This post is written by Meritxell Díaz, Media & Outreach Coordinator, ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability.

  • The problem: City decision-makers struggle when prioritising steps and aspects to be taken into account when planning a smarter city.
  • Why it matters: There are many cities around the world advancing in their path to become smarter, but this is not only about technology.
  • The solution: Innovative thinking, collaboration between cities and sharing knowledge.

The European cities of Rotterdam, Glasgow, Umeå, Brno, Parma and Gdańsk have accelerated the smart city model through the EU-funded project RUGGEDISED and are now sharing their experiences.

Worldwide, many cities are trying to become smarter. But what exactly does this mean and what are the steps to be taken?

Six years ago, six European cities joined forces on a new adventure: RUGGEDISED, a smart city project funded under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. Working in partnership with businesses and research centres, the three lighthouse cities - Rotterdam (The Netherlands), Glasgow (Scotland) and Umeå (Sweden) - and the three fellow cities - Brno (Czech Republic), Gdańsk (Poland) and Parma (Italy) - started their work to demonstrate how to combine ICT, e-mobility and energy solutions to design smart, resilient cities for all. Their final goal was to improve the quality of life of their citizens, reduce the environmental impact of their activities, and create a stimulating environment for sustainable economic development. Now, they are in a position to share what the key ingredients to plan a smart city are, and their lessons learnt.

Key takeaways

When asked how to plan a smart city, Parma says: “The fundamental parameters for building a smart city must include smart governance that is able to make its citizenship smart (by involving inhabitants in participatory political decisions), constant research for new solutions and for improving, ensuring a smart economy and commerce, and enhancing smart living.” For the City of Brno, “smart governance” is also an essential point since the administration needs to be capable of guaranteeing resources and human capital.

Meanwhile, the City of Umeå defines a smart city as one that has “an effective infrastructure and develops without jeopardising the next generations’ possibility to live their lives. In a smart city everything and everyone is talking to each other all the time. Everything is connected in collaboration, both technology and people – cooperation on all levels is the key. A smart city is open and shares information with its citizens, but also listens to people in the city to improve their welfare. A smart city is a sustainable city, with perhaps a bit more ICT and technical solutions involved in the development.”

The participation of inhabitants is also seen as a key element for the City of Gdańsk, which emphasises citizen involvement as a critical component when planning a smart city: “It is about making our citizenship smart, informing and involving them by following a bottom-up decision-making approach, and providing them with the opportunity to be proactive and also to become the bearers of ideas and to be able to set a good example.”

“A city will never reach the final stage of being smart - it is an ongoing process.”

Finding solutions

Through RUGGEDISED, the cities mentioned have been testing different solutions related to thermal and renewable energy storage, extracting and collecting thermal energy, energy exchange and connected buildings, 100% renewable energy business models, green parking, electric buses, e-charging infrastructures, energy data management, intelligent street lighting, demand-side management solutions, and smart open data platforms.

RUGGEDISED cities encourage their peers to think big: Umeå stresses that “if we would have not been a bit crazy in the planning stage, we would not have reached as far as we did.”

“Technology is hardly ever the issue: it is always the cooperation that makes a project a failure or a success,” continues Umeå. So, another takeaway: work together and share knowledge because the team behind the planning needs to cooperate. If cooperation is there, technology will not be a problem. It’s also important to spread the word of what your city is doing, and to have an eye and an ear on what other cities are doing. “Sometimes we were surprised that something that someone from Umeå thought was mainstream could be seen as innovative somewhere else.” Being a smart city is about inspiring others to replicate and adapt solutions.

Now that the RUGGEDISED project is nearly over, these six cities are ready to continue on their path to becoming smarter. As the City of Umeå remarks: “A city will never reach the final stage of being smart - it is an ongoing process.” An ongoing process that will continue through the EU Cities Mission for Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030, since four of the six RUGGEDISED cities have been chosen to take part in this new adventure, which will hopefully position them to be able to share some insights in the future.

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(Image Credit: Unsplash)