AI-powered cameras monitor roadways in Putrajaya, allowing green light timings to be adjusted based on real-time traffic conditions. — LOW LAY PHON/The Star
With artificial intelligence (AI) in the mix and city councils across Malaysia steadily marching towards smart city status, the Smart City Expo Kuala Lumpur (SCEKL) 2025 saw a showcase of tech aimed squarely at transforming life for urban dwellers.
Take Putrajaya Corporation, for instance, which first embarked on its smart city journey back in 2017. At its SCEKL booth, the city featured everything from smart traffic lights to its latest initiative: a complete digital twin of the city.
In the case of smart traffic lights, AI streamlines them into a system that helps smoothen traffic by syncing green light timings to real-world conditions across the various Putrajaya precincts, rather than a fixed schedule.
The system achieves this by having CCTV cameras monitor roadways, with the footage then analysed by AI to evaluate the current congestion level and adjust traffic lights in real time. This can then be used to match green light timings across junctions to keep vehicles moving more smoothly.
A smart pedestrian system demo was also on display at the Putrajaya booth, with pilot tests having already been deployed at a local school.
The project – consisting of a traffic light equipped with an array of cameras, IoT (Internet of Things) sensors and a speaker – is designed to warn pedestrians, especially children, of oncoming traffic and to discourage jaywalking.
When a vehicle is detected speeding down the road, the traffic light’s speaker will play an alert to warn pedestrians not to cross until it is safe. The speeding vehicle’s plate number from the incident will also be captured by the camera for possible enforcement action.
At the same time, the system can issue a warning against jaywalking if it detects a pedestrian attempting to cross before the light turns green.
Data captured by the various sensors, cameras, and SOS buttons scattered across Putrajaya all feed to an integrated command centre, where daily city operations are managed in real-time.
The infrastructure is shared by the police, fire department, hospital emergency units, and the civil defence force, with the command centre notifying the right agency during relevant incidents.
Better resource management
Sensors across the city also monitor lake pollution, wind speed, and temperature, with set thresholds that automatically prompt action when exceeded. For example, unusually strong winds would trigger an alarm for the fire department.
Teams at the command centre work in eight-hour shifts, ensuring nonstop monitoring of data feeds and incident reports around the clock.
The Kuala Lumpur City Council (DBKL) has also taken a similar direction, making its fair share of progress in the smart city space with a total of 5,000 AI-powered CCTV cameras placed in strategic areas across the city.
These cameras are used for monitoring the various goings-on in the city, accounting for traffic violations, traffic conditions, debris on the roads, floods, illegal ads, unlicensed street vendors, and assisting the relevant authorities should the need arise.
Like Putrajaya, the cameras deployed by DBKL can be used to adjust traffic light timings during congested periods through the Integrated Transport Information System (ITIS) at the council’s monitoring centre.
DBKL’s booth also included a display for the city’s GoKL bus tracking system, which monitors all 86 of the fully electric buses across the service’s 15 bus routes. The system further provides a camera feed from inside the buses for monitoring by the city.
Commuters are the ones who stand to benefit from this information, as it then feeds into the GoKL app, allowing them to view the exact location of each bus in real time, along with their current passenger load.
This further enables them to plan their trip in greater detail and make alternative travel arrangements if the buses are too crowded.
Meanwhile further up north, the Penang City Council is exploring how technology can aid in heritage preservation, being home to 82 Category One buildings designated by Unesco.
The council says it is using light detection and ranging (Lidar) to map out these heritage buildings in 3D. At times, the scans can also help uncover issues with the building’s structure during the process, such as water seepage and tilting, allowing the city to take the appropriate action.
Like other cities, the Penang City Council also has its own CCTV initiative with over 1,100 cameras in place to manage traffic flow and monitor safety in the city.
Another initiative from the council is the development of the Pearl superapp, intended to function as a one-stop source of information for residents.
Laying the groundwork
The connecting thread linking the efforts from all three budding smart cities is clear: the need for infrastructure, particularly connectivity, to facilitate these initiatives.
Acting as the backbone for much of this are wired fibre optic cables and wireless 5G connectivity, which handle the transmission of vast amounts of data from camera feeds, sensors, and other data collection points to a centralised monitoring facility.
In cases where high-capacity, continuous data streams are required, fibre handles the load. But where greater flexibility, low wireless latency, and high bandwidth are needed, 5G steps in to fill the gap.
This covers transmissions from Putrajaya Corporation’s sensors and cameras to its integrated command centre, as well as local feeds sent to monitoring hubs in Kuala Lumpur and Penang.
Some services would also be much more difficult without 5G, such as the live tracking and onboard camera footage from GoKL buses.
