Emerging Communications Technologies for Smart Cities and Smart Villages

In response to the need for sustainable urban development as populations rise and cities draw ever-larger populations, smart cities are sprouting across the globe. The technologies that appear to be essential to a vision for smart cities are embedded and cyber physical systems, the Internet of everything (IoE), including Industrial Internet and Internet of Vehicles, smart energy systems, building management systems, cyber security and so on. It is anticipated that the services offered by smart city initiatives will vertically balance growth with improved and effective resource management and systems. The most recent development of ICT for Smart Cities addresses technologies, circuits, devices, systems, implementation, deployment, and applications. Like the studies/research on smart cities, the smart villages have also been attracted by the topic of how and in which way ICT can improve well-being in rural areas. By bringing these together, the aim of this Feature Topic is to present the technological advancement and challenges of smart cities and smart villages from the system design and implementation point of view. In this context, the Design and Implementation of Devices, Circuits, and Systems August Feature Topic on smart cities and smart villages consists of four articles that cover application of communication systems in different domains such as localization, sensing, urban air mobility, vehicle-to-infrastructure systems and interactive user experiences.