A ZigBee based wireless sensor network is implemented in this paper which is of low-cost solar-powered air quality monitoring system. The main objective of the proposed architecture is to interfacing various sensors to measure the sensor analog data and displayed in LabVIEW on the monitor using the graphical user interface (GUI). The real time ambient air quality monitoring in smart cities is of greater significance for the health of people. The wireless network sensor nodes are placed at different traffic signals in the smart cities which collect and report real-time data on different gases which are present in the environment such as carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), methane (CH4) and humidity. The proposed system allows smart cities to monitor air quality conditions on a desktop/laptop computer through an application designed using graphical programming based LabVIEW software and provides an alert if the air quality characteristics exceed acceptable levels. The sensor network was successfully tested on the campus of the institute of aeronautical engineering, Hyderabad. The sensor data are indicated by different indicators on the front panel of LabVIEW.