New technology improving urban management

Xu Cheng Wei

Intelligent technologies are being applied by the city's urban management and law enforcement authorities, officials said on Thursday.

In Hongkou District, technologies such as 5G, AI, remote sensing, GIS (Geographic Information System), big data and the Internet of Things are being used in urban management, and a database integrating video surveillance, law enforcement patrols and inspections is being established, according to the district’s urban management and law enforcement bureau. 

"Every street-side business in the district has a QR code, allowing officials to check their registration information and complaints process and business operators to update their epidemic prevention information and check violation information and administrative penalties by scanning the code," said Yang Guanghua, a bureau official. 

At the same time, residents who want to make a complaint can access contact details of city officials responsible for the businesses by scanning the code, said Yang. 

An app with functions such as information registration, policy promotion, non-contact law enforcement and data collection was launched by the bureau during the Spring Festival. 

Covering about 11,700 streetside businesses on 238 streets, it can spot potential hazards in epidemic prevention by information analysis, the bureau said. 

It has collected more than 9,000 pieces of business information and about 14,000 pieces of information of their personnel. 

Via the 5G network, real-time images of violation rectifying scenes are transferred to the bureau's direction center through law enforcement vehicle surveillance cameras, achieving 24-hour monitoring and remote video recording amid the coronavirus pandemic. 

"The aim is to make urban management more efficient and problems handled more timely," said Yang. 

In Jing'an District, a similar app has been used, and 5,721 businesses such as shopping malls, office venues, hotels, supermarkets and catering businesses have been registered as reopening. 

Among them, 1,451 have been ordered to rectify irregularities in epidemic prevention measures, and 5,798 workers were found failing to wear masks, or 25.5 percent of all workers at reopened businesses, according to the Jing'an District Urban Management and Law Enforcement Bureau. 

The bureau also busted two cases of live poultry trade during the pandemic, confiscating 40 live poultry. 

In Yangpu District, information technologies are used to collect proof of overloaded vehicles on Hai'an Road Bridge, with 75 vehicles caught since last November, with fines totaling 37,400 yuan (US$5,275) imposed. 

In March, the number of overloaded vehicles crossing the bridge fell 82 percent from the same period last year. 

In the district, 12 screens show real-time images captured by 1,754 surveillance cameras, 20 vehicle surveillance devices and five unmanned aerial vehicles, enabling remote law enforcement. 

Peng Yanling, deputy director of Shanghai’s urban management and law enforcement bureau, said: "District urban management and law enforcement officials should take advantage of advanced technologies such as big data, cloud computing and artificial intelligence to innovate urban management means in establishing a database of law enforcement subjects, spotting violations, and remote law enforcement.” 

Hu Min