Everything you wanted to know about smart cities: The Internet of things is the backbone

This article is a single-source introduction to the emerging concept of smart cities. It can be used for familiarizing researchers with the vast scope of research possible in this application domain. The smart city is primarily a concept, and there is still not a clear and consistent definition among practitioners and academia. As a simplistic explanation, a smart city is a place where traditional networks and services are made more flexible, efficient, and sustainable with the use of information, digital, and telecommunication technologies to improve the city's operations for the benefit of its inhabitants. Smart cities are greener, safer, faster, and friendlier. The different components of a smart city…