ITRE’s Committee implements a map on Smart Cities in the EU

The Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) of the European Parliament has recently published a study entitled “Mapping Smart Cities in the EU”, to monitor and learn about the projects, to be launched and work in progress, aimed at transforming the city in innovative, advanced and sustainable urban centers according to six characteristics: Smart Economies, Smart Mobility, Smart Environment, Smart People, Smart Living, Smart Governance.

The survey takes into account a sample of 468 european cities with at least 100,000 residents and among these 240 (51%) have implemented or proposed Smart City initiative. Countries with the largest numbers of smart cities are Italy, UK, Spain.

The Italian cities analyzed were Milan and Florence, which presented various initiatives. The first implemented the project “Smart Light”, which adjusts street lighting to the level of natural sunlight, therefore reducing both energy costs and CO2 emissions; the second has made data and information more accessible to the public with the project “Open Data”.

The study led to the selection of the six most successful cities, for further in depth analysis, which are: Amsterdam, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Manchester, Vienna.

In each of these case studies, a number of initiatives were assessed in order to identify the factors that led to their success, showing that most of the solutions (i.e. smart cycling plans) focus on transport, mobility, Smart Governance and building technologies.

Cross-analysis also pointed to a number of good practices, each related to three important factors: a clear vision; the involvement of citizens, representatives and local businesses; efficient processes.

Important conclusions on the wider dissemination of initiatives related to smart cities emerge from the study such as the strategic role of citizens in the development and execution of some initiatives (i.e. “Smart Neighbourhoods”), the participation of private companies as key players alongside the city authorities and local firms and the creation of common Smart City platforms.

Further informations:

Industry, Research and Energy committee

Mapping Smart Cities in the EU