Smart cities for a sustainable urbanization: Illuminating the need for establishing smart urban infrastructures

Cities with substantial population growth continue to encounter economic, social, and environmental challenges in their daily operations. Figure 1 shows how the urban population, in which more than 55% of the globe's people currently live, has nearly quadrupled since the 1950s. Globally, urbanization is expected to encompass 70% of the world population by 2050, resulting in an unprecedented increase in the consumption of existing resources. Figure 2 displays the substantial growth in greenhouse gas emissions around the world from 1995 to 2015. This growth has led to public outcry demanding that societies curb their dependence on fossil fuel consumption to limit global warming. In fact, major cities' usage of fossil fuels constitutes 75% of global energy resource use and accounts for 70% of global greenhouse gas emissions, despite occupying only approximately 5% of the planet's total land mass. Rapid urbanization also contributes to multiple types of serious environmental pollutants (e.g., air, soil, and water), which affect the people's health and the quality of life. Figure 3 shows the possible contamination of urban water resources when industrial chemicals and sewage are drained into waterways.