ABSTRACT
Smart cities that capitalise on the power of digital technology to improve the urban experience are multiplying across the globe. Humanity is becoming an urban species. In 1950, a mere 746 million people lived in cities. Broadly defined as urban centres that harness the power of digital technology – information and communication technologies, mobile apps, cloud computing and so forth – to monitor, understand and manage the urban environment, smart cities are widely viewed as a positive and transformational solution to the assorted challenges facing cities today. Unlike hard-wired communications, wireless communications involve the transmission of digital content through the air between endpoints, making them more prone to data interception by unauthorised parties. The benefits of cloud storage are well documented. Cyber security has traditionally fallen under the jurisdiction of national governments; city governments rarely, if ever, pay much attention to it. Smart cities may well make it possible for humanity to thrive even in relentlessly growing urban areas.
