More than half the
world's population
now lives in cities.
This figure is set to
rise to 70% by 2050. When faced
with rapid growth, it is up to local
leaders and managers to ensure
the liveability, sustainability and
resilience of our cities. Cities are
turning to digital technologies to
improve services, reduce costs,
save resources and engage
more effectively and actively
with citizens. They are becoming
'smarter'.
The smart cities approach
makes sense in terms of cost
and resource efficiency: it is
estimated that worldwide, cities
will need to spend around €24
trillion1 over the next 25 years on
modernising and expanding their
infrastructure. A large part of this
will be smart cities solutions and
services, which are expected to
occupy a global market of €364
billion by 2020.
Cities need to ensure they are
meeting constantly evolving
needs and challenges. Becoming
a smarter city is a continuous
and transformative process,
not an end goal. Smart citizens
should play a key role in this
process, with cities using
technology and innovation to
engage and empower citizens
to develop ideas and solutions.
There are new governance and
transparency tools available to
encourage this co-creation, such
as living labs, ways to integrate
citizen input into urban planning,
and space and support for start-ups. Successful smart cities will
facilitate this participation, cocreation
and co-production with
citizens and other local partners.
There are plenty of opportunities
for cities to learn from each other
on this journey. At EUROCITIES,
we bring together 130 major
European cities to share good
practices, expertise and ideas.
While we recognise that there
can be no one-size-fits-all
approach to becoming a smart
city, cities can be inspired by
the successes and mistakes of
others. We are involved in a
number of EU-funded projects
that are part of the move from
paper to action. Our GuiDanCe
project coordinates activities
through the Green Digital Charter
(www.greendigitalcharter.eu), a commitment for cities
to become smarter through
ICT. It encourages cities to
deliver on the EU's smart city
and sustainability objectives
through urban digital strategies;
large scale ICT-based solutions;
establishing cities as open
innovation platforms; using
common standards and
facilitating the opening of data;
and creating new partnerships
under a green and urban digital
agenda. It now comprises
a community of almost 50
signatories.
CITYkeys (www.citykeys-project.eu) is a project developing
performance indicators and data
collection procedures for smart
city solutions and projects. It will
allow European cities to monitor
and compare their progress and
strategies, and assess which
solutions and projects would work
best for them.
In the field of intelligent transport
solutions (ITS), OPTICITIES
(www.opticities.com) develops
and tests interoperable ITS in
six of our member cities. Its goal
is to provide citizens with the
best possible travel options and
optimise urban freight logistics.
A further six of our member cities
were involved in TRANSFORM
(www.urbantransform.eu),
which explored the processes
and methodologies cities use
when developing smart energy
plans and projects together with
stakeholders. These cities have
since signed a memorandum of
understanding to continue their
collaboration beyond the project.
Some of our cities are already
leading the way globally when
it comes to becoming smarter.
Among these is Amsterdam, which set up its own smart
city initiative in 2009. This now
comprises 79 projects being
developed in collaboration
with citizens, businesses
and government. One is
‘Buurtbegroting’, which allows
citizens to better understand
the city's finances using open
data platforms and infographics.
It aims to improve the way city
finances and decision making are
communicated with citizens.
Barcelona has opened its public
spaces for tests and pilot projects
on services and products that
are in the pre-market stage. It is
also creating spaces for citizens
to learn new skills and co-create
solutions. Eindhoven is doing
something similar, opening up the
city as an 'urban lab' for products
and services that meet the needs
of consumers. Its approach builds
on the triple helix model of city
government, academia and
industry working together for
local economic development and
better quality of life.
Milan is leading discussions on
the 'sharing economy', which
promises to bring multiple
benefits through the sharing of
goods and services rather than
the constant creation of new ones.
Becoming a smarter city is
full of opportunities, but also
challenges. The continued
opening of new data, for
example, begs the question of
how personal or citizen-centric
data can remain under the control
of the individual, and how we can
ensure that it remains publicly
accessible, non-proprietary and
transparent.
The first wave of smart startups
and mobile applications
brought with it questions about
new business models that can
ensure the sustainability of these
projects, and also the need for
open interfaces and platforms to
ensure interoperability between
applications, cities and user groups.
Access to high speed broadband
is a pre-requisite for many smart
city solutions. This requires
research and investment into
broadband infrastructure in
cities. And with an increasingly
digitalised public sector, new risks
of cyberattacks emerge. When
city systems such as transport,
healthcare and electricity are
controlled by technology, the
effects can be disastrous. Cities
need structured responses and
specific technology to keep on
top of the threat.
There will be ups and downs
along the way, but becoming
'smarter cities' is a chance to
rise to the challenges of rapid
urbanisation. It is essential that
cities and citizens are at the heart
of this process so that smart city
solutions meet the real needs on
the ground.
1. Figure taken from http://uk-chinasmartcities.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Smart-Cities-Solutions-Challenge.doc (£17 trillion)