The Smartest
Cities In The World (3)
Over
the past several years, the idea of the being "smart" has
emerged as a key mechanism for cities to find innovative solutions to
the challenges that they are facing. Increased demand for
infrastructure, housing, transportation,
jobs,energy,
food
and
water are all straining city governments and infrastructure, as
people around the world flock to urban centers in hopes of a better
life and more opportunity. For many years, the push to create smarter
cities was led by technology
companies
looking for uses (and buyers) for their products. But in recent
years, cities have begun to think more holistically about what being
a smart city could mean, and have innovated new ways to modernize how
a city serves its citizens.
For
the past several years, I've published an annual ranking of smart
cities, and with each passing year I have sought to improve the
quality of the ranking methodology. This year, This year, I embarked
on a rather ambitious experiment Leveraging an international advisory
panel, I expanded the survey to 62 indicators n Smart Cities Wheel
that
I developed a few years ago.
Smart
cities are a complex phenomenon and any effort to measure them needs
to contain breadth and depth of indicators—and this year I have
that. I have added several more information technology related
indicators,
like broadband internet
and
the number of mobile applications that leverage open data
initiatives. But I also have added low-tech indicators to ascertain
how much a city is embracing shared mobility, like measuring the
number of bikes and cars currently in their sharing programs. I have
also added citizen participation metrics, such as the number of
citizens engagement events held each year and percentage of citizens
who vote in local elections.
I
sent a survey of these 62 indicators to 120 cities around the world
(30 cities in four regions). Unfortunately only 11 cities around the
globe were able to participate due to the complexity and time
required to collect such diverse data. Given the small sample size,
and some inconsistencies in the data, this year I am not reporting
formal rankings.
But
I did learn a lot about what these cities are doing, and what makes a
smart city in 2015. In looking at these examples of smart cities
around the globe, I've divided them into three categories: Pioneering
Smart Cities, cities that have been on the leading edge of smart city
development for some time (for these cities, I also discuss the
challenges that face them in advancing their development even
further). Emerging Smart Cities are cities on the cusp of true
innovation. And Next Stage Smart Cities will be on the leading edge
of innovative metropolises soon, if they keep up their good work.
PIONEERING SMART CITIES continued
5.
Vancouver
Vancouver
has a soft spot in my heart given that I lived there from 2006 to
2011. Like Copenhagen, its credentials as a green city are quite
evident. In fact, Vancouverites participated en masse in a program to
develop a long term strategy for the city which resulted in an
ambitious (and probably unreachable goal) of becoming the greenest
city in the world by 2020. It helps that 97% of all energy in
Vancouver comes fromrenewable energy sources
(mostly
hydro). Vancouver was also a pioneer in providing major incentives
for green buildings which helped to foster an entire ecosystem of
green building expertise from architects and engineers to producers
of building products.
Vancouver
also scored very well in the smart people and smart living
categories. A full 48% of Vancouverites were actually born outside of
Canada. Diverse cultures tend to breed more innovation. Also
Vancouverites have the longest life expectancy (almost 84 years!)
compared with citizens from the other cities in the survey.
Challenge:
While Vancouver’s quality of life and green credentials are
competitive globally, Vancouver has yet to really take a lead on
smart city initiatives, especially compared with the leading European
cities discussed above. In order to stay competitive on a North
American and global scale, Vancouver will need to continue to invest
in digital technologies and support the rollout
of broadband throughout
the city.
6.
Vienna
Vienna
is last alphabetically, but definitely not least amongst these
leading smart cities that participated in the survey. The city
appears fully committed to growing its presence in the smart cities
arena. It has a dedicated team of experts focused on growing their
smart cities portfolio, which already contains more than 100 active
projects.
Vienna
is innovating across the spectrum of smart cities initiatives. For
example, the city possesses the most EV charging stations of all the
cities sampled (440) and has very active bike and car
sharing programs.
Unlike other cities on the list (e.g. Barcelona), their bike sharing
program is fully accessible to visitors, not just residents.
One
of my personal favorite projects Vienna has developed is called
Citizen Solar which allows citizens to co-invest in new solar
projects in a collaboration with the local
energy company,
Wien Energy. More importantly, however, Vienna has one of the most
ambitious smart cities strategy (Vienna Smart Cities Framework
Strategy), which is planned out to 2050. Furthermore, Vienna took the
extra step of incorporating the strategy into law to minimize the
risk of future mayors throwing the plan out to start over.
Challenges:
The city needs to do more to proactively support and promote
entrepreneurship. Vienna has done much to support local universities
to conduct research and development but there is a need for more
entrepreneurial spirit. Also, the city needs to do more to promote
itself as a smart cities leader. It is known for a fantastic quality
of life and a commitment to social equity, but it is
under-represented in global conversations about leading players in
the smart cities movement, given its impressive credentials.
BY
BOYD COHEN
http://www.fastcoexist.com/3038765/fast-cities/the-smartest-cities-in-the-world?utm_source=mailchimp&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=fast-company-daily-manual-newsletter&position=reyhan&partner=newsletter&campaign_date=1120201
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