Fact of the Week – 2/23/2026
#Factoftheweek
How smart are our cities? Maybe not quite smart enough, but they will be smarter in the future.
Smart cities contain several key areas of research. Let’s look at the most research figures in 2024 from Berg Research:
- Smart-street lighting: 27.9 million units (excluding China)
- Smart parking: 1.47 million units (in ground and surface mounted)
- Smart-waste collection: 1.56 million units (new on bins or retrofitted)
- Urban air quality monitoring: 206,000 units
Another key area is smart-city surveillance, which is measured in dollars rather than units. Berg Insight suggests this market, which includes both fixed and mobile video and audio surveillance solutions, reached a global market value of € 13.6 billion in 2024. This market is anticipated to grow at a rate of 15.6% through 2029.
Looking to the future, the smart-street lighting market will reach 74.5 million units in 2029, which is a 21.8% growth rate. Smart-parking sensors will see slower growth of 18.4%, while smart waste sensor technology market will be the fastest growing at 22.3%. Urban air quality monitoring will reach 633,000 units in 2029.
Outside China, Europe has emerged as the leading smart city technology adopter while North America is the second largest market. The Middle East and Asia-Pacific regions meanwhile are the fastest growing markets for smart city technology. It is certainly a market to continue to watch.
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