The smart city revolution is transforming urban living by leveraging technology to address challenges such as congestion, unreliable public transport, and failing waste management systems. Data infrastructure plays a critical role in this transformation, with real-time data streaming enabling the creation of intelligent transportation systems, smart traffic light systems, and route optimization platforms. Confluent, a cloud-native data streaming platform, is being used by organizations to deliver various smart city applications, including demand-responsive transportation and smart street lighting. By processing large volumes of heterogeneous data in real time, Confluent enables smart city applications to make urban travel faster, cheaper, and safer while reducing its environmental impact.