A city is convergences of places where people exchange ideas, come to meet, live, access education & health and earn livelihoods. Thus, cities should work for their people. To improve the quality of life and make better decisions, smart cities put digital technology and data together to work. By utilizing information and communication technology, it also shares information with the public and offers a good quality of citizen welfare and government service.
An increase in government funding and initiatives is one of the key factors that are spurring the growth of the global smart cities market. Further, the growing necessity of public safety, a boom in transport infrastructural projects, and the emergence of strong network connectivity are also the factors that are fueling the market growth. Smart cities consist of several features such as environmental efficiencies and energy conservation. Smart grid technology can enhance maintenance, operations as well as plans to power supply. In addition to this, the initiatives of a smart city can also be used to fight air pollution, climate changes, sanitation, and waste management through internet-enabled fleet management systems, bins, and rubbish collection. All such factors are contributing to the growth of the overall market. Moreover, the growing adoption of digital technology is also fostering market growth. Furthermore, integration of IoT-based technology & machine learning and the emergence of 5G connectivity may generate beneficial opportunities for the growth of the global market over the forecast period.
The global smart cities market is divided into components, application, and region. Based on the component, the global market is split into services, software, and hardware. The application segment is bifurcated into smart mobility management, smart education, smart security, smart utilities, smart building, smart healthcare, smart public safety, and others.
North America is anticipated to be the largest revenue-generating region in the global smart cities market during the forecast period. Continuous digital transformation, growing adoption of smart public safety & smart mobility management solutions are the key aspects that are fostering the growth of the market in this region. On the other hand, Asia Pacific is predicted to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. This is attributed to the growing investment for the development of digital infrastructure, growing government initiatives, and growing focus towards the adoption of smart utilities & smart transportation.
Some of the prominent players that are operating in the global smart cities market are Microsoft Corporation, Siemens AG, International Business Machines Corporation, Schneider Electric SE, Cisco Systems, Inc., ABB Limited, Hitachi, Ltd., Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., Oracle Corporation, and Honeywell International Inc., among others.
Key development: In Oct 2020, Bentley Systems and Microsoft Corp. expanded their strategic alliance to focus on progressing infrastructure for smart city urban planning and smart construction. The association will syndicate Azure Maps with Bentley Systems’ iTwins platform and Microsoft’s Azure IoT Digital Twins platform.
