# Unleashing the Potential of 5G for Smart Cities: A Focus on Real-Time Digital Twin Integration
## 2 Current Trends for 5G in Smart Cities
### Existing Applications of 5G in Smart Cities
Through ultra-low-latency communication and elevated data transfer rates, 5G promotes real-time data sharing among interconnected infrastructure, vehicles, and central traffic control systems [43; 44]. This development increases the accuracy of digital twins, which are virtual representations of urban traffic systems by supplying current data for simulations, forecasts, and choices [40; 41; 42]. The efficiency improvements in Figure 4 emphasize 5G's importance in controlling traffic flow, minimizing congestion, and facilitating sustainable urban mobility, aligning with smart city objectives of boosting operational efficiency and enhancing quality of life. The communication latency between self-driving vehicles in Figure 5 showcases improvements necessary for efficient and reliable vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication in smart cities [42; 47; 48; 49]. Figure 5 was developed using a MATLAB simulation that models the latency performance of communication links within a network of self-driving vehicles. In the simulation, each vehicle is assigned a unique identifier, and the communication latency between every pair of vehicles is represented as a symmetric matrix, where lower values indicate faster, more responsive connections. The matrix is visualized using a heatmap to intuitively convey the intensity of latency values across the network. Figure 4: 5G impact on traffic management efficiency [40; 42; 43]. This visualization not only emphasizes the critical need for low-latency connections in autonomous vehicle coordination but also reflects real-world complexities where the communication performance may vary between nodes. By capturing these differences, the figure reinforces the necessity for robust, high-speed, and stable vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication systems, particularly in dynamic and unpredictable urban environments. The use of a professional colormap and scaled axes enhances its interpretability. Figure 5 illustrates how 5G technology can significantly reduce communication delays through the support of a safe and synchronized operation of autonomous systems within smart cities. By leveraging 5G technology, these enhancements facilitate real-time communications that are needed for coordinating autonomous vehicles [42; 47; 49]. This corresponds with the digital twin concept, where digital replicas of urban spaces, such as vehicles, consistently engage with real-time data to improve decision-making, traffic control, and safety [47; 49]. The illustration highlights the importance of sophisticated communication networks in incorporating autonomous systems within smart city frameworks. Public safety systems greatly gain from 5G-enabled solutions, which improve their capacity to handle emergencies and reduce risks [50; 51]. 5G enables the implementation of sophisticated surveillance systems equipped with AI-driven video analysis, which can identify anomalies or suspicious behaviors instantly [52; 53]. Emergency services, likewise, utilize 5G networks to create dependable communication links, ensuring quicker response times and coordination during urgent situations [50; 51; 52]. Wearable technology for first responders, like health monitors and location trackers, functions effortlessly on 5G networks, delivering fundamental information during rescue missions [52; 53]. These systems, when integrated together, can enhance the safety and robustness of urban regions, cultivating a feeling of security among inhabitants. A 5G-enabled emergency response communication architecture is depicted in Figure 6, illustrating the seamless connectivity between IoT devices, 5G base stations, and a central command hub [51; 52; 53; 20]. Dashed lines represent IoT-to-base station communications for real-time data collection. Solid lines depict base station-to-hub links for centralized processing and decision-making. To provide visual clarity and contextual relevance, the background of Figure 6 was constructed using MATLAB to simulate a realistic layout of a 5G-enabled emergency communication scenario.