How Technology Can Help Make Our Cities More Sustainable

Urban areas are becoming increasingly congested. As more people prefer convenient city life, our cities are starting to become a real environmental concern. Air pollution is said to kill thousands of people each year, while it is also a major contributing factor to the worrying global warming.

In a bid to make our cities more sustainable, technology is proving crucial. Here, we’ll look at how technology can help make our cities more sustainable.

Energy efficient vehicles

Electric vehicles have been in production for many years, and they’re now starting to move closer to becoming mainstream. Manufacturers are currently working on fully-electric models, which will go a long way to improving environmental sustainability.

There has been some debate over just how environmental-friendly these vehicles are. However, research shows that even though Europe still uses some electricity generated from coal, electric vehicles would still be much more environmental-friendly than petrol or diesel models. Considering how much traffic runs through our cities, this would greatly reduce carbon emissions thus making them much greener places to live in.

Wastewater management

A major challenge of city sustainability is water management. It is thought that demand for water in urban areas is increasing at a rate of around 2% each year. By the time we reach 2040, the global demand for water could actually exceed its supply by a staggering 50%.

Generally speaking, one way to eliminate this problem is to better manage our cities’ wastewater. Reducing the amount of wastewater produced and ensuring it can be reused and by dealing with sludge will go a long way to manage wastewater concerns. One method which could prove particularly useful in this area, is flow control engineering.

Predictive traffic control technology

Next, traffic congestion is a major problem around the world’s cities. To improve air quality and reduce carbon emissions, some cities have started to implement intelligent transport solutions.

As a matter of fact, Brisbane, Stockholm and Singapore are on board in using this technology. These cities experiment with predictive tools which divert traffic in the event of an accident. This advanced technology would really help to reduce congestion. In addition, it makes life more convenient for drivers in urban areas.

Recycled and more eco-friendly materials

Significant improvements have been made within the manufacturing sector to aid in sustainability. Engineers and scientists are starting to design new materials which are able to be manipulated at an atomic level. Concrete, steel and other traditional materials are being developed to reduce their environmental impact. As a result, this is greatly going to benefit our future cities, helping to construct buildings in a much more environmental-friendly manner.

In short, technology advancements will help to make future materials lighter yet stronger, more energy efficient and recyclable.

Precise control over industrial processes

Developments in information technology are helping us to monitor the environment in real time. By using advanced technologies, we are able to precisely control industrial processes relating to cars, nuclear plants and chemical processing. As a result, our ability to improve energy efficiency and reduce pollution in cities increases.

To conclude, these are just some of the way’s technology is helping to make our cities more sustainable. There are a lot of exciting and advanced developments underway which are set to significantly boost urban sustainability. As consumers become more concerned with environmental matters, businesses are forced to take a more involved stance in terms of environmental sustainability.