Smart Cities

Abstract

In this thesis the concept of smart cities with focus on smart mobility as a potential urban construct that can address the social and ecological sustainability challenges which society faces is explored. The characteristics of smart city concept were reviewed in the several smart city project around the world. The successful aspects and challenges that each project faced were considered. Improving the quality of life of residence, safety, sustainability, economy, education were the most important successful aspects of the project. The main challenges were privacy concerns, adaptability with new technologies and significant capital needed from the public budgets. Historic Corktown neighborhood is the oldest neighborhood in the city of Detroit. The mobility system of Corktown needs significant improvements due to future increase in the number of workers in Michigan Central Station after redevelopment by Ford Motor Company. In this thesis a smart mobility plan was developed for this neighborhood to address the observed challenges. The main challenges for a smart mobility plan in this neighborhood are: mixed residential and commercial areas with several vacant lands, safety, access to credit card, smart phone and high speed internet for all the residence. The main goals of the plan include improve equitable and affordable mobility options, provide reliable smart mobility service, retain and attract residents and connect key destinations. The main element of the developed plan is Smart Hub which is an integrated bus, bike and scooter sharing stations. Residence can use this hub to get access to mobility options by using smart interactive board even without having credit card, smart phone or high-speed internet. The Smart Hub has other elements including solar panel, smart trash bin, delivery box, high speed internet, active noise monitoring as a safety element. The hubs are placed in the locations with the most need for the mobility options according to the analysis of mobility data.