DESIGNING SUSTAINABLE SMART CITIES

BY DR. INGRID VASILIU-FELTES

How can we bring together all these beautiful technologies when we have so many pilots, companies, and technologies? How do you start designing your smart city strategy, and how do you implement this type of strategy in a meaningful, ethical, safe way so that we can build resilient, sustainable, inclusive smart cities?

The United Nations defines a smart city as a city that uses technology and data-driven, innovative solutions to improve the quality of life for its residents, enhance sustainability, and streamline urban services. According to the UN, a smart city leverages information and communication technologies to improve its social, economic, and environmental sustainability. Smart cities aim to make urban living more efficient, safe, and sustainable by using advanced technologies such as IoT, sensors, and big data analytics to gather and analyze information in real time, and then use this information to make better decisions and deliver more efficient services.

Several global factors influence the development of smart cities, including economic, legal, regulatory, and technological advances, as well as social and environmental, and all have a compounding effect. The development of smart cities and communities can be categorized into four phases:

• Design: The design phase involves developing a vision and strategy for the smart city, which includes identifying the key goals, priorities, and stakeholders. This phase also involves conducting a comprehensive assessment of the existing infrastructure and services and identifying the technologies that can be leveraged to enhance them.

• Deployment: The deployment phase involves building and implementing the smart city infrastructure, which includes deploying sensors, IoT devices, and other technologies that will collect and analyze data to support various city services.

This phase also involves integrating the different technology systems to create a unified, interoperable platform.

• Maintenance: The maintenance phase involves ensuring that the smart city infrastructure is operating effectively and efficiently. This phase includes regular monitoring of the various systems, maintenance of the hardware and software, and updating the systems to incorporate the latest technological advancements.

• Continuous Innovation: The continuous innovation phase involves ongoing improvements and enhancements to the smart city infrastructure and services. In addition to smart design, leaders also must foster a smart business environment, which demands creating incentives for businesses to invest in the smart city, developing publicprivate partnerships, and establishing policies that encourage the development of new technologies and services. Governments, civic leaders, and community stakeholders play an essential role in setting a clear vision and strategy, as well as securing investments for viable smart city ecosystems.

Key Strategic Considerations

The United Smart Cities program is a joint initiative by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), the Organization for International Economic Relations (OiER), and other industrial partners. The program aims to support the development of smart and sustainable cities worldwide. The United Smart Cities program is grounded on the concept of the “5 Ps” of sustainable development:

• People: The program aims to put people at the center of smart city development, promoting social inclusion and empowering citizens to participate in decision-making processes.

• Prosperity: The program aims to promote economic growth and job creation by supporting smart city initiatives that improve the efficiency and productivity of urban systems.

• Planet: The program aims to promote environmental sustainability by supporting smart city initiatives that reduce carbon emissions, promote renewable energy, and protect natural resources.

• Peace: The program aims to promote social harmony and peaceful coexistence by supporting smart city initiatives that promote social inclusion, intercultural dialogue, and conflict resolution.

• Partnership: The program aims to foster partnerships between different stakeholders, including legislators, business leaders, academia, and notfor-profit organizations, to promote collaborative and integrated approaches to smart city development.

By adopting the 5 Ps of sustainable development, the United Smart Cities program aims to support the development of smart and sustainable cities that are responsive to the needs of their citizens, promote economic growth and job creation, protect the environment, promote social harmony, and foster partnerships between different stakeholders.

Prior to implementing any strategic plan, leaders must perform a critical readiness assessment, as well as demonstrate versatility in a variety of management techniques. Beyond that, adequate training of the workforce of the future, as well as measuring impact via custom smart city metrics, are both key to long-term success.

Challenges

There are several challenges that can be encountered globally when deploying smart cities. These challenges include:

• Legal and Regulatory

• Interoperability

• Portability Cost

• Social and Ethical Challenges

Opportunities

• Digital Identity and Global Citizenship: Digital identity can help to create a more inclusive society by enabling access to services for those who are currently underserved.

• Culture of Digital Ethics: Smart cities where citizens are educated about their digital rights and responsibilities, so they feel empowered to make informed decisions about how their data is used.

• Culture of Cyber Resilience: Requires proactive and robust cybersecurity measures to protect against cyber threats

• Alignment with all UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030: And the latest UN Net Zero 2050 Agenda Conclusion

Building smart, sustainable, inclusive, and diverse smart cities requires a multistakeholder, collaborative approach. This approach involves working closely with different stakeholders, including government agencies, private sector organizations, and the community, to ensure that smart city initiatives are sustainable, equitable, and inclusive. Perhaps the key is adopting an abundance mindset, where we see challenges as opportunities for growth and development, and we focus on creating positive long-term outcomes for all stakeholders. Leaders must embrace an interdisciplinary approach to harmonize different areas of expertise and ensure that all aspects of smart city development are optimally integrated.

Founder & CEO, Institute for Science, Entrepreneurship & Investments

Miami, Florida

Dr. Ingrid Vasiliu-Feltes is a health care executive, futurist, and globalist who is highly dedicated to digital and ethics advocacy. She is a Forbes Business Council member, a digital strategist, a passionate educator and entrepreneurship ecosystem builder, an expert speaker, a board advisor, and a consultant. VasiliuFeltes is CEO of Softhread Inc.; founder and CEO of the Science, Entrepreneurship and Investments Institute; and founder and CEO of Revexpo Consulting and is currently serving as a country director for WBAF USA, senator of WBAF, faculty member of the WBAF Business School-Division of Entrepreneurship, and teaching the Executive MBA Business Technology course at the UM Business School.