广东省广州市越秀区2021-2022学年八年级下学期英语期末试卷试题详情
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Rethinking "Smarter" Cities
The idea of "smart" cities was first put forward in the 1970s. Since then, it has spread to more and more countries. People hoped new technologies could help them live happier lives in cities.
Governments aren't the only ones interested in building "smarter" cities. Many companies see the smart city program as a great chance to make money. Leading tech companies have all offered their smart-city solutions. However, many project designers don't have a clear idea of what they are going to achieve. They proudly show off exciting new technologies like 5G, but they don't know how to use them to solve real-world problems. In other words, they sound more like tech sales people than city builders.
This can cause many problems. City planning should always center around one question: What can be done to improve people's living conditions? Private companies, however, have to take care of their own business interests first. Their answer to every problem is simply more technology. Their solutions often have nothing to do with people's daily lives.
Sometimes, the problem is not a shortage of "smart" technologies. For example, self-driving cars are certainly "smarter" than bicycles. However, they may cause much more traffic jams. They don't really make the city a better place to live.
City managers should carefully think about the kind of life to provide for people. Planneres and tech developers should work according to this blueprint（蓝图）. They should stop worrying about making our cities "smarter" and start to focus on making them better.
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