transformation relates to society as a whole. Next, the concept of sustainability and green future is presented, which is one of the most important pillars for ensuring smart mobility and transportation in smart cities, in contrast to the current and future challenges such as climate change, population growth, and rapid urbanization. Sustainability is an important concept that aims to prevent overuse of limited resources and protect the environment. This is followed by the presentation of the concept of smart society, which is an important aspect that needs to be taken into account to enable better economic prosperity, social well-being and sustainable and efficient governance. Finally, we present smart mobility and transportation as one of the most influential aspects of smart development.
The focus is on the main components and elements of a smart society with special attention to smart mobility as the most user-centric element of any smart city. The aim of the chapter is therefore to carefully present the main ideas and link the concepts of digital transformation, sustainability, and a smart society with smart mobility and transportation leading to a green future.