Crowned the smart city of the year at the virtual Smart City Live 2020, Shanghai puts on display a variety of connected solutions that could guide the development of other global smart cities.

Shanghai’s long-term smart city plan, which has run from 2016 to 2020, focused on the development of various initiatives, including intensive digital infrastructure, e-government services, and a City Brain.

The megacity has become a standard of resilient, eco-friendly living. Here are a few of the connected solutions at work in Shanghai.

City Brain

Shanghai deployed Alibaba’s City Brain solution, which uses machine intelligence to solve problems of transportation, security, urban planning and more. Biometric facial recognition cameras, drones and satellite images help to capture millions of images of districts. Deep learning artificial intelligence (AI) systems then identify issues such as illegal parking, traffic infractions, crowds and illegal garbage dumps. The system can also adjust traffic light timing or alert emergency services.

Digital Government

The city’s e-government portal has registered more than 14.5 million users within a population of more than 24 million. Before the system launched, processes such as applying for a business would take days and multiple stops to various departments. A one-stop portal, the e-government system helps simplify such processes into something reminiscent of online shopping.

Through the portal, citizens can complete business registrations and other regulatory needs, pay utility bills, provide emergency-response information, and more. Real-time maps and updated emergency information allow city officials and citizens to react and prepare for times of crises.

Dual Gigabit City

Another part of the four-year smart city plan was the deployment of infrastructure needed for Shanghai to become the first dual gigabit city — a city with both wired and wireless gigabit broadband.

Shanghai has achieved 99% household coverage, covering 9.6 million households. The city can also boast its numerous 55 outdoor and indoor base stations.

City officials aim to continue increasing bandwidth for users in the coming years and popularizing 5G usage.

Connected and efficient, the metropolis is set to meet the needs of its citizens, keeping them more informed, secure and environmentally friendly than ever.