The “Smart City” concept and its implementation prospects

. The article reveals the content of the "smart city" concept. Thus, the concept of 'smart city' itself can be considered not only as a concept, but also as an urban space itself, 'saturated' with digital and innovative technologies. Key approaches to the implementation of the concept of "smart city" are given. The basic components and tools of a smart city are pointed out. Existing problems, challenges and threats in the context of building smart cities are disclosed. Russian realities of embodiment of concept "smart city" are considered. Possible perspectives of "smart city" concept realization are pointed out. The conclusions are summarized. On the whole, a smart city is an inevitable condition for present and future development of urban space. The "smart city" is not only a tool for improvement of comfort, improvement of conditions, but also a necessary answer to the arisen threats and challenges, which are unprecedented in character.


Introduction
The concept of the "smart city" is more relevant than ever in the contemporary realities of globalization and ubiquitous digitalization. In essence, this concept is a logical extension of all the implications that have come to pass of the ongoing changes brought about by the information revolution of the 21st century [1].
The smart city can be seen as a kind of response to contemporary threats and challenges related to global environmental and social problems. Accordingly, consideration of this concept and the prospects for its implementation will be relevant.
The aim of the work is to reveal the essence of the concept and characterise the main prospects. The objectives are: to identify the essence of the concept of "smart city"; to characterize the specifics of the concept implementation in the Russian Federation and consider a smart city as a space; to reveal the main tools for the concept of "smart city" implementation; to draw conclusions.
Research methodology. The following methods were used: content analysis -to search and collect necessary information on the topic of research; comparative analysis -to compare different approaches to the concept of "smart city"; compilation and systematisation.

Research results
The essence of the concept. The "smart city" can be seen, on the one hand, as a concept shaped by modernisation, globalisation and integration. On the other hand, a smart city is actually a city characterised by high-tech, intensive development.
The concept of a smart city implies gradual development of a competitive and innovative economy, achievement of a high level of quality of life [2].
Formally, the "smart city" concept was formed on the basis of the "Smarter Planet" concept announced by IBM in 2009. Somewhat later, in 2014, the European Economic Commission formulated the indicators demonstrating smart sustainable development of urban space. These indicators served as a kind of basis, an impetus to start the implementation of this concept. In 2016 the UN General Assembly approved the New Urban Agenda. In particular, this programme contained the following main provisions: cities are facing new challenges related to unsustainable and inexpedient consumption patterns. On the one hand, there are serious threats of environmental pollution, man-made disasters and, on the other hand, there are threats of increasing social inequality, a gap between developed and developing countries [3].
Also, the smart city concept aims to ensure the sustainability of urban space. When we talk about sustainability, we mean, first of all, a combination of flexibility and stability. For example, information technology can easily regulate traffic depending on traffic at different times of the day and seasons, taking into account when there is the least traffic and when it is the most. This, in turn, leads to significant savings in resources, in this case fuel, but most importantly, reduces harmful emissions to the environment [4].
It is possible to distinguish the components included in the "smart city" concept: -digital, innovative technologies, their widespread introduction and use in all key spheres of life (economy, society, transport, etc.); -Ensuring sustainable, environmentally friendly development of urban space taking into account the global challenges faced by every modern city; -Innovative management models (use of new management approaches with the infusion of digital technologies, big data, etc.); -Active involvement of the population in management and modernisation processes, increase of the level of civic activity and social responsibility in general; -Ensuring equal access to information services and digital technologies (the so-called information equality).
The smart city concept has evolved considerably today: if earlier its understanding was reduced only to technological determinism, nowadays there is a socially-oriented justification [3].
There are three main approaches to implementing the "smart city" concept (in the context of digitalisation practices) in the Russian state. It is reasonable to name and analyse them: -Sociotechnical approach has been substantiated by such researchers as V. Albino, U. Berardi; M. Batty et al; R. Hall et al; A.O. Veselova; V.I. Drozhzhinov. This approach emphasizes the "ubiquitous city" -a city which is united by services, services and communications, with an emphasis on technological provision. In this approach, information technology is actively used -it is integrated into all spheres of life as much as possible, and in particular, by means of information technology, the involvement of the population in the management process is ensured; -Smart urbanism approach was substantiated by J.M. Eger, A. Maggipinto; E. Townsend; I.N. Ilina; V. Korovkin. The emphasis here is on the following principles: eco-sustainability; philosophy of one space; human-centredness; inclusiveness; sustainable spatial development. If this approach is taken as a basis, then information and communication technologies are introduced through the use of a geoinformation system for data processing. The challenges of a "sustainable city" are being developed. "A sustainable city is primarily concerned with implementing the principles of sustainability and creating an environment in which the population has free access to education, health, housing and transport infrastructure. Through all of this, living standards and quality of life will improve; -Contextual approach was substantiated by F. Barca, P. McCann; E. Glaser, S. Berry; R. Hollands; K. Mokrushina; M. Dvinsky, I. Drobyshev. Here different contexts are taken into account: social, technological, socio-geographical, political and depending on which prevails at the moment. This approach also focuses on the needs of the population and on the principle of inclusiveness. In the implementation of this approach, the priority is: a smart infrastructure; the needs of the population and, in general, people as the most valuable capital. The quality of life, favourable conditions of urban space, technological solutions, etc. are ensured.
The 'smart city' concept is connected with the concept of a 'humane city'. It is advisable for a deeper understanding of the first one to disclose the second one. The concept of the smart city is, above all, about investing in human and social capital, involving the population in the main management processes and, finally, about building relationships on the basis of partnership between the state, the private sector and the public sector. The cooperation takes place in the development of urban space.
If the concept of "smart city" implies cooperation on the basis of state-private partnership, the "humane city" is an interaction based on public-private-public partnership [3].
The concept of the "humane city" can, perhaps, be called a kind of "evolutionary continuation" of the concept of the "smart city", as it implies not just the use of innovative technologies, but their use in order to form social inclusion, ensure sustainable development, take into account the interests of society and the environment.
Moreover, the concept of the "humane city" involves not only governmental structures, but also the private, public sector to the maximum extent possible. The majority of services and facilities are based on a bottom-up approach, whereby citizens themselves identify their primary needs, and existing technologies and innovative approaches are used to meet those needs.
If to analyse the current situation in the Russian state and society, it is possible to allocate the certain preconditions connected with formation of conditions for an embodiment of the "smart city" concept. So, today the governmental structures discuss the problems connected with "smart city" and "humane city". Numerous discussions are taking place both at conferences, various meetings and in the media as well as in the doctrine. There are also increasing needs related to digital development and many technology initiatives are being realised. For example, in such cities as Moscow, St. Petersburg transport, urban space, etc. are becoming "smart".
The concept of "smart city" in Russia. The Russian state currently has a special programme called "Digital Economy of the Russian Federation". The programme period is from 2019 to 2024. The programme includes the gradual implementation of the "smart city" concept. In particular, the following key areas can be highlighted: developing the urban environment; ensuring security of urban space; creating conditions for digital and urban governance; improving the well-being of the population and the investment climate.
The concept is formulated in the Smart City project. The implementation of the project "Smart City" takes place within the framework of the national project "Housing and Urban Environment" which, in its turn, is connected with the national program "Digital Economy" [5].
So, the project "Smart City" is aimed at achieving the following key objectives: to increase competitiveness of Russian cities; to form an effective system of urban infrastructure management; to create a safe and comfortable environment for the population. The Smart City project has also been developed taking into account certain principles. They are as follows: -Orientation on a person -that is, embodiment of the Smart City concept is carried out, first of all, to meet needs of the population. Its social orientation is manifested in this; -Technologic city infrastructure -available technologies are actively used in order to improve urban space, to make it the most convenient and safe; -Increase of quality level of management activity -it is supposed to use not only appropriate technologies, but also innovative approaches to the process of management itself, its implementation; -Creation of comfortable and safe environment -comfort and safety are the key components. And comfort and safety are created for people. In a way, it also contributes to the development of social capital; -economic efficiency -all resources are used in the most rational and expedient way. The scheme of a smart city can be visualised in the figure below (Fig. 1).
Advanced digital technologies and engineering solutions are considered to be the main tool by which the concept of "smart city" is supposed to be implemented in the Russian state, and they are consistently implemented in both urban and municipal infrastructures.
The goal of the project is to comprehensively improve the efficiency of urban infrastructure through digital transformation and automation of numerous processes.

Smart city as a space
A smart city is an equipped, interconnected and intelligent space. It tends to have a number of smart attributes: economy; governance; environment; people; and mobility.
Smart city is a space where each element, on the one hand, performs its assigned function and, on the other hand, is closely interconnected with other components that form a single system. Authorities, citizens, different social communities within a "smart city" interact closely with each other. And all main spheres of life activity, such as economy, society, politics make holistic space for such interaction [6].
The main advantages of a "smart city" could be as follows: -efficient use of available resources so that they are distributed evenly, moreover, due to the use of innovative technologies it is possible to use them more precisely and to control their use. In addition, the automation of production processes saves resources and prevents resource leakage. For example, use of "smart" traffic lights that take into account traffic flow and specifics of a particular moment, etc; -increasing the standard of living, improving its quality. Innovative technologies do not only save resources, but also provide the most efficient use of many services. Firstly, it saves time; secondly, the services themselves become more qualitative. For example, there is a long-standing "one-stop-shop" approach, which is being further modernised and now many document-related procedures can be done from home through special services and applications. Besides, the use of digital technologies allows you to receive and accumulate valuable information that can be the basis for making the most informed decisions (in particular, there are special all-Russian data bases, state agencies may exchange information with each other instantly using information technologies, etc.); -transparency and openness at a higher level, which in turn enables identification of gaps in the management system, efficient control, and increased functionality. Transparency and honesty in functioning of the most important institutions make it possible to build trustful relations between the state and public structures and to form authority of the state bodies.
Tools for creation of a "smart city". In order to "build" a smart city, as a rule, it is necessary to use innovative and informational technologies: big data, Internet of things, cloud and mobile computing, etc.
Big data, in a general sense, is both structured and unstructured information of a large volume of data that is processed by horizontally scalable software tools for solving practical tasks. In practice, however, there are a number of problems in the implementation process of this tool. For example, the information exchange system has to cover all major actors. At the same time, it should be flexible, i.e. allow easy inclusion (addition) of new subjects. And if possible, it is necessary to avoid duplication of information, which is not always easy [5].
Security and confidentiality are priorities that are important to ensure when using big data. There will always be certain threats to information security. Moreover, big data as a tool is problematic to implement and maintain from the financial point of view.
This tool has been used quite successfully in South Korea, the US and Europe. In Russia, the tool is used in Skolkovo and Innopolis. Some elements are also present in Moscow, St Petersburg and some other big cities.
The Internet of Things is another key tool, and its essence is the well-established communication between objects and the functioning of software. For example, this tool is used to develop integrated sensor-based intelligent transport systems, cameras in monitoring systems, etc.
But this tool can also pose problems, such as significantly higher energy consumption, so-called e-waste, etc. Therefore, preference should be given, above all, to devices that are more environmentally friendly and economical. Drones, for example, can be considered as such [7].
The next tool is cloud and mobile computing. This tool is critical to build the physical infrastructure of a smart city. So, in order to 'deploy' it, a combination of a decentralised cloud and a distributed, open-source network must be used. Software products are also built on cloud computing. In this context, 5G technology is crucial, reducing energy, increasing reliability and improving the complex interconnections between all objects and entities. However, the use of this technology can also pose problems. In particular, there is the issue of confidentiality and information security. however, the solution can also be technological: it is necessary to create a system of identification, which includes various levels of access to personal information and to constantly update the data protection systems, although this is a very time-consuming process [8].

Discussion
Prospects for implementing the "smart city" concept. Thus, whichever of the abovementioned approaches is used to realise the smart city concept, in any case, the basis will always be information and communication, innovation and digital technologies. Through their use, at least, two key objectives can be achieved: to ensure the rational and efficient use of available resources to build the most comfortable and safe urban space; to ensure sustainable urban development and environmental friendliness [9].
Once the concept is fully implemented, all Russian cities will have "smart" systems and sectors: housing and utilities; transport infrastructure; ECO IS (for environmental quality monitoring); governance; communication network infrastructure; healthcare; social welfare, etc.
The technological infrastructure is as follows: -video surveillance and fixation; -transportation; -emergency call system; -introduction of a unified dispatching service; -Internet of Things; -5G mobile communications. For example, ICT (online consultations, telemedicine, etc.), smart medical records, smart ratings of institutions are already widely available in health care [10].