Setting the scene - Global perspective of smart and

sustainable urban initiatives

Didier Vancutsem Urban expert - Assoc. Prof. ULB Brussels

Secretary General ISOCARP

Contents • Smart and sustainable cities: the Context

• Benefits of smart and sustainable urban solutions

• Towards smart cities – the Perspective

Smart and Sustainable Cities • Smart and sustainable cities: the Context

• Benefits of smart and sustainable urban solutions

• Towards smart cities – the Perspective

1800

URBAN 2%

World is fast becoming predominantly URBAN Beginning 19th century: 2% of world population was urban

World is fast becoming predominantly URBAN Beginning 19th century: 2% of world population was urban Beginning 20th century: 10%

1900

URBAN 10%

World is fast becoming predominantly URBAN Beginning 19th century: 2% of world population was urban Beginning 20th century: 10% 1970 : 37%

1970

URBAN 37%

2010

World is fast becoming predominantly URBAN Beginning 19th century: 2% of world population was urban Beginning 20th century: 10% 1970 : 37% 2010 : 50%

URBAN 50%

World is fast becoming predominantly URBAN Beginning 19th century: 2% of world population was urban Beginning 20th century: 10% 1970 : 37% 2010 : 50% 2030 : 60%

2030

URBAN 60%

World is fast becoming predominantly URBAN Beginning 19th century: 2% of world population was urban Beginning 20th century: 10% 1970 : 37% 2010 : 50% 2030 : 60% 2050 : 70%

2050

URBAN 70%

Urban Population – Per Region

Source: UN

Fastest urbanization currently in Africa and Asia

0

25

50

75

100

Perc

ent

AfricaAsiaEuropeLatin America and the CaribbeanNorthern AmericaOceania

Spatial Configurations

The 20th Century Urban Model

The general decline in built-up area densities in 25 representatives cities

Source: Making Room for a Planet of cities

As an example: Kigali

Challenge: Transport and Emissions worldwide

Urban Sprawl > Compact

Segregation > Integrated

Congestion > Connected

Central issues: compact, integrated and connected - smart

Compact, integrated and connected – smart and sustainable

Smart City Context • the rise of the smart city

– new cities: Songdo, Masdar, PlanIT Valley, Palava – retrofitted cities: Rio de Janeiro, Santander, NYC, etc. – IBM’s Smarter Cities – Cisco’s Smart + Connected Communities – Intel‘s Sustainable Connected Cities – u-city; smart eco-cities; safe cities; etc.

• the push back against the smart city – Greenfield (2013); Townsend (2013); Kitchin (2014) – ‘smart citizens’ (Hill 2013; Hemmet & Townsend 2013)

Smart City Context • Kitchin (2014) identifies two smart cities

– the smart city linked to policy debates (Hollands 2008) – the smart city as envisioned by technologists (Greenfield 2013)

• both are concerned with the role played by ICT in the city – wired cities (Dutton et al 1987) – global cities (Sassen 1991) – cities of bits (Mitchell 1995) – network societies (Castells 1996) – digital cities (Ishida & Isbister 2000) – intelligent cities (Komninos 2002) – cyber cities (Graham 2004)

A definition from policy literatures • Giffinger et al (2007) operationalize

six domains of smartness: economy, people, governance, mobility, environment and living

• ‘We believe a city to be smart when

investments in human and social capital and traditional (transport) and modern (ICT) communication infrastructure support sustainable economic growth and a high quality of life, with a wise management of natural resources, through participatory governance.’ (Caragliu et al 2011, 70)

A definition from technology literatures • ‘It is through information and communications

technologies that smart cities are truly turning ‘smart’.

• “This is facilitated by means of services that

use, among others, networked sensors and actuators deployed in the city, allowing the monitoring of the urban environment in real time, to react just in time if needed and to establish automated control processes with less or even without human intervention.” (Dohler et al 2013, 70)

Lessons learnt – towards smart and sustainable cities • Many orientations/definitions of “Smart Cities” in past years –

but: • In any case, a Smart City is quintessentially enabled by the use of

technologies (especially ICT) to improve competitiveness and ensure a more sustainable future, by symbiotic linkage of networks of people, businesses, technologies, infrastructures, consumption, energy and spaces.

• a Smart City is a city seeking to address public issues via ICT- based solutions on the basis of a multi-stakeholder, municipally based partnership.

• More concretely, the strategies and initiatives of a Smart City must include at least one of the following characteristics (objectives and/or modes of operation): Smart Governance, Smart People, Smart Living, Smart Mobility, Smart Economy and Smart Environment.