The future is smart cities?

[Robert Zwilling]

The construction of The Line in Saudi Arabia is suffering from budget cuts. Instead of 1.5 million people living there by 2030, the number has been reduced to 300,000. They still need to “build factories, build even sufficient human resources”, which probably means better facilities for the workers. Some of the 300,000 will probably be construction workers. Some of the construction crews for building the buildings are supposedly being dismissed. The foundation is still being constructed. Some of the resort features are still on schedule to be completed. There are TV commercials advertising a get away island resort hotel. "The planned construction includes a dramatic structure in front of the main dam called ‘The Bow’ which will overhang a valley, with an artificial lake behind it, and will contain a hotel, residential areas and a large atrium." That is supposedly still slated for construction. Factories will also be built to provide materials for the project.

 

[Robert Zwilling]

The Maldives is a place where the future, the past, and the present are on a continual collision process. The popular belief is that the rising sea levels and weather changes won't be happening for another hundred years. The one main city is probably the most densely populated place on Earth. There are a thousand islands, most with thin or no population. The main island has a big city where most people want to live and it is very crowded. People are always moving from the islands to the main city.

To get more space for buildings for people to live and work "in the city" there are plans to build one tunnel with an underground railway to another island. The tunnel would apparently be glass walled so people would have an underwater view. It would be for utility use as well as a major tourist attraction. Other islands would eventually be connected by bridges and possibly more tunnels so that more buildings can be constructed for people to live and work in the main city.

They already have "floating city" housing developments attached by land bridges to provide more housing. Many of the islands have small resorts built on them for the tourists to stay at. This provides a great deal of the countries income. The underwater views are a big tourist attraction and there is a very robust coral conservation effort to maintain the health of the coral. The tunnel is not a practical reality yet, with some groups saying it can't be built with the available funds. Both India and China want an economical presence on the island and are building the floating housing units as a way of staying popular with the people of Maldives. They might consider building the tunnels as a way of maintaining their popularity.

Probably the prime driver for underwater housing would be the view through a large window. While this would be nice for resort, it would be a problem in earthquake prone areas. The underwater tunnels could serve as temporary shelters as a place to go during bouts of severe weather.

 

[Ray Zdybrow]

I've been reading a lot about smart cities of the future, and I think it's a given that AI and cloud services will help power certain aspects of a city's infrastructure.

However, when I read an article like this, I just find it plain creepy: Video analytics paves way for smart cities

It's not a given and we should resist it. The Chrons has a politics ban but asserting that Big Business/Big Data dictating how we live is just "the way things are going" is ok and not deemed to be political - why?
The increasing power that the monopolies hold over us is not a force of nature, it's a consequence of the power structures we live in. IMO!

 

[Robert Zwilling]

Look who wrote the article, the tech Group Chief Operating Officer. Its a future statement of wealth for people selling that stuff. It uses negative personal privacy. Analyzing cars and traffic and the weather is normal. Using face recognition to have the stuff you "need" to buy in a store ready for you before you even walk in the door is bizarre to me but people will love it. The people running the show will never let the local stores ever have access to their personal or their family's personal data, that's for the commoners with embedded electronic debit tags. The ones lording over this spectacle will have embedded chips that override everything. MOO! Commoners: Looking at thesaurus for another word for cattle, out of the 20 suggestions, only one has to do with animals, the word herd, that's it. The rest of the alternates are like riffraff, scum, trash, proletariat, etc. John Brunner wrote a book called the Sheep Look Up, could have used sheep but apparently Merriam Webster feels we are way beyond that point language wise. We're not even cattle anymore. Maybe Merriam Webster has risen to the idea that implying people could be some kind of animal would be an insult to that animal.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Ok, I thought a discussion about smart cities might attract discussion of science fiction, but instead it's fast turned to kneejerk politics and social commentary, so I'll close this thread.