Digital Dilemma: Survey Unveils the Most Supportive and Skeptical Cities of Smart Technology

Imagine a dystopian future. A place where cars and buses drive themselves, and invisible cameras connect citizens. Where stop lights adapt automatically to the changing flows of traffic. Where payments are made automatically — no need to swipe a credit card or even touch a button.

Where personal identification is controlled through fingerprint or facial recognition that’s housed in a database. And where the lines between AI and reality are blurred. This is not the future. This is now — in the world of smart cities.

Around the globe, some smart cities are allowing citizens and governments to be connected like never before. Information about our lives, our daily habits, our commutes, and our spending, among other personal details are retrieved through various methods of data gathering with the hope and thought that this information is used to improve services and make our lives better and easier.

But as the world goes digital and artificial intelligence becomes a part of our daily lives, the question remains: Is this really what we want? To gauge the general population’s thoughts regarding smart cities, we surveyed 3,000 people to find out which towns and cities in America locals would most support turning into smart cities.

From Los Angeles to New York City and everywhere in between, the responses showed us where support for smart cities is strongest. Here are the results:

The U.S. is already home to emerging smart cities, with the likes of Chicago and Dallas leading the way when it comes to digital innovation. The greatest support for creating truly connected smart cities comes from residents in the following areas:

Coastal cities such as Los Angeles and San Francisco topped this list, as did Jacksonville, Tampa, and Seattle. Other big cities, including Buffalo, Fort Worth, and Atlanta, also made the top 10 list, with many of these places already adopting various smart city principles.

While more than half of survey respondents approved of their cities adopting technological advancements, they did have some concerns about the creation of smart cities, with 34% saying they feared a loss of privacy due to increased surveillance.

Twenty-eight percent said they were also concerned about hacking risks and increased access to their data, as well as unwanted government control and interference.

Meanwhile, 10% of respondents stated that when it came to smart cities, they thought that there was a lack of transparency as to how data is used.

Residents also expressed concerns over the challenges cities would face when trying to implement smarter strategies. Approximately 32% of those surveyed were concerned about the cost of the infrastructure, while 18% said that cybersecurity threats could pose a problem.

The cities where opposition to smart city technology is most prevalent:

1. Wheeling, West Virginia
2. Lakewood, Colorado
3. Missoula, Montana
4. Orem, Utah
5. Overland Park, Kansas
6. Owensboro, Kentucky
7. Rutland, Vermont
8. Springdale, Arkansas
9. West Fargo, North Dakota
10. West Jordan, Utah

Despite their concerns, 57% of people surveyed said they would feel comfortable or even very comfortable living in a smart city, acknowledging some of the many benefits that these cities can provide.

Of those surveyed, 32% said they believe that smart cities result in more efficient infrastructure and transportation, while 24% said that smart cities can bring about improved public safety. Another 30% said they were excited about the possible effect smart technology could have on environmental sustainability.

In the end, an overwhelming 70% of survey participants believe the benefits of smart cities far outweigh any potential negatives, including the risk to privacy. Only 26% of Americans believe it to be very likely that smart cities could lead to a “Big Brother” type of society.

Simply put, a smart city is one that uses technology in a way that benefits the residents living there. Here are some of the benefits to residents living in a smart city in the modern age:

• Improved services: The main idea behind a smart city is that various data is collected about citizens on a daily basis to improve services. Governments are able to analyze this data in real time to better direct spending and services, such as sending police to high-risk security areas, water services to problem areas, or redirecting traffic around certain hazards. This data also allows for long-term city planning that speaks directly to population numbers and current trends.
• Increased communication: Smart cities also typically have methods for governments to speak directly to their citizens, be that through chat services, mobile applications, or self-help portals. These tools allow for better collaboration, enhanced transparency, and a better-connected society. Smart cities also generally have implemented WiFi hotspots throughout that allow their residents and visitors to stay connected at every point of their journey around the city.
• Increased safety: Smart cities should be safer cities. Technologies like CCTV cameras, license plate recognition, and gunshot detectors help security firms and companies do their jobs better to keep residents safe, while deterring potential criminals.
• Better energy efficiency: The technologies implemented by smart cities often help improve a city’s ecosystem. Air quality sensors, automatic lighting, and solar power generation have been used in various smart cities to reduce air pollution and energy use. Many smart cities have also adopted pedestrian-friendly or bike-friendly routes throughout the city in a further effort to build on their environmental efficiency.
• More efficient transport: One of the main challenges that smart cities address is the increased demand for transportation as cities grow. Smart cities aim to help their citizens spend less time getting to where they want to go by using data to improve bus and train lines, controlling traffic flow in real time through electronic signals, and increasing the use of autonomous vehicles.
• Better utility use: Technologies such as smart energy and water meters allow governments the opportunity to control utilities while improving these services. These are particularly useful in the event of crisis situations such as a drought or a black out, but also in the day-to-day management of consumption and resource management.
• Future potential opportunities: Increased access to data allows governments the opportunity to plan better for future developments. Whether this involves the construction of new buildings or roads, or factoring in ways to provide more jobs for residents, smart cities allow the opportunity to be more innovative when it comes to maximizing economic development.

“It makes sense to be skeptical of smart tech — it can be expensive, and when it doesn’t work, it makes things a whole lot more complicated. And, when smart tech is used against citizens rather than for their benefit, it can complicate sentiments around adoption even further,” said HostingAdvice expert Christian de Looper.

“The real advantages around smart tech used in our cities, however, come from using that tech to better manage utilities, and ultimately help a city run more efficiently. Messaging and implementation matter, and it’s down to local governments to make sure those are handled properly.”

Regardless of whether you’re concerned about the potential chaos a data leak in a smart city could bring or you don’t want the government spying on your every move, smart cities are here to stay. Many Americans agree that the potential benefits technology can bring cities far outweigh the challenges and risks technology poses. The only question now is — which cities will be transformed first?

An online panel survey of 3,000 respondents based on age, gender, and geography was conducted in September 2024. Internal data sources are used to obtain population data sets. We used a two-step process to ensure representativeness through stratified sampling and post-stratification weighting.