Autonomous vehicles in sustainable cities: Reclaiming public spaces for people

Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) are increasingly embraced around the world to advance smart mobility and more broadly, smart, and sustainable cities. Algorithms form the basis of decision-making in AVs, allowing them to perform driving tasks autonomously, efficiently, and more safely than human drivers and offering various economic, social, and environmental benefits. However, algorithmic decision-making in AVs can also introduce new issues that create new safety risks and perpetuate discrimination. We identify bias, ethics, and perverse incentives as key ethical issues in the AV algorithms’ decision-making that can create new safety risks and discriminatory outcomes. Technical issues in the AVs’ perception, decision-making and control algorithms, limitations of existing AV testing and verification methods, and cybersecurity vulnerabilities can also undermine the performance of the AV system. This article investigates the ethical and technical concerns surrounding algorithmic decision-making in AVs by exploring how driving decisions can perpetuate discrimination and create new safety risks for the public. We discuss steps taken to address these issues, highlight the existing research gaps and the need to mitigate these issues through the design of AV’s algorithms and of policies and regulations to fully realise AVs’ benefits for smart and sustainable cities.

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Autonomous Vehicles for Smart and Sustainable Cities: An In-Depth Exploration of Privacy and Cybersecurity Implications

Energies ◽

10.3390/en11051062 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 11 (5) ◽

pp. 1062 ◽

Cited By ~ 34

Author(s):

Hazel Lim ◽

Araz Taeihagh

Keyword(s):

Autonomous Vehicles ◽

Sustainable Cities

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Inclusive, Safe and Resilient Public Spaces: Gateway to Sustainable Cities?

10.5772/intechopen.97353 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Asifa Iqbal

Keyword(s):

Built Environment ◽

Fear Of Crime ◽

Public Spaces ◽

Sustainable Cities ◽

Urban Resilience ◽

Rapid Urbanization ◽

Safety Issues ◽

Perception Of Safety ◽

Urban Safety

The rapid urbanization process of cities is majorly coupled with extreme climate change, housing shortage and urban safety issues. These issues are raising new challenges to address the capability of urban resilience. Enhancing Urban Safety and Security is one of the major principles addressed by UN-Habitat in Sustainable Development Goal number 11. Making cities safe and sustainable means ensuring access to safe and affordable public spaces for all. This book chapter aims to highlight how do the city’s public spaces are linked and affected by crime and fear of crime? How do crime and fear of crime interconnect to the built environment in cities while promoting positive urban transitions in terms of safe and sustainable cities? This book chapter explores answers to these questions through the parks and public spaces of the city as a case study. In other words, the book chapter deals with the issue of safety and security by (1) showing links between parks and public spaces, and crime and fear of crime, (2) highlighting how different attributes in the built environment can affect people’s perception of safety, (3) understanding socio-technical perspectives i.e., how technological systems and equipment’s (such as lighting sensors, security alarms, security electronic devices, closed-circuit television (CCTV), smartphones or other technological instruments) are influencing safety/security and sustainability, (4) demonstrating the issues and challenges found in Stockholm, Sweden, and, (5) providing recommendations on how these places can be planned and designed to become more sustainable.

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The Pandemic City: Urban Issues in the Time of COVID-19

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13063295 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (6) ◽

pp. 3295

Author(s):

Lina Martínez ◽

John Rennie Short

Keyword(s):

Urban Space ◽

Public Spaces ◽

Health Access ◽

Sustainable Cities ◽

Urban Economies ◽

The Past ◽

Urban Issues ◽

The Way

Pandemics have shaped the way cities are planned and configured. Throughout history, cities have evolved to solve problems of sanitation, hygiene, and health access while providing space and opportunities for the urban dwellers. COVID-19 will have significant implications in the way cities are planned. This recent crisis highlights a number of issues. This paper looks at the context for the pandemic and then reviews studies and debates in four areas: transformations in the configuration of public spaces, transportation, urban connectivities, and urban economies. This pandemic, like other similar episodes in the past, is forcing us to rethink the nature of urban space and may be an opportunity to plan for safer, more sustainable cities.

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