Another challenge facing towns like Penarth is how this spending is distributed, with long-term investments in buildings and infrastructure looking particularly modest. Councils are thus feeling pressured to manage these public facilities carefully to maximise their value and longevity, and smart technology is fast becoming a core part of this strategy.

How public spaces are modernising

Recent plans for Penarth and Llantwit Major follow similar initiatives across South Wales aimed at expanding existing infrastructure. Improving town centers opens up further avenues for community building and investment, though it also complicates how they are managed.

The renovation of St. Paul's church, for example, include office spaces and a kitchen for local charities and community events. These necessitate longer, more varied opening hours, increasing the effort required for councils to ensure the space remains safe.

Traditional methods of doing so have become harder to achieve due to funding strains, as Welsh authorities have delivered around £3 billion in savings and efficiencies since 2009-10, with discretionary services such as libraries and leisure facilities often bearing the brunt.

Both the Welsh Government's Digital Action Plan and Audit Wales's report on the financial stability of local councils touch on technology and modernisation as necessities. Smarter building technology offers a means of protecting public spaces at scale, while reducing manual workloads and reliance on site-specific staff, aligning with both incentives.

Smart technology in everyday building management

As public facilities see wider use, more foot traffic and varied demographics, how councils care for them shifts. Smart building technology like security cameras allows teams to monitor multiple sites remotely and identify incidents that require an on-site response, saving the resources required to maintain a physical presence at each.

Video management systems collect the footage from these cameras and analyse it to find patterns in anti-social behaviour and highlight maintenance concerns. From there, councils can identify hotspots and distribute their efforts based on necessity, while coordinating with estate and community safety teams to tackle underlying issues.

Auditor General for Wales Adam Crompton has previously stated: "While councils know the scale of their funding gaps, they do not have longer-term plans in place to address them. This leaves them vulnerable to short-term decision-making that may not represent value for money or be in the longer-term interests of local communities"

Smart building technologies are effective in large part because they expand the capabilities of existing teams, helping them serve local communities while more efficiently managing resources.

The pressures of town growth

Smarter buildings are also helping councils address financial strain in other areas. Growing towns like Vale of Glanmorgan have invested heavily in anti-fly-tipping measures after a 100% increase in cases between 2024 and 2025, including dedicated patrol officers and covert investigations. Just clearing and disposing of illegally tipped waste costs the local council over £10,000 a year, without factoring in the price of administration, enforcement and preventative measures.

Other similar-sized towns see issues with littering and vandalism, which can cost councils and private businesses thousands to clean and repair. Using smart technology, local authorities can analyse movement and incident patterns to adjust staffing, lighting and building layouts to help facilities teams address concerns before they become more disruptive.

Though locals are vocal in their desire to see more public facilities, and for those spaces to remain clean and secure, they are also concerned about how connected building systems impact their privacy. Councils need to consider data retention and protection laws, as well as how their staff are trained and granted access to private information, before investing in smart building technology.

Growing towns and their shifting concerns

As financial pressures and workforce constraints challenge the long-term viability of local councils, finding efficient and cost-effective ways to modernise public facilities becomes more important. Though smart building technology is unlikely to solve every issue these spaces face, it can help teams better manage how they are used and ensure they remain viable even as future funding seems insecure.