Key Takeaways
- Smart cities integrate ICT and emerging technologies to improve urban operations and citizen health services, with market growth projected from $40.1 billion in 2017 to $97.9 billion by 2026.
- Recent studies emphasize the need for comprehensive environmental monitoring to address health disparities and enhance urban resilience, especially post-pandemic.
- A systematic review aims to analyze environmental and health monitoring technologies, identifying trends, challenges, and opportunities for healthier urban environments.
Introduction to Smart Cities and Health Integration
Smart cities utilize information and communication technologies (ICTs) and emerging methods to improve urban operations and citizen services. According to Navigant Research, over 250 smart city initiatives were identified across 178 cities in 2017, with the global market for such initiatives expected to grow significantly by 2026. Initially, the focus of smart cities was on enhancing efficiency and technology; however, the COVID-19 pandemic has shifted priorities toward health and well-being.
Role of Smart Technologies in Public Health
Smart technologies, including monitoring systems based on sensors, can enhance public health by tracking air quality, noise, and other environmental factors. These innovations allow timely interventions that promote physical activities, such as cycling and walking, and improve healthcare access through telemedicine. Data analytics can also identify health disparities and inform targeted interventions, facilitating the creation of more equitable urban environments.
Challenges in Healthy Urban Design
Despite the increased focus on health in smart city planning, designing healthy built environments remains complicated. Recent research highlights the relationship between environmental factors and health through emerging fields like the exposome, which studies all environmental influences from conception onwards. A multi-dimensional and longitudinal framework is essential for understanding these interactions and developing effective health promotion strategies.
Research Gaps and Opportunities
Advances in smart technology present opportunities for widely monitoring health indicators and environmental conditions, but there’s a significant gap in integrated frameworks across spatial dimensions. Current studies often focus on isolated environmental factors, failing to address the interconnected nature of urban health challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic and climate change underscore the need for robust systems that can monitor health risks in real-time and provide insights on acute and chronic urban stressors.
Objective of the Study
This study aims to conduct a systematic review of smart city technologies for environmental and health monitoring, analyzing trends while identifying challenges and opportunities to foster healthier urban environments. By cataloging these technologies according to their monitoring objectives and spatial scales, the study will increase understanding of their potential to enhance community health outcomes.
Research Questions
Key inquiries will focus on identifying domains of environmental and health monitoring technologies, the types of technologies and data used, and the challenges and opportunities related to their adaptation across different urban scales. This systematic analysis seeks to inform the development of smart and healthy urban communities.
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