Smart Cities - when communication technology creates sustainable cities

How can communication technology help to create more sustainable cities? This questions has not gained much attention, at least not in the debates that I am following. But my guess is that it’s about to change – in fact, some cities are doing serious investments in this field, typically cooperating with IT-giants like IBM, SIEMENS and CISCO. But what is it really about, ‘Smart Cities’, and are there already some front-runner cities?

The basic idea about making a city ‘smart’ is to use communication technology to optimize a city’s resource consumption. Our cities are dependent upon a bunch of connected physical systems and network with many different functions, often being hid beneath the ground, in walls or in the air. These are systems we normally take for granted, but they provide a vital infrastructure that makes it possible for us to move around and to create a healthy, clean and safe urban environment. – in short, these systems are crucial for our well-being. By using communication technologies these systems are able to communicate with each other and with the equipment that we use to get around in our cities, fx. cars and bikes. An example: Cities like Stockholm, Brisbane and Singapore have discovered that traffic is not just vehicles in a line, but a network of connections and units that can communicate with each other. These cities have all introduced intelligent solutions in their traffic-systems. Roadsigns, traffic signs, critical intersections, etc. communicates with each other and with the vehicles that people use, fx. by using intelligent sensors on cars. The result is an optimization of traffic flow and lower emissions in all three cities (fx smart traffic systems in Stockholm). The Copenhagen Wheel – the intelligent bike-wheel presented at COP15, which collects information about traffic, air pollution, etc. is also based on this ’Smart City’ idea.

’Smart City’ is also about optimization of the energy system by using ‘Smart Grids’. A city like Boulder is one of the frontrunners when it comes to the introduction of ’smart meters’ – which informs consumers about their use of energy and optimizes the demand for and supply of electricity in the grid, as well as optimises the supply of energy from renewable resources in the grid. Amsterdam is also ahead with a ’Smart City’ programme (although it refers to a broader initiative to make the city more sustainable and not only to the use of communication technology to achieve this). Our buildings are becoming more intelligent as well. Sensors in buildings collect information about movement, heat, humidity, light, etc. which can be used to manage the use of energy in the building. This, however, can be up-scaled to the city-level.

One of the great challenges with all this, however, is to understand how these infrastructural systems can be connected, as well as a deeper and probably more detailed understanding about how people use the city. Of course, technology alone is insufficient to create a ’Smart City’ – the citizens has to be part of it. They must be able to adapt to the new conditions and perhaps even be trained in using the smart technologies. Good examples and economic incentives are probably needed as well.

The whole idea of ’Smart Cities’ is a clear example of a ’Bright Green’ approach to the creation of sustainable cities (blog: How green are you and your city?). The basic idea of this approach is that technological solutions and innovation can bring cities a very long step forward to achieve sustainability.