Geospatial Analytics Technology A Boon In Developing Smart Cities

The world's population is evolving rapidly; more than half is residing in urban areas, which is expected to evolve to 70% by the year 2025. The growth of the city is inevitable, so it is essential to sustain the balance amid social, spatial, environmental, and economic aspects of the city and its population, which pivots on three key aspects environment, commercial development, and public equity, which is intricate and in constant flux.

Smart city planning is essential, as it aids in harmonizing amid the resources and city demands. It consents in achieving suitable environment-friendly industries, profiting both nature and the stakeholders. One aspect of smart city innovation, being experimented is the geospatial analytics technology. The smart cities aim at providing harmony in urbanization and economic growth, which makes location information crucial for the process. Thus, the rising smart city projects in emerging and emerged regions are developing panoramas for global geospatial analytics companies.

What is Geospatial technology?

Geospatial technology is used to depict the array of novel tools, influencing geographical analysis and mapping of the earth and human society. These technologies are evolving in some or the other form since the inception of the first maps crafted in conventional times. Geospatial data and technologies are fundamental. Han Wammes, Business Development Manager Geospatial Information Management at 1Spatial, writes ‘’everything happens somewhere, and only then one knows that where everything is there, connections can be created that make smart cities”.

Geospatial technology is a multidisciplinary field related to collecting, processing and systemically storing location-based data. The geospatial analytics market technology includes remote sensing, GIS, GPS, GNSS, LBS, and mobile mapping technologies. It is being utilized to develop services and operations by augmenting accuracy, speed and cost-effectiveness of smart city projects. These technologies are functional across all sectors and departments, including Healthcare, Law Enforcement, Urban Planning, Transportation, Environmental initiatives, Disaster recovery, Facility management, and Social Services.

These projects are aiming to discourse urban challenges while spatially facilitating the citizens with vital information. The built surrounding becomes alive, responding intellectually to innovative information and demands of the community with the help of connected information system and real-time data analysis.

Prime examples of geospatial analytics technology in smart cities projects

• In 2013, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada employed a geographic information system (GIS) platform and launched several mapping apps to enable well-organized data and delivery of services along with the enhancement of citizen engagement. Esri Canada honored Hamilton with the Award of Excellence in GIS for utilizing GIS technology.
• Singapore government agencies are widely using GIS smart mapping technology to improve operations, public services, and channelize the collective data of citizens. Also, enterprise innovation reported that many agencies in the city are employing geospatial analytics to increase awareness of community requirements and needs, together with improving the public services to populaces.
• Songdo city’s, world’s first smart city is part of the low-carbon growth mission, equipping smart connected technologies. All the stakeholders are networked digitally, and a centralized system assists the management of services. Moreover, Household waste is sucked directly into an underground tunnel from the kitchen to storing and processing centers, which plans to utilize renewable energy in the future.
• An innovative project in Schaerbeek planned to use flying drones integrated with thermographic cameras atop the city to track the heat discharge, which would be examined with 1Spatial’s Elyx 3D software, fabricating a 3D map of heat discharge across the city. This thermal reading identified of the real-world geo-information is coupled with the city’s property register information to provide the residents with customized, cost effective insulation for their homes.
• The shire council in Moorabool Australia has employed a system supported by geospatial data. The platform provides a type of animal registration, which geographically presents 17,000 individual pet registrations. With this, the shire can also analyze third-party details from the database, allowing access to both the public and the council.