Live streams for city administrations

The city in real time

A public webcam gives residents a simple way to see the actual conditions at a chosen point in the city. It adds a current picture to the maps, the weather forecast, the text announcements and the news.

A single page can gather cameras from several districts, or they can be split across themed sections: roads, tourism, public amenities, public spaces and city events.

Streams are useful to municipal bodies, tourist information centers, transport services and the editorial teams behind city portals. Cameras and access are managed centrally through rtsp.me.

City live streams — examples

City cameras can introduce residents to the current conditions, show public spaces and act as a living showcase for visitors.

LIVE

Central square

The weather, the footfall and the conditions in a public space

LIVE

Tourist quarter

City architecture, cafés and life in the pedestrian zone

LIVE

Historic center

Landmarks and the atmosphere of the old town

LIVE

Night panorama

Street lighting, the city skyline and the visibility

Road conditions

Wide-angle cameras on streets and at transport hubs help drivers judge for themselves how busy the road is, what state the carriageway is in, how good the visibility is and what the rain or snow has left behind, before they set off.

Streams can sit next to the city map, the traffic plan and information about roadworks and closures. The most useful fields of view are:

• the main approaches into and out of the city;
• major junctions and interchanges;
• bridges, tunnels and level crossings;
• the approaches to railway stations, airports and bus stations;
• stretches with roadworks or a temporary traffic layout;
• roads where visibility and the state of the surface depend heavily on the weather.

Landmarks and tourism

A panoramic stream introduces future visitors to the city before they even travel. Show the historic center, the architecture, the waterfront, a monument or a viewing platform at different times of day and in different seasons.

A camera can be embedded on a tourism portal next to the description of a site, a route, a what's-on listing and visitor information. A live view conveys the real atmosphere of a place and keeps up interest in domestic tourism.

• central squares and pedestrian streets;
• waterfronts, bridges and city panoramas;
• monuments, historic buildings and museums;
• parks, gardens and viewpoints;
• tourist routes and natural sites;
• festive decorations and seasonal locations.

Public spaces

Cameras in parks, on squares and along waterfronts show the current weather, how busy the place is and whether it is open to use. Before heading out, residents can see whether it is raining, whether the paths have been cleared and how lively the place they have in mind actually is.

For large events, a public field of view lets those who could not come in person watch the stage or simply take in the atmosphere. Once the event is over, the camera can go back to its usual city view.

A stream should show a wide shot. Close-ups of people, entrances to protected premises, back-of-house areas, documents, control system screens and other sensitive details should not be published.

What rtsp.me gives you

The service takes the RTSP streams of city IP cameras and prepares them for viewing in modern browsers.

• One accountCameras across different districts and municipal sites
• City websiteReady-made HTML player code for the page you need
• DevicesViewing on computers, smartphones and tablets
• CompatibilityConnecting RTSP cameras with H.264 and H.265
• Access 24/7Round-the-clock public streams
• ArchiveA cloud recording for the period you choose
• MonitoringAvailability checks and notifications if the signal is lost
• ProtectionDomain restrictions, a password and access control
• StatisticsVisit figures for your published streams
• ScalingAdding new sites without a media server of your own

For residents

City streams become a practical part of a digital service. They give a quick visual answer to everyday questions:

• what the road you need looks like right now;
• whether it is snowing or raining in another district;
• how busy a square or a park is;
• whether a city event has started;
• what a place looks like before a trip or a walk;
• whether bad weather has left any visible damage.

The player opens directly on the city website and requires neither an app nor any knowledge of the camera's RTSP link.

For visitors and promoting the city

A live camera works as a permanent, living showcase for the city. Panoramas of central streets, architectural ensembles and natural locations make a tourism page far more vivid than an ordinary set of photographs.

Links to the streams can be added to landmark pages, the events calendar and the material published by the tourist information center. A well-chosen field of view shows the changing seasons, the evening lights and city life as it is, with nothing staged.

Visit statistics help you understand which views and sites people open most often, and to take that interest into account as your city content develops.

For city services

Private cameras can be used for an extra visual check on amenity and infrastructure sites. Public and private streams should be kept apart, with staff given only the access they need.

Public amenities

A wide shot helps you see the state of an area, how the seasonal work is progressing and what the bad weather has left behind. Video adds to requests, reports and site visits, but it does not replace them.

Transport and roads

Cameras give visual context to information about repairs, snow clearance and temporary changes to the traffic layout. Operational decisions should be based on the approved systems and official data.

Culture and events

A stream showing a wide shot of a square, a stage or a festival ground widens the audience for an event and keeps the city's program within reach of viewers at a distance.

How to connect a city camera

You can start with an IP camera that is already installed, provided its stream is suitable for publishing and reachable over RTSP.

1. Choose a safe and informative field of view.
2. Check that the camera supports RTSP, and check its video stream settings.
3. Sign up at rtsp.me.
4. Add the camera and enter its RTSP link.
5. Wait for the video availability check.
6. Take the HTML player code and place it on the city website.
7. Set up monitoring and decide which members of staff are responsible.

The full procedure for preparing the network and the camera is set out in the guide “How to create a live stream on a website”, and placing the player is covered on the page “How to embed a stream on your website”.

Reliability of a city camera network

For a public service it matters that you decide in advance who is responsible for the cameras, the connectivity and the content of the pages. rtsp.me monitoring helps you notice the loss of a signal, but restoring the power, the internet connection or the equipment is down to the owner of the site.

• use a stable wired connection wherever you can;
• protect the equipment from rain and snow, temperature swings and power surges;
• fix the cameras' local addresses and document the network settings;
• name the staff who receive the notifications when a camera is unavailable;
• update the firmware regularly and change the service passwords;
• check the field of view after repairs, seasonal planting and the installation of any structures.

For important locations you can plan for backup power, a backup connection or an alternative field of view.

Privacy and safety

Before publishing each camera, the administration should establish the purpose of the stream, the lawful basis for processing the images, the archive retention period and who is responsible for access, in line with the applicable requirements.

• choose a wide view with no identifying close-ups;
• do not point a public camera into the windows of homes or offices;
• do not reveal security posts, access routes or protected sites;
• use separate accounts and strong passwords on the cameras;
• limit the source RTSP stream to the servers that genuinely need it;
• separate public and private cameras by access rights.

The ways of restricting embedding and viewing are gathered in the guide “How to protect a stream from copying”.

How to start the project

1. Decide who each future stream is for and what it is good for.
2. Take stock of the IP cameras and connections you already have.
3. Choose a few pilot locations: a road, a square and a landmark.
4. Agree the fields of view, the privacy measures, the archive retention and who is responsible.
5. Connect the cameras to rtsp.me and test the viewing experience on different devices.
6. Place the players on the city portal with clear names and an indication of how current the picture is.
7. Review the statistics and the feedback before expanding the network.

A pilot launch lets you check the picture quality, the load, how usable the pages are and the organizational process itself, all on a small number of cameras.

Frequently asked questions