Middle Eastern economies especially in the gulf have established strong digital infrastructures across the city, powered by high-speed connectivity which determines the efficiency of everything from AI to cloud. Online payments, intelligent public transport and digitally accessible government services, have emerged as defining factors of smart cities like Dubai as well as its peers in the Arab world.

Beyond the gulf, the North African powerhouse Egypt has also joined the race to establish smart urban spaces, and is even building a tech-savvy new capital city from scratch to achieve the transition. But before that project is completed and unveiled, a city in Egypt is already spreading the light of innovation by offering residences that are equipped with smart appliances as well as homely androids.

The houses including villas and apartments at Egypt's Noor city, are embedded with smart shades, intelligent lighting and robots that are capable of cleaning. To boost a connected lifestyle further, smart screen televisions controlled via handsets, as well as virtual assistant Alexa from Amazon, have also been included in the set up.

All of this is linked to smartwatches and controlled through a smartphone app, while facial recognition is set to replace keys for accessing a building. Dotted with soothing gardens in the middle of the desert, the city opens up playgrounds, exhibitions and entertainment for overall wellness.

With sustainability becoming one of the priorities for smart living, Noor city has its own source of power from solar panels, which ensure that electric vehicles and street lights functions without glitches. Apart from clean energy and efficient waste management to create an eco-friendly city, smart drainage has ensured responsible consumption to save water.

In the city which offers free internet to residents, restaurants are operated by AI, and shoppers can pick up items, pay digitally and walk away without any human interaction. Virtual reality changing rooms and AR to test products, boosts online purchases, which are followed by drone-based delivery.