By Assoc Prof Ir Dr Eeydzah Aminudin, Universiti Teknologi MARA (eeydzah@uitm.edu.my) and Dr Ahmad Farhan Roslan, Independent researcher (ahmadfarhanroslan@gmail.com)
Smart cities to build human-centric solutions
A smart city uses digital technology to improve performance, well-being, efficiency and citizen engagement while reducing costs and resource use. Emerging technologies are key to transforming traditional cities, requiring the integration of physical, digital and human systems. With over 68% of the world’s population projected to live in cities by 2050, digital innovation is a necessity to make urban areas livable, resilient and sustainable.
Smart city projects focus on traffic congestion, energy efficiency, climate risks, critical infrastructure and building management. Under the Malaysia Smart City Framework (MSCF), similar priorities are identified, including efficient transport, better living conditions, effective governance, sustainable energy and resilient infrastructure.
The smart city agenda must be human-centric, focusing on addressing urban challenges to improve lives and convenience.
From Emerging Technologies to AI-powered Smart Cities and Transportation
The MSCF defines smart cities as those using ICT and technology to improve life, economy, safety and governance. Emerging technologies (ETs) like IoT, big data, 3D printing, UAVs, blockchain, and AI drive datadriven decision-making for urban challenges. ETs enable real-time data, predictive analysis, and automation, with AI as the key enabler of smart city intelligence. Digital twins (DT) further support monitoring, simulation and optimisation of urban systems using real-time data from IoT, UAVs, satellites, and databases.
However, developing a DT for smart cities involves several steps and progresses through multiple stages. Previous frameworks created by the Centre for Digital Built Britain (CDDB) describe how DT advances from reality capture (Element 0) and 3D modelling (Element 1) to integration with persistent and dynamic data (Elements 2–3), followed by interactive feedback loops (Element 4), and ultimately, autonomous maintenance (Element 5). Adapted from Evans’ digital twin maturity model, it shows how Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) lay the foundation for DT development in smart cities, where they enable the modelling and integration of data (Elements 2- 3, or level 2 maturity)
