Why We Need Smart Cities

Posted by Focus Pacific on March 22nd, 2025

Why We Need Smart Cities

Take a walk through almost any major city today and you’ll quickly feel both its energy and its strain. Traffic clogs the streets, public services struggle to keep pace with demand, and environmental concerns hang heavy in the air. As more of the world’s population moves into urban areas—UN estimates say nearly 70% by 2050—the question becomes urgent: how can our cities remain livable, sustainable, and efficient? The answer many experts point to is the idea of smart cities.

At its core, a smart city is not just about sprinkling technology on top of existing problems. It’s about rethinking how a city works, then using digital tools to make those systems more efficient, responsive, and human-centered. Imagine traffic lights that communicate with one another to reduce congestion, waste bins that signal when they’re full, or energy grids that automatically balance demand to cut costs and emissions. These are not science fiction—they’re examples already being piloted in places like Singapore, Barcelona, and Seoul.

One of the strongest arguments for smart cities is environmental. Cities account for a huge share of the world’s carbon emissions, mostly through transport and energy use. Smart solutions like electric buses coordinated by real-time demand data, or buildings that adjust heating and cooling based on occupancy, can dramatically reduce waste. If scaled globally, these changes could make cities a frontline solution in the battle against climate change.

Another need stems from public safety and health. During the COVID-19 pandemic, some cities used real-time data dashboards to track outbreaks and manage medical resources more effectively. Looking ahead, smart sensors can monitor air quality block by block, alerting residents to pollution spikes, while AI-powered analytics can help first responders get to emergencies faster. In a world of increasingly complex risks, these capabilities aren’t luxuries—they’re safeguards.

Smart cities also hold promise for equity, though only if designed with care. Digital services can make government more transparent and accessible. For example, mobile platforms can let residents report problems—like broken streetlights or unsafe intersections—directly to city hall. Public Wi-Fi and digital literacy programs can help close the gap between connected and disconnected communities. But without thoughtful policy, technology can just as easily widen divides, leaving low-income neighborhoods underserved. That’s why the “smart” in smart cities has to mean not just technological intelligence, but social intelligence too.

Of course, the path to smart cities is not without obstacles. Privacy concerns loom large, as more sensors and data collection can create risks if misused. Infrastructure upgrades cost money, and not every city has the resources of Singapore or Dubai. And citizens themselves need to be part of the design process; otherwise, “smart” projects risk solving problems nobody asked for.

Still, the need is clear. Our cities are growing, and their challenges are growing with them. Smart cities offer a way not just to manage that growth, but to turn it into an opportunity—to build places that are greener, safer, and more responsive to the people who call them home. In the end, the smartest city is one that doesn’t just use technology, but uses it to improve the everyday lives of its citizens.

Yunbo Zhu

The Art of Bonsai

Posted by Focus Pacific on March 19th, 2025

The Art of Bonsai

Bonsai is a form of art originating in China during the Tang Dynasty (AD 618–690). Its elements include the plant, stone, water, and soil, among others, to display its color and beauty.

Growing a bonsai is not easy.

Each plant requires careful planning based on sunlight, moisture, and pest care. It shows its artistic beauty through long-term care and dedication. A good bonsai plant can be very expensive because it reflects huge amounts of time and effort dedicated to it by the artist. Bonsai attempts to miniaturize the real world, and through it, the plant allows the artist to express his or her emotions, moods, and dreams.

Bonsai can be found everywhere across China as well as the world. What makes bonsi so popular and endearing is its ability to give people a sense of peace and visual satisfaction.

It is good for both pleasure and metal health.

Charles Yan

Single-sex schools in decline

Posted by Focus Pacific on March 14th, 2025

Single-sex schools in decline

People that support single sex schools assert that classrooms that set apart from the rest or from each other take away interruptions and permits boys and girls, who grow at moderately various ages, to study in particular gender ways. The separation strategy is considered a path to obtain quality education and help women to acquire equality in status, rights, and opportunities. Competition, application and various measure of growth are significant problems that must be resolved in every school.

Exclusive schools for girls are becoming more numerous than schools for boys. Most of these single sex schools may be children of those who successfully complete an academic degree or course of training or directly searching for high education they are seeking. However, more parents choose coed schools as a way to merge young children and allowing them learn from each other. Studying inside the classroom together with opposite sex helps them to return to a normal condition when it comes to influencing their opposite sexes.

The challenge to all educational institutions is to discover ways to develop education regardless of who‘s studying in the classroom. The surroundings in which students study greatly influence their personal achievements and strong belief that something will happen in the future. Whatever system a school implements, it is important to build significant set of circumstances that makes it possible maintain their interaction, coordination and common respect.

C. Quan

Indonesia surpasses Brazil in deforestation rate

Posted by Focus Pacific on March 3rd, 2025

Indonesia surpasses Brazil in deforestation rate

Recent study conducted by the journal Nature Climate Change said that the virgin forest of Indonesia which has an area of 60,000 sq. km. was already gone. The said area is almost the size of Ireland that has a span of more than twelve years.

During the year 2000 and 2012, scientists observed and checked the progress of the cleared forest in Indonesia via satellite. The image of satellite in Riau province in Indonesia displayed the reduction of wetland forest which is labeled as color red and the breakdown of forest labeled in blue throughout their study. They also added that the forest was cleared because the area will be used for different plantations just like the palm oil plantation.

In year 2012, the reduction of the main forest in Indonesia was getting higher every year and the recorded loss in that year reached an area of 8,400 sq. km. The study of University of Maryland said that the deforestation had resulted to a higher greenhouse gas emissions and a reduction of a particular habitat or ecosystem. Indonesia is recognized for its different kinds of wildlife like orangutans and Sumatran tigers.

In year 2011, the government implemented a temporary prohibition of deforestation but environmental activists said that corrupt government officials were very fast to trade off large reaped crops of rainforests for financial advantage and they argued to do more investigation to eliminate the rate of loss, according to BBC’s Karishma Vaswani.

Enormous forest fires in Indonesia to clear the land caused a huge smoke pollution that also affected the neighboring countries like Malaysia and Singapore. According to the reports of agencies, Norway contributed almost fifty million dollars to Indonesia in order to build new organizations to minimize deforestation. However, Indonesia needs to begin first the reduction of deforestation before receiving the big amount of money.

A.Phan

Not to Drugs, to the Internet

Posted by Focus Pacific on February 27th, 2025

People in this generation all have something in common. They have that one thing they love. And that is the internet. The rapid growth of the internet led people into a black hole. And there’s no way out. Once you’re in, you’re stuck in there. You find yourselves thinking about the internet most of the time or maybe all of the time. It’s an addiction. An internet addiction.

We really can’t help it. After all, we rely on the internet a lot and without it, we’re probably lost on a world full of complicated things. Internet made our lives easier. In just one click, you have what you wanted. No need to read million of books just to get that one information, in the internet, it is all in one click. No need to go through all the shops just to find that one certain dress you’re deeply in love with, there’s thing thing called online shopping. See? These are just a few of the things on what the internet can do. And trust me, there’s still a lot.

(Source: http://www.helpforinternetaddictions.com/)

Even though the internet makes our lives easier, it is also the reason as to why we now neglect the things we used to do way before the internet. In the earlier years, where there are no sign of internet anywhere, we used to read books. To pass time and to be more knowledgeable. With the internet around, you can find a lot of useful facts and entertainment which are more enjoyable than reading in plain paper. Another thing are letters. Right now, the internet provides a faster communication level. Back then, we would send our letters via post and would wait a few more days before it arrives. At the current moment, you just have to wait for a second. Right now, only 1 out of 10 people would actually write and send the letters via post. It rarely happens nowadays that when we do receive one, we are actually overjoyed.

Internet has deeply affected our lives. As of now, its sole purpose is to make our complicated lives easier. Even though you can find yourselves out of this black hole, you will eventually find yourselves back to it again. It is that hard to avoid. Well, its not even possible to avoid it. Cause wherever you go, somehow things would entangle themselves in the internet. Going in to your favorite shop and then finding out they have a website which you can order online, that is easier than to go out and buy that one dress. Meeting people outside and then they would tell you to go to this website to know more info. See? Internet has this invisible line and it is connected to everybody and you cannot cut it and even though we are given the chance to cut it, we won’t. Let’s face it. We love the internet.

Jessica Frost