World Cities Day – Data for Livable Cities

How SMARTbox Technology Makes Urban Spaces Smarter, More Sustainable, and More Connected

‍When the day begins over a city’s rooftops, a complex system comes to life – streets, buildings, energy flows, people, and machines move to the rhythm of urban daily life. Cities grow, change, become denser and more digital. Every hour generates new data, decisions, and challenges. This is exactly where PSsystec’s SMARTbox comes in – not as a visible device, but as an invisible pacemaker for a connected, sustainable city. On World Cities Day, the importance of such technologies comes into focus: Every innovation, every connected system, and every data signal can contribute to making life in our cities a little more livable.

Cities in Transition – The Challenge of Urbanization

The United Nations declared October 31 as “World Cities Day” through Resolution A/RES/68/239. Since 2014, this day has drawn global attention to urban spaces, their opportunities, and challenges. Demographic change speaks a clear language: by 2030, around two-thirds of the world’s population will live in cities. Cities are centers of growth, innovation, and integration, but also of resource scarcity, infrastructure stress, and climate risks.

Key challenges include:

• Infrastructure maintenance: outdated existing systems, hard-to-access technical rooms, diffuse energy flows.

• Energyefficiency & emissions: lighting, climate control, traffic, and commerce drive consumption, creating peak loads and unnecessary base loads.

• Climate adaptation: heat islands, high temperatures in technical rooms, unexpected pump or ventilation failures.

• Data and transparency gaps: Without reliable, timely data, control and management are difficult – especially in rental properties or delicate infrastructure.

• Sustainability and standards: Cities are under pressure to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly to make cities inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.

At the same time, cities offer enormous opportunities: digitization, IoT sensors, and mobile communication technologies open new ways to capture environmental, energy, and process data. Cities can become living networks – intelligent, adaptive, and sustainable.

SMARTbox – The Urban Nervous System‍

In an urban context, solutions must not only work; they must operate smartly, securely, and unobtrusively. The SMARTbox series makes this possible: non-invasive, mobile-based, without local IT infrastructure – ideal for the city of today and tomorrow.

Overview of Components:‍

• IoT Energymonitor: Records electricity, gas, heat, and water flows in installations (e.g., street lighting, building systems) – non-invasively retrofittable.
• SMARTsensor: Monitors process and status signals such as operating hours, pressure, valve positions, and digital inputs.
• SMARTtempmonitor: Wireless temperature and humidity measurement in technical rooms, outdoor stations, or server rooms – up to 5 years battery life or via power supply.
• SMARThaccp: Temperature and gas monitoring according to HACCP standards – relevant for urban logistics, food retail, or large kitchens.
• SMARTmetering Basic Package: Digitization of existing meters (electricity, heat, water) – retrofit-capable, wireless, without IT intervention.
• SMARTsocket: User and consumption monitoring – detects failures, enables remote reset or shutdown of devices.
• SMARTmodbus: Integration of existing controllers via Modbus RTU/TCP into the IoT network.

All these components together form a flexible system using mobile technologies (LTE-M, NB-IoT). Data is transmitted to the cloud via open protocols (LwM2M, MQTT, REST API) – vendor-neutral and future-proof.

Example Application in an Urban Environment:

In a neighborhood with many rental properties, the IoT Energy Monitor is installed on supply lines for lighting and ventilation. Simultaneously, a SMARTtempmonitor monitors technical rooms, while the SMARTmetering Basic Package digitizes meter readings. As a result, peak loads are identified, unnecessary operation times recognized, and lighting is automatically switched off with SMARTsocket – all without IT intervention. The city administration records energy savings of >25% and reduced maintenance costs.

The City as a Data Space – Cooperation Between Technology and Environment‍

The character of modern cities is defined by connectivity: buildings, infrastructure, environment, citizens – all are potential data points. The SMARTbox functions here as a central node. In combination, it makes visible:

• Street lighting is not only controlled but optimized for consumption.
• Pumping stations or urban water systems send operational data in real time – failures are avoided predictively.

• Rental properties gain transparency over energy consumption, independent of landlord IT.
• Vulnerable technical rooms (heat build-up, humidity) are detected by SMARTtempmonitor and SMARThaccp – maintenance becomes predictable.
• Meters become digital – the SMARTmetering Basic Package enables reporting according to ISO 50001 or in the ESG context.

Mobile connectivity allows rapid installation, independent of Wi-Fi or existing IT cabling. Example: In an old apartment block, five technical rooms are equipped with SMARTtempmonitor and SMARTsensor. In a short time, real-time monitoring is active, which was previously impossible due to lack of infrastructure.

Added Value for the City – Results That Matter

‍The SMARTbox solution contributes to sustainable urban development – in the spirit of World Cities Day: “People-centered Smart Cities.” People-centered Smart Cities start with accessible technology – everywhere, anytime.

Concrete Benefits:

• Energy savings: Intelligent monitoring and control mechanisms enable more efficient operation of lighting, HVAC, and device technology.
• Reduction of failures and maintenance costs: Real-time data detects faults before they occur – maintenance is planned, not improvised.
• Data foundation for sustainability: Digitalized meters and sensors create a reliable basis for sustainable urban development – for cities that are inclusive, safe, resilient, and future-ready, as well as for ESG reporting.
• Fast retrofitting – minimally invasive: No renovations, no local IT – particularly in rental properties or older buildings with difficult infrastructure.
• Adaptive urban structure: When streetlights, pumps, or weather stations become part of the IoT network, the city optimizes itself – resilient to climate and infrastructure changes.

Outlook – Designing Smart Cities‍

On October 31, we celebrate World Cities Day – a reminder that urban spaces are not static. Cities are systems in motion; they breathe, they live, they need data. With SMARTbox, the analog world becomes a digital data source: from streetlights to technical room sensors to cooling systems in urban logistics centers.

PSsystec technology shows: sustainability begins with measurability. Digitization without complexity is possible. Cities can become smarter – not through major reconstruction, but through smart systems that bring existing infrastructure into the 21st century.

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Analog World. Digital Data.
SMARTbox – made by PSsystec.