ACADEMICIANS and scholars suggested using smart technologies to solve urban ailments, such as pollution and traffic congestion, during a forum at the Shenzhen Smart City International Expo 2018.

At the 12th China Engineering Management Forum, Pan Yunhe, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said in his report that many countries expect that smart city construction could solve their social problems.

China started smart city projects during the peak of its urbanization and industrialization. The purpose is to improve urban development and residents’ livelihood. The construction will experience stages like digitization, Internet, big data and intelligence.

Lu Chunfang, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said the construction of a smart city is a way to solve the problems of traffic congestion and pollution.

As a participant in the construction of Futian CBD transport hub, Lu witnessed the entire process, from the initial application to construction.

“The project is a typical example of saving land resources and smart city construction. After rounds of discussions, we finally decided to build an underground railway station in Futian CBD to connect with Hong Kong and Guangzhou and integrate the Pearl River Delta Area,” said Lu, former vice minister of railways, in an interview.

As an underground railway station in the CBD, the transport hub will drive regional development in its 1- to 2-hour travel circle. It will play a more important role after the opening of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link. The annual passenger turnover at the station is expected to reach 20 million, and its data will provide strong support for smart city construction.

The construction of a smart city should not only be confined to the government sector. Digital governance is only a small part of smart city construction, according to Li Tie, chief economist and director with the China Center for Urban Development. A smart city is a spatial integration of IT, technologies, Internet, IoT, big data and other intelligent elements.

Ma Mingzhe, chairman of Ping An Insurance (Group) Co., said Ping An has completed the Smart City “1+N” platform, which is based on four core technologies: intelligent cognition, AI, blockchain and cloud technology. This platform, namely a set of the Smart City Cloud, integrates Ping An’s globally leading innovation technologies and strongly supports 10 core smart city sectors, including smart administration, insurance, security, transportation, port, financial trade, finance, education, health care, real estate, environmental protection, and elderly care.

Shenzhen is currently trying to become a benchmark in smart city construction by 2020 by establishing an urban big data center and an intelligent city operation center. Through the urban data that is available to the public, residents can experience digital services in transportation, public facilities and conveniences provided by government departments, organizations and firms.

In a report released at the exposition on urban intelligent governance levels among Chinese cities, Shenzhen ranked No. 1 among 294 cities, with a comprehensive score of 71.9.

The city is the benchmark in digitalized urban governance, followed by Hangzhou and Guangzhou, according to the report.(Han Ximin)