The application of a new generation of information technology such as the Internet of Things, cloud computing, big data and artificial intelligence in communities across China is helping to deliver better services for residents, ensuring a more comfortable experience for them.

Staff members monitor the situation of a community through a platform based on big data in Anping, north China Hebei province on June 18, 2020. (Photo/Xinhua)

A facial recognition system in place at a residential compound in Taiyuan, capital city of north China’s Shanxi province has made it easier and securer for residents to get in and out of the residential complex.

With the consent of residents, many smart communities in China have installed “contactless” facial recognition equipment, especially during the period of the COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control, as the equipment can reduce the risk of infection.

How to improve senior citizens’ wellbeing has become the focus of the construction of smart communities.

On June 10, a 74-year-old woman surnamed Wang living alone in a neighborhood in Tangshan, north China’s Hebei province, suddenly felt dizzy and dropped down on a bench during her morning exercise.

She immediately pressed the alarm button on her smart bracelet. Within a few minutes community workers arrived, along with doctors from a nearby health center, who saved her with high blood pressure caused by a sudden stretch and humid weather.

The neighborhood has given the seniors smart bracelets, which are connected with an intelligent community management platform, helping track their movement, monitor their health conditions and provide first aid, if necessary.

Other care services are also available in the smart community. For example, if a senior living alone does not leave their house after 24 hours, community workers will receive an alarm on their mobile phones and will then go to their residence for a wellness check.

Communities in China have also been exploring more application scenarios of smart technologies, such as installing surveillance cameras to curb high-rise littering, smart bins to assist garbage sorting, and intelligent security systems to ensure a safer living environment.

Many cities are accelerating the construction of smart communities. Qingdao in east China’s Shandong province is expected to build at least 28 pilot smart communities and 14 pilot smart blocks this year, turning 40 percent of its urban neighborhoods into smart communities in 2020.

Chengdu in southwest China’s Sichuan province will push forward the construction of pilot smart communities in 30 residential compounds this year, while Hefei in east China’s Anhui province plans to complete the construction of 557 smart communities in 2020.