A report formed to establish which cities in the United States were the 'smartest' - has found that New York, Los Angeles and Chicago are the country's leading 'smart cities'. The report examined smart cities in North America and the research was conducted by ABI Research.
Cities were tested and evaluated across various metrics which included the deployment of smart grid technology like smart metering, LED streetlights, energy efficiency, V2X technology, electric mobility, smart parking, smart waste management and first responder communications.
The city identified as the 'smart city' leader in relation to the deployment of LED streetlights in North America was the Big Apple, New York City, although Los Angeles was hot on its heel. However, the report also claimed that Chicago is set to embark on the highest upgrade of current legacy streetlights - following the decision by local authorities to replace 270,000 of the streetlights with energy-efficient LED lights by 2021.
According to ABI Research the key market players in this particular sector are Silver-Spring Networks, Phillips and GE. In addition to this, it was revealed that Florida, New York, Miami and Michigan are the mostly likely cities to adopt V2X technologies due to a series of government initiatives and policy that range from the need to increase road safety and accelerate the deployment of self-driving cars.
New York City was recognized as the leader in replacing existing street infrastructure such as existing legacy pay-phones with state-of-the-art kiosks which are entitled Links, whilst Kansas City and Chicago have recently initiated trials on 'smart' Wi-Fi kiosks. Smart sanitation bins are also becoming part of the recurring feature of North America cities under the 'smart cities' program.
ABI Research have also suggested that larger cities tend to focus more on large-scale deployment of smart city projects - as well as adopting experimental technologies. In comparison, their smaller counterparts tend to prioritize programs and projects that are focused on more tangible benefits such as cost saving initiatives, the reduction of carbon footprint - and the overall improvement of the quality of life for its residents and citizens.