Smart city technologies, resource allocation and sustainable urban planning - A critical review of the proposed administrative division of free town into two cities

Abstract

The offered paper is a critical study of the suggested administrative division of Freetown into two cities and a reflection of the possibility of initiating smart city technologies as a more sustainable and cost-effective option. The research is based on a strong methodology, which implies the utilization of case studies, surveys, interviews, and the use of empirical data collection in order to analyze the economic, social and environmental consequences of the two approaches to the development of urban areas. An analysis of these results points out that the administrative division has a lot of economic inefficiencies such as the increased capital outlay start with and the current running costs. Conversely, the smart city technologies are depicted to provide significant savings in the long term, improved public services, employment creation and sustainability of the environment by optimization of resources and a decrease in the amount of waste produced. Also, it is demonstrated that society is overwhelmingly in favor of smart city solutions as opposed to the suggested division, which suggests that people would prefer to use technological advances to meet the needs of a city. The paper concludes that the use of smart city technologies can offer a more comprehensive answer to the development of Freetown that would lead to social integration, economic equilibrium, and environmental balance than its proposed administrative division. The findings possess a lot of information to policymakers and urban planners both in the Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown and in other developing cities.