Smart precincts

Overview

A birds-view of the entrance to King William Road, a Smart Precinct in the City of Unley

A combination of Council and Federal Government funding has assisted the City of Unley to deliver the first phase of smart precincts on and around King William Road and Heywood Park.

Council has used technology and data in these precincts to enhance the user experience, improve aesthetics and safety, reduce operating costs, and provide environmental benefits for the City of Unley.

These pilot precincts offer valuable learning opportunities to Council and serve as experimental testbeds that allow Council to assess and fine-tune the effectiveness of new technologies before implementing them on a larger scale.

The pilot programs offer a flexible and adaptive approach that allow Council to adapt our internal systems and processes over time.

Data collected from sensors in our precincts is available in our Open Data Portal.

Launch Open Data Portal

King William Road

Two people sitting at phone charging station

The King William Road redesign in 2019 welcomed the installation of smart technology to gather data to inform future planning and policy and improve the visitor, resident and business experience.

Engagement with the local community clearly communicated that the upgrade needed to deliver a more beautiful, accessible and active street.

Smart initiatives that have assisted in delivering the community's vision for King William Road include:

Smart lighting

Smart lighting was installed along King William Road to create an inviting night time atmosphere, and support a pedestrian focused streetscape and safer vehicle movements.

Individual lights can be controlled via digital devices either onsite or remotely, allowing for quick and easy lighting adjustments to suit each unique situation.

Smart parking

Smart parking technology and sensors were installed within the King William Road precinct to help visitors find a carpark and to better manage and monitor parking turnover in the area.

The Park Adelaide App provides visitors with real-time data to assist them in finding a parking space quickly and easily. To find out more about the Park Adelaide App, visit Smart Parking.

Digital kiosk

Digital information kiosks on King William Road are used to inform visitors of events, attractions and other information about the City of Unley that they may be interested in.

Charging stations

Seated charging stations along King William Road offer visitors and those waiting for public transport an opportunity to charge their devices as they wait.

These charging stations provide convenience and help keep our community connected.

To find out more about the King William Road redesign, visit Design King William.

Heywood Park

A digital kiosk in Heywood Park

Heywood Park was the City of Unley's first smart precinct.

With $240,000 in Federal Government Smart Cities and Suburbs funding, technology was installed to deliver environmental benefits and improve the safety, usability and aesthetics of Heywood Park.

The technology installed to reduce waste, water and electricity consumption has reduced the overall operating and maintenance costs of the park.

Smart initiatives in Heywood Park include:

Smart poles & lighting

New ultra-long life, energy efficient warm LED lighting provides a more natural ‘human’ light for the park, enhances safety, and reduces electricity and maintenance costs by 60% and 90% respectively with its lighting control and monitoring system.

Smart poles have improved the aesthetics of Heywood Park by consolidating a number of services into one pole, reducing the number of poles, pits and service points in the park.

Smart poles have improved the usability and safety of Heywood Park and its immediate surrounding with:

  • Lighting of the barbecue and recreation areas
  • Lighting that can be controlled remotely and adjusted in real-time
  • Smart predictive lighting along the eastern pathway
  • LED lighting along the main bikeway between King William Road and Whistler Avenue
  • A noise monitoring system
  • Help emergency assist buttons in new smart poles
  • New security and emergency lighting in the amenity blocks.

Smart parking

Smart parking technology and sensors were installed on Adiscombe Street to help visitors find a carpark and to better manage and monitor parking turnover in the area.

The Park Adelaide App provides visitors with real-time data to assist them in finding a parking space quickly and easily. To find out more about the Park Adelaide App, visit Smart Parking.

Digital kiosk

A digital information kiosk at the corner of King William Road and Northgate Street is used to inform visitors of events, attractions and other information about the City of Unley that they may be interested in.

Electric vehicle charging station

An electric vehicle charging station is located on Adiscombe Street for the community to charge their cars at no cost.

Sensors & monitoring systems

Water

A control and monitoring system combined with environmental sensors ensures that grounds are only watered when required, and only for as long as required. If it rains when watering is due, then the irrigation will not come on. If it is forecast to rain just after watering is due, the watering will be postponed and only take place if rain doesn’t eventuate.

In addition, water monitoring technology will determine how much water is being used and also detect any excess usage that may be caused by fractured pipes or leaking taps. Water can be isolated from a central point until the leak is located and repaired.

Barbecue sensors

Monitors on the barbecues are connected to an app so visitors can check if barbecues are available for use before making a trip to Heywood Park.

Waste Management

Bins equipped with smart sensors detect when bins are nearly full and notify Council's waste management team that servicing is required. In the same way, sensors also inform the waste management team if a bin has not been used and does not require servicing, reducing the number of services and associated costs.

Environmental Sensors

An environmental sensor has been installed in the park to monitor air quality and carefully designed lighting ensures that the behavioural patterns of indigenous fauna are not affected.