Tianjin Binhai at the vanguard of smart city

"If you have any trouble in life, for example, a water-logged road, you could report it to the intelligent operation center either through hotline call or taking a picture and uploading it onto our platform. Within 15 minutes, your request will be addressed," said Zhao Lianlan, the person in charge of the platform to provide convenient services to residents.

"We have divided the whole area into 743 grids, and assigned a trained staff member to each grid to check the reported cases and coordinate and oversight the resolution. The synergy of the platform and the grid network could greatly save the trouble of residents," Zhao added.

As for the business sector, time has been shortened to complete commercial registration and acquire project approval with the help of the smart city center, which simplifies and electronizes the process.

According to the center, it takes just four hours, the shortest time, to get business registration. The applicant doesn't even need to have a face-to-face meeting.

In addition, mass data involving the area's macro-economic situations presented at the center such as investment volume, industry development and capital flow makes it easier for city administrators to keep abreast of the economic operations, avoid hidden risks and make proper policies.

To date, 38 intelligent systems have been connected to or developed at the operation center ranging from administrative services, law enforcement, risk warning, sanitation, environment, transportation to medical services and there will be more in the future to explore new ways to achieve smart city and constantly improve the area's level of intellectualization.