Fars Engineering

The Role of Civil Engineers in Hong Kong’s Smart City Goals

2021-01-12 FARS Engineering

The rapid technological pace of the 21st century has brought in futuristic and utopic urban development ideas across the globe. With its Vision 2030 anchored on technology and sustainability, Hong Kong is right in the middle of smart city developments going on in forward-looking cities.

Hong Kong leadership is embarking on a series of infrastructural projects aimed at retrofitting the city to boost liveability and efficiency to earn the city the smart city status. Amidst these developments, civil engineers play a critical role in upgrading ageing infrastructure, designing green and sustainable buildings, and retrofitting several structures to lay the foundation for a smart city.

KMPG reports that Hong Kong is shaping its way to become a smart city by:

Training and tweaking the education system to build a workforce that is apt for the future
Building trade and investment partnerships to spur growth
Enhancing collaboration between private and public sector
Using technology to improve sustainability

The road for Hong Kong to become a smart city has already begun, and civil engineers are among the most important stakeholders in the process.

Critical Civil Engineering Smart City Sectors

Civil engineers practise their profession in a variety of fields. In designing, building, and sustaining a smart city, these engineers will focus on the following sectors:

Transport

Efficient mobility means higher speeds, lower carbon footprint, and seamless connection of rail, road, and air transport systems. Civil engineers ensure that the design of transport infrastructures meets these efficiency needs.

Energy

Development of hybrid renewable energy systems, efficient energy storage systems, and smart grid systems combined with efficient distribution of energy lies at the centre of Hong Kong's smart city development plans. Civil engineers design key enablers for implementing energy projects and developing critical infrastructures. For instance, these engineers design and install equipment for producing and storing energy and its associated devices.

Water Supply

At the heart of every smart city is an efficient system of sourcing, processing, and supplying clean water to commercial, industrial and residential properties. Also, smart cities have a streamlined wastewater management system and well-designed drainage systems to cushion the city from floods. Civil engineers are crucial in designing drainage systems and implementing waste management plans.

Property

The construction of smart buildings is part of Hong Kong's 2030 vision to create a liveable, green, and resilient city. Realisation of this dream means that civil engineers have to sit down, plan, and develop smart city designs and frameworks that align with the city's sustainability goals.

Civil Engineers & Technology

We are in the world of BIG data, artificial intelligence (AI), 3D printing, machine learning, robotics, etc. where we have smart wearables, security systems, POS systems and so much more! Hong Kong airports are already using smart locks to protect cargo, while its public transit system embraces the open data concept.

Hong Kong government has also rolled out e-government systems including Smart ID Cards. In the private sector, Chain Technology Development Co. launched system architectures and civil engineers to design building spaces for a particular purpose.

Civil engineers must move with the changing technology to ensure that their designs and structures meet smart city standards. The role of civil engineers in smart city development cannot be underestimated. They are the anchors of every infrastructural project that would make Hong Kong a smart city. FARS Engineering has one of the most reliable and efficient licensed civil engineers working on various smart city projects in and around Hong Kong city.

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