Smart city technology: a potential solution to Africa's growing population and rapid urbanization?

Q2 Social Sciences

Development Studies Research Pub Date : 2021-01-01 DOI:10.1080/21665095.2021.1894963

A. Echendu, Peter Claver Chiedozie Okafor

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引用次数: 17

Abstract

ABSTRACT Africa is rapidly urbanizing and its population is growing exponentially. The United Nations has predicted Africa will have the fastest global population growth, with over half of its populace residing in urban areas by 2050. This is concerning given Africa's current infrastructural deficits which compromise liveability in these urban areas. Education, health, and transport are core areas of challenge in Africa and currently, no research is known to have analyzed if the infusion of smart city technology in these core areas will make a difference, a gap this paper fills. This work reviews the literature on smart city technology using Singapore as a model to make inferences and ascertain the adaptability of the technology to the African situation. It seeks to investigate the prospects of enhancing the aforementioned core areas of challenge using smart city technology and determine the prospects for Africa's development. Findings indicate Africa's current state of development is an advantage here as infusing core areas with digital technology would proactively help address Africa's urbanization challenges. African nations are encouraged to embrace digital technology to address core development issues while putting adequate measures in place to maintain the security and privacy of citizens.

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智慧城市技术:非洲人口增长和快速城市化的潜在解决方案?

非洲正在快速城市化，人口呈指数级增长。联合国预测，非洲将是全球人口增长最快的地区，到2050年，超过一半的人口将居住在城市地区。考虑到非洲目前的基础设施不足损害了这些城市地区的宜居性，这令人担忧。教育、卫生和交通是非洲面临挑战的核心领域，目前还没有研究分析在这些核心领域注入智慧城市技术是否会产生影响，本文填补了这一空白。本工作回顾了智慧城市技术的文献，以新加坡为模型进行推论，并确定该技术对非洲情况的适应性。它旨在调查利用智慧城市技术加强上述核心挑战领域的前景，并确定非洲的发展前景。研究结果表明，非洲目前的发展状况在这方面是一个优势，因为向核心地区注入数字技术将积极帮助解决非洲的城市化挑战。鼓励非洲国家采用数字技术解决核心发展问题，同时采取适当措施维护公民的安全和隐私。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Development Studies Research Social Sciences-Development

CiteScore

3.20

自引率

0.00%

发文量

审稿时长

12 weeks

期刊介绍： Development Studies Research ( DSR) is a Routledge journal dedicated to furthering debates in development studies. The journal provides a valuable platform for academics and practitioners to present their research on development issues to as broad an audience as possible. All DSR papers are published Open Access. This ensures that anyone, anywhere can engage with the valuable work being carried out by the myriad of academics and practitioners engaged in development research. The readership of DSR demonstrates that our goal of reaching as broad an audience as possible is being achieved. Papers are accessed by over 140 countries, some reaching over 9,000 downloads. The importance of the journal to impact is thus critical and the significance of OA to development researchers, exponential. Since its 2014 launch, the journal has examined numerous development issues from across the globe, including indigenous struggles, aid effectiveness, small-scale farming for poverty reduction, sustainable entrepreneurship, agricultural development, climate risk and the ‘resource curse’. Every paper published in DSR is an emblem of scientific rigour, having been reviewed first by members of an esteemed Editorial Board, and then by expert academics in a rigorous review process. Every paper, from the one examining a post-Millennium Development Goals environment by one of its architects (see Vandermortele 2014), to ones using established academic theory to understand development-imposed change (see Heeks and Stanforth 2015), and the more policy-oriented papers that contribute valuable recommendations to policy-makers and practitioners (see DSR Editor’s Choice: Policy), reaches a multidisciplinary audience.