{"id":8760,"date":"2022-11-02T09:15:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-02T07:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/escp.eu\/thechoice\/?p=8760"},"modified":"2024-04-16T11:15:30","modified_gmt":"2024-04-16T09:15:30","slug":"using-data-wisely-to-make-smarter-cities-more-sustainable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/escp.eu\/thechoice\/tomorrow-choices\/using-data-wisely-to-make-smarter-cities-more-sustainable\/","title":{"rendered":"Using data wisely to make smart(er) cities more sustainable"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Should cities strive to become \u2018Sustainable Smart Cities,\u2019<\/strong> defined by the United Nations<\/a> (UN) as \u201cinnovative cities that use \u201cICTs (information and communication technologies, editor\u2019s note) and other means to improve quality of life, efficiency of urban operation and services, and competitiveness, while ensuring that they meet the needs of present and future generations with respect to economic, social, environmental as well as cultural aspects?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sure, if that is even remotely possible\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the world population grows, so does the share that lives in cities (around 2.5 billion more people, for a total of 68% of the world population by 2050<\/a>). Their size will grow too (the world <\/strong>is projected<\/strong><\/a> to have 10 more +10 million cities by 2030), which is anticipated to be a major factor leading to resource scarcity in the upcoming years. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe surge in adoption of smart cities in multiple regions is driven by various government digital cities initiatives and rise in the need for better natural resource management in urban environments,\u201d<\/mark> state Allied Market Research<\/a> to explain why they forecast the smart cities market to keep growing at a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 25% until 2030, with the smart energy segment witnessing the highest growth in the upcoming years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On paper, smart cities are a \u201cgame-changer\u201d:<\/strong> \u201cA tremendous amount of data is created every day in smart cities. After the data are collected, measured and analysed, knowledge is updated that will be further used to facilitate the decision-making process at the city level. This process creates a self-adaptive learning intelligent system for the smart cities to continually improve the social, economic and environmental issues for sustainable development,\u201d explain ESCP Business School Professor Wei Zhou and his co-authors in the special issue of International Journal of Production Research <\/em>on smart city sustainable urban logistics<\/a> they co-edited. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n

A smart city may therefore be better prepared to respond to the more general challenges of sustainability than the traditional ones.
 <\/p>Wei Zhou<\/strong><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

They view smart cities as \u2018a novel paradigm\u2019 for city planning and management,<\/strong> which modifies the mindset of the stakeholders related to city logistics, from municipal planners to citizens and service providers. \u201cReal-time data are used to enhance performance, quality, optimise the interactivity of urban services, and to reduce resource consumption. A smart city may therefore be better prepared to respond to the more general challenges of sustainability than the traditional ones with a simple \u2018transactional\u2019 relationship with the citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Proof is abundant in existing smart city projects and pilots.<\/strong> Copenhagen, for example, is considered by <\/strong>some<\/a> to be the most sustainable smart city in the world <\/strong>because of its innovative approach to collecting and using big data to make the city more environmentally friendly and improve the quality of life as well as the city\u2019s business climate. <\/strong>It won the World Smart Cities Award in 2014 thanks to its project involving effective traffic solutions using data instead of huge infrastructural projects. Copenhagen Connecting uses data collected from mobile phones, GPS in buses, sensors in the sewers and even trash cans to decrease traffic congestion, air pollution and carbon emissions \u2013 \u201cwithout turning the city into a big building site.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n