Smart Cities: Solving Urban Problems Using Technology

Smart Cities: Solving Urban Problems Using Technology

I Study the active vocabulary and focus on Ukrainian equivalents of English words.

challenge – виклик

rapidly – швидко

 finite –обмежений

waste – відходи

emerge – з’являтись

highway – шосе

recourse – звернення по допомогу

congestion – затор

on demand – на вимогу

contribute  – робити внесок

enable  –робити можливим

perception  – сприйняття

allow  – дозволяти

innovative – інноваційний

target market – цільовий ринок

application – додаток

definition – визначення

grapple – боротися

environment – середовище

literally – буквально

occupied – зайнятий

consume – споживати

dedicated –спеціалізований

proliferation – розповсюдження

intersection – роздоріжжя

low-cost  – бюджетний

academic – вчений

carbon – вуглець

tough –складний

opportunity  – можливість

cutting-edge –найсучасніший

 concerned – стурбований

greenhouse gas    – парниковий газ

II Vocabulary focus. Study the words and  word combinations, check your understanding using flashcards, practise their translation, spelling. Check your knowledge in the test. Play matching vocabulary game (match words to their translations to make cards disappear)  and save theplanet from asteroids by typing in correct translation of the words.

III Watch the video and fill in the gaps with the words from the list. There are some words you don’t need to use.

finite; waste; kicked off; challenges; healthier; programmer; powerful; applications; target market; available; bold; problems; attention; start-up; allow; amount; rapidly; perception; contribute; on demand; congestion; community; own; enable ; innovative; emerged ; cities; services; lane ; resources ; flow; highway; channels; glow; goes

The 1)_____ of cities are changing 2)_____. As you use more of that very 3)_____ resource of clean drinking water, as you create more 4)_____. We’re going to have to think very differently about how to solve the 5)_____. Our tendency is that we think about solving problems the way we’ve always done, but there’s a completely different degree of complexity that’s 6)_____ here now, in the 21st century. I often think about our 7)_____ system, and one of our 8)_____ to congestion is to add another 9)_____ because if you add another lane, more cars can 10)_____. Turns out, it doesn’t work that way. More cars fill in that space, more cars change lanes causing more 11)_____ ultimately. That’s a 20^th century solution. 21st century solution’s to think about cars differently: “Do we need to own cars? Will cars drive themselves? Will we use cars 12)_____?” That’s thinking differently, that’s thinking 21st century.  When I joined the city 5 years ago the city manager said: “Jonathan, we need a 13)_____ vision and mission, specifically around technology.” What does technology mean for the city and in what ways can it 14)_____ towards quality of life? And at the time, you know, I did some research and I came up with this vision statement which was to build and 15)_____ a leading digital city.

One of the things with city governments is that people have a 16)_____ of is that they don’t take the risk to go ahead, invest in the infrastructure to make it a smarter, more connected city. And then in Palo Alto here we’re willing to make that investment and to 17)_____ people to experiment, to run pilot programs, and to really be 18)_____. We really do work like a 19)_____, we really are pushing projects out quickly, we’re innovating. One of the innovative projects that we 20)_____ a few years ago was to make sure that the data we stored at the City Hall is 21)_____ to anyone who wanted it. And innovators can begin to build solutions around it. The one, it provides value for us as a city, and the two, to the extent that we can show the way to other cities that things can be done. Then the whole country, the whole world is a better place. We do things because they’re important to our 22)_____. We don’t have a 23)_____, right, in the cities it’s everybody, it’s children, it’s older people, it’s visitors. We’re not doing something to maximize profit; we’re doing something because we can reach the most 24)_____ of people, perhaps, and provide 25)_____ that, for example, add to a 26)_____ life. What we’re really focused on is real practical life 27)_____ of technology but more than that sort of smart city systems thinking.

IV Watch the video again and choose the correct option to complete the sentences.

So what is a art/part/smart city? Today, in 2017, there’s no agreed tuition/definition/detention. One thing that’s really clear about smart cities is they’re very specific/special/physical to a city. The problems we have in Palo Alto are different to Shanghai and Amsterdam. Although the allegories/policies/categories are similar, how we approach/touch/poach them, the extent of the issue and the solutions are going to be very specific. One of the things that most cities are grip/gaping/grappling with is collection/congestion/constellation. And how do we get people out of their cars? And how do we get good dates/data/dating on how application/implication/transportation works in the city? You know, when you are in an urban environment, than there’s tons of traffic and you’re wondering: “Where’s everyone going? What’s all this traffic about?” Turns out, the people in the cars are looking for parking/park inn/parks spaces. They’re literally going around blocks, inventing/innovating/creating this congestion. So we think about “how can you make it easier?” We’ve now got to be able to, for example, put a sense/sensor/cursor into a parking space. And then collect data whether the parking space is occult/occupied/implied or not occupied, send it to the cloud and have any number of applications consume that data. This is the intersection between the philosophical/digital/physical world and the mental/psychical/digital world. And this is really exciting cartridge/cutting-edge/potter age work that we’re doing. What we’re talking about is a combination of sensor arrows/rays/arrays feeding back to a central point where we can aggregate that data and do things with it. Prior to this data collection/connection/intersection was very difficult, through implicated/dedicated/dictated monitors. But now, with the proliferation of these independent devices, were able to distribute/contribute/dispute them across the city and collect data like we never have before. If we’re going to have better transportation systems, then traffic seagulls/signals/signs need to talk to the cars, and the cars need to talk to other systems like where/weather/measure systems and traffic management system. So we can count transported/traffic/trip in real-time 24/7, and, based on that data, we can begin to design, for example, an inflection/connection/intersection better. We’ve never had that type of real-time ability/capability/facility before. You know, this data that we collect not only can we use it, but we can put it in the cloud/cold/old, which is what we do, and share it with as many people who would like to immune/contain/consume it. This name/phenomenon/thing is called ‘aspen/ pen/open data’ and cities, and public agencies all over the world are beginning to embrace/face/displace it. After all, the data logs/longs/belongs to the people. We were one of the first innovators/inventor/vectors to bring our budget onto the Internet in an open budding/jet/budget application. So, instead of being frightened/tightened/frustrated and calling the city and not really getting the answers, they can go look online and find the answers/questions/connections to their questions on really granular level.

V Watch the video and fill in the gaps in the text.

You know, it can’t be about community and 1)_______ separately. We’ve got to look for ways to bring 2)_______ into problem-solving in an urban 3)_______. I can’t imagine a smart city without a really good 4)_______.  Those go hand in 5)_______. Too many people in the world are getting 6)_______ from air quality. In fact, some of the new data shows people are dying in cities because of air 7)_______. And now we can put very 8)_______ air quality sensors in commercial districts and analyse the particulates in the 9)_______. And we can hand that data off to academics, here, perhaps it’s Stanford University, who can analyse it and come back with 10)_______. We’ve already reduced greenhouse 11)_______ in this city by 36%. And we’ve got an 80 12)_______ carbon reduction by 2030 official policy goal. Over half of the population of the world lives in a city context now. About three million people are 13)_______ in the city every week. Over the next 20 years that equates to about two 14)_______ more people living in cities. Our cities aren’t well 15)_______ for that. So we are in a tough spot 16)_______ as it relates to the cities.  The needs are 17)_______ and unlike. Smart cities are becoming more and more important to cities. So this is an 18)_______ field in which  there is huge 19)_______ of doing something that’s really meaningful for the community. I would think for any young people or people who are, you know, studying right now in the IT 20)_______ sector to really think about what it means to work in the city. There is so much room for technologists and IT leaders and all sorts of technical people and 21)_______ people to come to government and help 22)_______ these problems. Right now we don’t have enough people, we don’t have enough ideas. I’m concerned about these 23)_______, but I’m an optimist too. With the right people, the right 24)_______ the right technology we can bring some incredible 25)_______ to the table.

VI Watch all the parts of the video and answer the questions.

What is a 21 century way of solving problems? Why don’t traditional solutions work anymore?

What city is used as an example of smart city?

What innovative technology and solutions have been developed in the city mentioned in the video to make the lives of people better?

What is the role of government in creating smart cities?

How can congestion problem be solved in a smart city?

How can smart technologies help protect our environment?

What kind of problems can be solved in smart cities?

VII OVER TO YOU. Think of your home city and the problems it has. How can the life of the people be improved? Suggest at least 5 smart city solutions for your home city/town. Explain what the solution would be like and what problems it would help to deal with; use second conditional to express your ideas. For example: If we built parking sensors in the city centre and near the shopping malls, it would help resolve the congestion problem. Drivers would be able to download a free app for their mobile phones which would send them alert when there is a free parking space in their vicinity. This app would also compare the rates of different parking lots and suggest the drivers to choose the cheapest one. The smart city solution would rely on using cloud technology to store big amounts of data.