the amount of data to transmit at peak times and the number of end use devices would be staggering. two parallel city owned and operated fiberoptic networks (one intranet, one internet) with software platform(s) that automatically control components of the smart city and allows operators to interface with and manage the same. all communication links monitored with automatic failover. all access to the public network controlled. network security would be paramount.
considering the end use devices would need to somehow interface with and possibly be controlled by software, it might be beneficial to develop a standard protocol or interface so that devices can be easily added or subtracted. as an example, most automakers have a proprietary link to the auto's control system and some crap user interface for the driver. if we are talking about smart transportation, some master controller would need to establish a one or two way communication link to command the auto's control system to do something (change route maybe?) and possibly inform the passenger (route changed due to accident, ETA adjusted to xx).
what components (the list of services) of the city are eligible to be smart ? off the top of my head...
transportation
education
healthcare
retail
professional workplaces/commercial buildings
restaurants
emergency response
water and sewer
recreation
energy management/reliability
waste management (trash collection, grease collection, etc)
city maintenance (landscaping, irrigation, utilities)
more questions:
what are the sub-components of these components which must be smart? the sub-components of these sub-components?
why does each need to be made smart? what service/convenience does it offer and how does that benefit the city?
how is each sub-components made smart, physically?
how do the smarts plug into the "city", figuratively speaking?
how much smarts are left to the "city" and how much is expected of the sub-component?
are the controls by some master, or group of masters with handing off (think like cell phone towers), or are they distributed to the end use devices?
how much will this all cost and how will funds be raised to accomplish it?
who is going to maintain the smart systems when they fail? engineers? technicians? are there enough skilled workers to support the infrastructure and can the city pay to keep them all?
how much computing power is needed to accomplish everything?