Global Smart City Market Report 2021: 5G Technology – Key Enabler of Smart City Developments

Press Releases

Sep 01, 2021

DUBLIN, Sept. 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — The “Smart Cities Market, Technology (AI, Big Data Analytics, Cloud Technology, Quantum Computing), Component (Hardware, Software), Application (Smart Transportation, Smart Utilities), Deployment (Cloud, On-Premise), Estimation & Forecast, 2017 – 2030” report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com’s offering.

The global smart cities market held a market value of USD 114,901.8 Million in 2020 and is forecasted to reach USD 670,424.1 Million by the year 2030. The market is expected to register a CAGR of 20.5% during the forecast period.

Smart cities utilize information and communication technology to improve operational efficiency, share information with public and provide a better quality of government service and citizen welfare. The market is majorly driven by the growing need for public safety and communication infrastructure.

Furthermore, increasing number of government initiatives and PPP models for smart cities, are also expected to contribute to the market growth. For instance, in 2018-19, Government of India allocated around USD 828.86 million in its budget for development of 5 new smart cities. This budget increased by 7% to about USD 866.61 million in 2019-20. Additionally, rising focus on environmental sustainability and investments in 5G technologies for smart city developments are also factors leading to positive influence on the market.

Growth Influencers:

Growing requirement of communication infrastructure and public safety

Public safety is an ongoing challenge for various cities across the globe. However, as urban populations are growing, smart cities are leveraging novel digital technologies for monitoring and optimising energy and water consumption for creating effective transportation infrastructures, enhancing citizen access to services, and delivering city-wide connectivity required by businesses as well as citizens.

Rising number of government initiatives and PPP models for smart cities

Various government initiatives along with public private partnerships are boosting the market growth. For instance, China has various smart city initiatives which are combining metering devices, embedded sensors, and other such monitoring technologies with artificial intelligence analysis and big data processing for assisting in managing the public spaces as well as the cities. As of 2020, the country has near about 800 smart cities pilot programs in planning or processes. This is about half of the total smart cities across the globe. Such initiatives are anticipated to boost the market growth over the forecast period.

Growing focus on environmental sustainability

Apart from advantages such as time, safety, health, jobs, connectedness, and cost of living, smart cities market also has potential to be realized in the environmental sector. Smart applications contributing most to environmental advancements include improvements in saving water & energy, improving mobility, and reducing waste.

Smart city solutions such as energy use optimization, air quality monitoring, and water, waste, & electricity tracking have potential to 30 to 130 fewer kgs of waste produced per person per year, to reduce 10-15% fewer CHG emissions, and to save 25 to 80 litres of water saved per person per day. Such applications of smart cities to improve environmental sustainability are expected to fuel the market growth.

5G technology – Key enabler of smart city developments

The 5G technology is expected to enable a new kind of communication network to interconnect everything. This is set to impact societies and economies to provide the necessary communication infrastructure required by various smart city applications. One of the many smart city applications that can be fulfilled using 5G technologies is the intelligent transporting system (ITS).

The technology had laid a foundation for building smart technology, productive industry, and innovative ways of communicating. Also, 5G acts as a communication network to support the IoT infrastructure required by various smart city vertical industries. Therefore, various applications of 5G technology to enable many smart city developments are expected to boost the market growth.

The internet of things (IoT) segment accounts for the largest share of more than 30%. Rising adoption of IoT technology in fields such as transportation is expected to contribute to the market growth. The cloud technology segment is expected to grow at the fastest CAGR owing to growing advancements in the segment.

The hardware segment accounted for the largest share of around 40% owing to the growing demand for connected hardware devices. On the other hand, the software segment is anticipated to grow at the fastest growth rate over the forecast period owing to increasing technological advancements.

The smart citizen service segment accounted for the largest market share of more than 20%. Most of the government organizations prioritise citizen safety which results into the market growth. Smart governance segment is anticipated to grow at the fastest CAGR. The application enables government organizations to improve accountability, transparency, collaboration, security, and citizens’ participation, which positively influences the market growth.

The cloud segment accounted for the largest market share owing to its increasing usage in smart city applications. The segment is also anticipated to grow at the fastest CAGR over the forecast period.

Regional Overview

On regional basis, the global Smart Cities market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East, Africa, and South America.

The North American region accounted for the largest market share of more than 30% in the global market owing to the well-developed ICT infrastructure and the presence of prominent technology vendors. Also, the presence of various international councils in the region is also anticipated to drive the market growth.

The Asia Pacific region holds the second largest market share as well as is expected to grow at the fastest growth rate owing to rising focus on the development of digital infrastructure and presence of fast-developing economies, such as India and China, where their governments are investing heavily to develop smart cities.

Competitive Landscape

The cumulative market share of the four major players is near about 43.5%. These market players are engaged in partnerships, new product launches, mergers & acquisitions to strengthen their market presence. For instance, in June 2021, Fujitsu collaborated with the industrial city of Kawasaki for developing a new smart city fabric using the latest connectivity, compute, and analytics solutions.

Key players operating in the global Smart Cities market include