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THINK! REPORT 005/2010

The Innovation Knowledge Foundation

The Smart City vision:

How Innovation and ICT

can build smart, liveable, sustainable cities.
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author: Donato Toppeta I October 2010

The Innovation Knowledge Foundation

Abstract

The city is a core paradigm for the mankind, where trade, technology, art and culture converge in designing
and building the solutions to the civilization risks. Most people on the earth already live in bigger cities
and urbanization is accelerating: it is growing the demand for a more efficient, sustainable, liveable
model for cities.
We can better face new threats, by looking at innovation and best practices, in re-inventing the city
organization, leveraging ICT enabled nervous system, building smarter cities. In fact we know that the
human population growth cannot be stopped, nor the expectation of a better life, that makes people moving
to bigger towns and pressing local government and all stakeholders to get involved.
The target of this research is very compelling: since a smart city is a complex multi-dimensional network of
system of systems, and the cultural, economical, social and geographic constraints of each city are unique,
then both an analytic and holistic approach are needed to describe a smart city.
I think that a detailed taxonomy of the smart citys components and stakeholders can help in decomposing
the problem in more manageable components. The top level classes of the proposed taxonomy, further
detailed in this document, are: Info-mobility and ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems) smart mobility, logistic and
technology; Developing human resources and social capital: Smart People; Economics 2.0: Smart Economy
for competiveness, Quality and Sustainability of living; Ecosystem: Sustainable Environment, renewable
energy and other resources; E-democracy, e-Government 2.0, Smart Government.
This document is the first step of a path, that will include for example smart city best practices, technologies
and vertical solutions, ICT proposition from leading companies and examples of innovative researches.
The final scope is that of taking the best of each point of views, indentify low hanging fruits and long
term strategies, build a general framework, that is still flexible enough to be applied to specific needs and
scenarios.

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Introduction:
The town development,
Climate change is not just about the
from the Greeces polis,
environment. It is THE social, economic
the romans urbis,
and political issue for every city in
Europe and worldwide. Cities have a key
the renaissances cities
role to play in enabling local economies
like Florence, signs
to anticipate and adapt to climate
major milestones in our
change to achieve economic recovery
and sustainable growth.
civilization history, up
Mona Heiberg former Deputy Mayor
to the contemporary,
of Copenhagen
global metropolis, where
advanced services have
replaced industrial plants. The city is a core aggregation
and socialization paradigm for the mankind, where trade,
technology, art and culture can help in designing and
building the solutions to many core global issues (i.e.
economical double dip, fossil energy and other resources
exhaustion, environmental climate change and pollution,
social pressed by unemployment, poverty and demographic
growth, cultural for radical changes in communication in
digital life and globalization, biodiversity loss, etc.).
We can better face these threats by leveraging our ability to
improve the efficiency and re-invent the organization and
ICT enabled nervous system of smarter cities, because we
know that human population growth cannot be stopped
easily and quickly, nor the expectation of a better life, that
keep on moving people to bigger towns in search of work
and other services.

Smart City as a system of multiple

sub-systems
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IBM has already successfully stated that a smart city is

a complex infrastructure of system of systems; I would
like also to stress that this statement is true on multiple
dimensions; the most obvious one is the territorial and
administrative scale unit:
Neighborhoods, where the integrated design of new
ones like Vauban (Freiburg) or Sjostad (Stockholm)
prove the effectiveness of the sustainable approach to
urban planning,
Smaller territorial aggregations that share an
optimization approach in energy usage for smart
building with home automation, remote heating and
management, like in a condominium.

Large, integrated, metropolitan areas resulting from

merging towns or the
1
During the past years, the digital
role of fast trains and
revolution and the emergence of a
high speed digital
global internet connecting people,
enterprises and increasingly objects,
communication
have generated a massive opportunity
network that allow
to dematerialize daily life in cities.
to lower the distance
EBR 2010, Planning a Smarter
barriers for work and
Society - GIORGIO ANDREOLI,
CARLO MARIA MEDAGLIA
services like shopping
and
entertainment
districts.
There are many dimensions that describe the scope of a
smart city such as:
Integration and interaction of different services and
infrastructures, both physical and virtual
Smart utilities grids (not only the distributed electricity
and gas grids with bidirectional flow in a distributed
generation, that requires real time exchange of
information, but also remote heating/cooling to leverage
co/tri-generation, clean and grey water with detailed per
user/usage billing that encourage collection and reuse,
underground pipes for differentiated waste collection).
Public transportation and road network that aim
to manage the mobility needs with an appropriate
Intelligent Transport System (ITS) that takes care of
congestion charging, reduce pollution and accident
rate, manage parking, car and bike sharing, reserved
lanes, digital signing, integrated payments by vehicle
pollution category, etc.
ICT network that leverage high speed services, mobile
advanced location based services, social networking
and collaborative crowd sourcing, info-tainment, teleworking, remote assistance and medical surveillance
for disabled or elderly people, touristic orientation and
guidance.

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A very fast intercity railway (up to 350 km/h) is connecting Beijing and Tianjin in 27 min (180 km) anticipating
a slowly merge of the two metropolitan areas to a huge one. A futuristic project has been announced in the
Beijings Mentougou District: the straddling bus that looks like a subway or light-rail train bestriding the
road.

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Integration of public local administrative services

with central private ones, to improve coordination,
information sharing and dematerialization, cooperation
with not for profit sector, accessibility and reduce the
transaction cost and environmental payload.

The impressive growth of Cities

and their environmental impact
Cities consume approximately only 2% of earth ground
2
(density can also be an advantage for sustainability ) but 55%
of the world population already live in towns and according
to several institutions forecast the percentage will grow up
to 70% (or 6.4 billion people) by 2050 (in Europe and North
America the astonishing 80% has already been achieved and
IBM Business Value institute forecast that it may grow up to
88%). There are already more than 450 cities with at least
1 million citizens (20 over
According to the study, worldwide
10 millions), according to
population will jump from 6,615 billion in
world atlas the largest
2007 to 9,075 billion by 2050. Average
increase tax per year will be 1.1%, from
are Tokyo, Japan with 28
2005 to 2010. Throughout the same
millions, Mexico City,
period, the worlds urban population
San Paolo and Mumbai,
currently reaching half of the global
inhabitants, unequally distributed among
India 18-19 millions; but
regions and continents will register
the extended concept of
2.0% of incremental taxes in our
planet. Such increase will be 0.5%
megalopolis involves up
year after year in richer countries,
to 200 million in the Indo2.5% in developing regions and
4.0% in less developed countries.
Gangetic Plain that groups
The large cities population in Asian and
Delhi and other cities. 21
African countries will double from 2007
megacities account for 9
to 2030.
per cent of the world urban
United Nation World Urbanization
Prospects: economic and territorial
population; 97 of 100 the
implications
fastest growing cities are
in growth markets, 8 in
China, 11 in India.

McKinsey estimated in a report last year that an additional

350 million people, more than the population of the U.S.,
would move to the cities by 2015. More than 220 Chinese
cities will have more than one million people (there are
currently only 35 in Europe). A new skyscraper seems to
bloom in Shanghai every other month. China is pushing for

urban infrastructure, with McKinsey estimating that 170 new

mass transit systems could be built in China by 2025.
If India urbanization keeps on growing as estimated
500 new cities will born in the next two decades. Also in
Africa large towns are growing quickly. Addis Ababa, the
capital of Ethiopia, established in 1889, is facing a major
urban migration into the city since 1970s, driven mainly
by unemployment, poverty, and declining agricultural
productivity. The population is projected to roughly double
by 2020 from 3.4 million in 2007. 27% of Ethiopias urban
population lives in the capital city, and this process has
created substantial pressure on the citys infrastructure,
housing, and urban services.

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Cities are directly in charge of a growing environmental

footprint, including: 71% of total Green House Gas that
is altering the climate, and other pollutants such as
particulate. Cities account for 60% of all water allocated
for domestic human use, while human demand for water is
expected to increase six fold in the next 50 years and some
municipalities lose up to 50% of precious water through
leaky infrastructure. Even where water is relatively plentiful,
water pollution is increasingly a concern. Beijing, notorious
for water stress issues, is rapidly depleting groundwater
sources that are now 100m below sea level and threatened
by saltwater intrusion. The solution to date, damming and
diverting rivers (spending tens of billions of dollars), is too
slow and is also inadvertently causing water deprivation in
southern China and other countries as well. Chinese can now
afford piped water, private bathrooms, washing machines,
homes with gardens, cars that need washing, and more
food, which needs water for growing. A different smarter
management of water resources is needed implementing
a more sustainable cascade type water reuse with smart
water distribution and collecting grids.

Figure : Urban population by major geographical area (in per cent of total population)
Source: United Nations, Dept. of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division:
World Urbanization Prospects, the 2009 Revision.

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Density for example makes economic sustainable the investment in public transportation, reduces the
need to use a private car to reach closer entertainment or work destinations, allows to implement centralized
remote heating systems that take advantages of co-generation. This argument is extensively discussed
in Green metropolis by David Owen, that compares the environmental footprint of an average New York
citizen versus a generic U.S. resident.

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The main risks that the Cities must

address
The increasing consumption of energy, soil and other nonrenewable resources, difficulty in waste management,
acoustic pollution; altered microclimate, urban traffic
congestion, hard to provide home care for the elderly,
poor security and social integration are some examples
of the growing cities issues that require timely and
effective solutions, with more and more difficult to find
resources for local government, called upon to assume
direct responsibility. A good carbon management strategy
in the town government is also essential for managing the
potential risks associated on a global scale with climate
change, that very often can have a massive impact on high
density urban areas.

An improved collaboration becomes possible when the

stakeholders use a common language and create a shared
vision of success for Smart Cities, improving community
engagement
through sustainability initiatives that
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stimulate innovation and economic recovery and preserve
the environment and the culture.

These risks include:

Physical risks from the direct impacts of climate
change, like severe weather events: heating is often up
to 6 C higher in the city center (urban heat land effect),
soil erosion and extreme precipitation, most towns are
near to river or the coast and therefore are exposed
to flooding , ecosystem alterations that favor new
invasive plants and pests with habitat destruction,
fire exposure, etc.
Regulatory and Litigation risks from tightening national
and international regulations like in EU: pollution due to
concentrated traffic and buildings heating is a serious
concern not only for health consequences on citizens
but also for penalties that can be applied. Climate
change-related law suits and public actions by NGOs
like GreenPeace are now being seen in the US, EU and
some other states.
Competitive risks from cities that have a better
environmental reputation and a shared sustainability
approach versus ones whose citizens perceive a lack
of action to address climate change and pollution.
Consumer sustainability awareness is a growing topic in
the local political agenda, where the link with territory
is stronger. As the sustainability mandate expands,
cities committed to social and environmental causes
are likely to attract the top talent; also investors now
look at sustainability performance. There could also be
consequences for economies dependent on tourism.
Operational risks from changes like rising electricity
prices or transportation costs linked to fossil fuels and
other depleted natural resources, like potable water
(exposed to exhaustion and pollution), can have a direct
impact on the OPEX of the local public administration.
The increased environmental refugees pressure
might also affect cities.

A proposed taxonomy for smart

Cities
Smart cities are those that are combining ICT and Web 2.0
technology with other organizational, design and planning
efforts to de-materialize and speed up bureaucratic
processes and help to identify new, innovative solutions
to city management complexity, in order to improve
sustainability and liveability.
New combined, holistic strategies (look at the forest,
not the trees) are needed to govern the change and
generate consensus, such as: the smart planning of the
infrastructures and distributed renewable energy, the
publication of incentives or the imposition of standards
for energy efficiency in buildings, issuing of specific
guidelines for governing the territory and supporting
the economy, the choice of policies for promoting public
transport and measures for limiting the private traffic and
the accident rate. This approach can be summarized by a
simple but effective definition: People want to live in smart
cities, with a higher quality of work, study, life and social
relations; capable of supporting the expectation of a better
future, individually and collectively; compatible with the
planets finite resources and peoples human right.
To help comparing and integrate different contribution
Ive built the following taxonomy of the ICT and innovation
role in the Smart City extending the original one from the
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EUROCITY charter and European Smart Cities, an EU project
led by the Vienna University of Technology:
1. Info-mobility and ITS: smart mobility, logistic and
technology
2. Developing human resources and social capital: Smart
People

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Annapolis is surrounded by six bodies of water and was subjected to the destructive effects of a higher sea level on the
downtown area during a hurricane in 2003. New York City, Amsterdam and Venice are especially vulnerable to sea level
rises and coastal storms while the City of New Orleans is below sea level and has already suffered catastrophic effects.

EUROCITIES and the European Commission have acknowledged - alongside initiatives like Smart 2020 and Information
and Communication Technologies for Energy Efficiency, ICT4EE - the important contribution ICT can make to increasing
energy efficiency, reducing emissions and generally realizing a sustainable,
low-carbon society

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3. Economics 2.0: Smart Economy for competiveness

4. Quality and Sustainability of living
5. Ecosystem: Sustainable Environment, renewable
energy and other resources
6. E-democracy, Government 2.0, Smart Government
Its very difficult to compile an exhaustive list of the
solutions and technologies that can be associated to each
main entry of the ICT role in Smart City, since it keeps on
evolving due to the innovation, plus some components that
have broad impacts on several factors.

Tracking dangerous goods with intelligent access

permissions, disabled peoples assisted mobility
and video surveillance with automatic detection of
abnormal
and alarm for security services,
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while protecting privacy. Crowd Sourcing for collecting
demand for minor maintenance (holes in the streets,
hidden or damaged signs, illegal parking, blocked
drains, lights out, gas or liquid oil leaks, wildlife in
danger, etc.), ideas to improve services or offers of
collaboration.

Info-mobility and ITS (Intelligent

Transport Systems) smart mobility,
logistic and technology

Mathematical models and computer assisted

simulation to compare different road and transport
infrastructure scenarios (based on regulatory and
enabling technology), in order to predict environmental
and social effects and evaluate the expected economical
outcomes.

Integrated, variable charging schemes for transport

and other services (e.g. transit & parking tolls, vehicle
licensing and compliance, infotainment and touristic
services, etc.) based on direct infrastructure cost
and LCA (Life Cycle Analysis) of environmental cost,
automatic fares collection and micro payments via
proximity cards and mobile phone (NFC, SMS), etc.
Enhanced travelers information services (CRM
integrated): Searching, by smart-phone, mobile
devices, touch screen and gesture interfaces, for stops,
connections, destinations and estimated real time
arrival time by public transport, bike sharing and car
pooling availability, van sharing (for goods optimized
loading and delivery path), events reservation and
touristic monuments self guided tours, search for
nearest bus / taxi, browse for local shops or restaurants,
location based social community, games and services,
etc.

Venice: from the Doges to a digital city 2.0: the network

of channels and pedestrian road in the city, the Green
Port with cold ironing, and the broad-band digital
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communication as linking elements of new services
(i.e. e-commerce, tele-work, etc.) and infrastructure of
smart city with a rich history and a mass tourism. Most
towns where built over a river or near a port, some have
a web of water channel (i.e. Amsterdam, New York,
Zhouzhuang, etc.); many are rediscovering the role of
water links not only for tourism and landscape, but also
for transport and heating or cooling (heat pumps). Clean
and grey water infrastructure has a growing importance
since water will be the most critical resource in the
future.

Detection and analysis of traffic flows and intelligent

management of signage, giving priority to emergency
and public transport (taking into account their demand
and delay), automatic detection of drive code violations
and road danger (such as traffic lights failures,
flooding, fog, explosions, etc.). Geo-location and
automatic alarm in case of incident, reporting accidents
to vehicles and signposts information, machine to
machine communication. Geo-referenced driving
charging by time shift, pollution, number of vehicles
passengers (pooling), integrated insurance, driving
rules enforcements, service provided (goods smart
delivery, health assistance), etc. Business Intelligence
for managing a growing amount of sensor based data
that can provide insight by multi-modal, real time
analysis.

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According to Eurostat 2009 households in urban regions tend to have higher Internet access rates than in rural ones. At
EU-27 level, 65 % of households in densely populated areas have access to the Internet, while only 51% in less populated
areas. In general, regions with big cities (e.g. Lisbon, Madrid, Barcelona, Rome, Milan, Vienna, Budapest etc.) are islands
in the surrounding regions owing to higher levels of Internet access.

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Developing human resources and

social capital: Smart People

Incubators linked to universities, chambers of

commerce, analysts and consulting companies,
professional services, etc.
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Tailor services for the citizen, including emphasis on

education and training leveraging on-line tools and
crow sourcing.

Lifelong learning systems and computer assisted

permanent education, e-books loan, support forums
and expert advice in collaboration with the third sector,
information on trends in employment opportunities
and meeting for facilitation in re-skilling, incentives
for employment and development of the labor market
linked to SME and new technologies, micro-credit for
entrepreneurship.

Modular decentralized offices (virtual satellite offices)

with broadband access, equipped to support tele-work
and able to provide ancillary services (e.g. secretary,
regular mail, canteen or kitchen area) plus opportunities
for socialization and training.

Tele-medicine services, management of fire, flooding and

anti-theft alarms (integrated with home automation),
mobility assistance and prevention of social isolation
for elderly, disabled and chronical illnesses.

Cloud computing from decentralized Green Data Centers

where smart power management, optimized HVAC and
dynamic power grow (containerized Data Centers) can
be leveraged.

Discussion groups, social networking and collaborative

design (e.g. Ning, Kublai, LinkedIn, Xing, Architizer,
Sermo, BootB, Skypso, etc.) for entrepreneurs.
Incubators for start-up in collaboration with
universities, venture capitalists, business angels,
research institutions, etc.

Logistics systems of neighborhood for withdrawal order

online (often associated with preference for biological
and local goods) and lowered packaging impact.

Location based proximity services (plus affinities and

profile) to provide advertisement, digital signage,
tourist information, social networking, etc.
Eco-tourism services, virtual museums, augmented
reality, digital art and new media co-creation and
enjoyment, custom guides, live assisted translation
and cultural mediation, exploration games.

Economics 2.0: Smart Economy for

competiveness
Complementary marketplace for jobs in not for profit
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organizations (volunteermatch.org, socialidarity.it, etc),
km0 and Fair-trade products, farmers markets, bank
of time, cooperative buying groups (or investment or
production), micro-credit and social lending (e.g. ZOPA,
Prestiamoci.it, Jak bank, Terzovalore.com, etc.), crowd
based fund raising, cash converters / swap shops,
neighborhood e-auctions & bartering sites.
Internet based temporary aggregation of services;
partners and customers for creative solutions are
achievable by Web 2.0 in SaaS mode (e.g. ZOOPPA,
Zoes).
Co-working building (like the Hub) with reservation
of space and equipment rental, professional services
provided in tele-work arrangements, support of
nomadic computing workers.

Quality and Sustainability of living

WebGIS systems for smart urban development
planning, simulation and analysis, with services and
balanced flow analysis of needs and risks (flood,
earthquake, etc.), in order to manage densification
and achieve a sustainable social, environmental and
generational mix. modern
Software for CAD including energy dynamic flow
and optimization, acoustic verification, certification
and efficiency and sustainability adjustment (LEED,
BREEM, ITHACA, etc.), security and building core-level
planning, investment return rate estimator tools.
Thankless water heaters, solar water heaters,
geothermal heating systems, cool-roofs, rooftop
photovoltaic, residential wind systems, home energy
monitoring systems & home automation, smart
domestic appliances.
Integrated solutions for remote management, remote
heating and cooling co/tri-generation and renewable
energy integration, accounting for drinking water
usage, groundwater management, charging by volume
and categories of the waste collection with effective
incentives to minimize packaging, increase reuse and
recycle, energy (heat or bio-gas) extraction.
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Co-housing and co-working , micro-nurseries.

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Infrastructure for fixed and mobile broadband, smart

grid for the integration of renewable distributed
generation and accumulation (e.g. BetterPlace) as a
step towards the Internet of Things.

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For example the following web sites helps in matching volunteers and not for profit organizations in U.S.A. http://www.volunteermatch.org/
and Italy http://www.socialidarity.it
Co-housing is a type of collaborative housing in which residents actively participate in the design and operation of their own neighborhoods
and have access to extensive common facilities (i.e. open space, courtyards, a playground and a room with industrial based, high efficiency
washing machines, etc.). Examples of cohousing are: Swans Market - Oakland CA, Eastern village - Washington DC, Older womens CoHo London U.K., Sanpolino Brescia Italy.
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Co-working is a community of professionals, usually with workplace flexibility, that share a common physical workspace, values and relations
or services while having independent activities. Co-workers often have in common a nomadic work style, attention to sustainability and use
of social networking and web services. Two examples are the network The Hub a places for people who change things in 12 cities of 4
continents and the network Cowo.
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Ecosystem: Sustainable
Environment, renewable energy
and other resources

E-democracy, e-Government 2.0,

Smart Government
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Smart traffic control systems to prioritize the traffic

mobility by category and needs (e.g. quick, pleasant,
and effective public and emergency transportation,
pedestrian and cycle safety, increased autonomy of the
disabled, reduced traffic contribution to air and noise
pollution, prevented traffic jams).
Charging the private traffic according to the
environmental impact and infrastructure use (pollution,
occupation of public property, and time zone, etc.).
Tele-heating combined with cogeneration and heat
pumps to reduce pollution, effective management and
continuous monitoring of water and sewer to promote
water conservation. Efficient lighting (in particular solid
state lighting and stabilization and dimmering for street
lighting and indoor).
Integrated administration and control of the supply
chain to identify and prioritize local (km 0, farmer
markets) products or fair trade ones, adopt green
procurement policies, reduce packaging and waste and
increase the percentage of recycling/reuse.
Tracking of the production and labeling (RFID, QR-Code)
of the products to promote the awareness of:
o Sustainability ethic (prevention of child labor and
respect for trade union rules, etc.)
o Environmental
sustainability
(total
hazardous or non-renewable, LCA, etc.)
o Health safety (carcinogenic
components, fat content, etc.).

or

CO2,

allergenic

Transparent systems for monitoring and forecasting of

the quality of air and water, noise and electromagnetic
pollution, with internet based open reporting and
citizens feedback to identify potential leakage in the
measurement system.

Green and fair-trade public procurement, LCA based

assessment of the supply chain. Local sourcing
incentives and fair trade for imported goods. Integrated,
accessible, vertical portals that help to shift from narrow
opportunistic behaviors to a long term sustainable
vision and transparency.
Collaborative discussion groups (such as Ning, RCM:
PartecipaMI, straight lines, E21-OpenDCN: citymap,
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barcamp, citycamp , Online Jam, etc.). Tools for
e-democracy and direct communication with public
institutions, cultural sector and the third sector, online
surveys & widely communicated results.
Information sharing platforms based on cloud
computing, common standards and automated
workflow for solving cross-cutting issues and lower
bureaucracy delay and transaction cost among city
districts and agency boundaries. Systems of direct
and secure access by internet to local information and
public services. De-materialization of bureaucracy by
privacy and legal validity of e-documents, automated
workflow and business intelligence.
Social media and crowd sourcing for more frequent
involvement of all stakeholders in tactical planning and
feedback on strategy. Internet saloons (training open
spaces to combat digital divide of elder people).

Ecosystem of caregivers working together, resulting in

full, integrated electronic medical record about each
patient for emergency, and increase the quality of
care. Central smart reservation medical services with
unique, automatic compatible donors, beds, analytical
instruments and specialists, all while reducing costs.
Emergency management and coordination of sanitary
forces, epidemiology (better detect, track, prepare for
and stay ahead of disease outbreaks also by Internet
analytics).

Connected green spaces/parks and wildlife corridors,

Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems and smart
irrigation systems to prevent flooding and contamination
of ground-water. Vertical farm, green roofs.

Improve city safety by reducing crime and emergency

response time. Estimation and risk prevention systems
alerting based on the location, occupation and exposure
to risk (e.g. sensitivity to pollution, extreme summer
heating).

Smart grid optimization of distributed generation from

renewable sources and peak load management, energy
trading benefits extended to end users (integration
with home automation)

Social gaming (like criticalcity.org), portals and

collective involvement on good practice (e.g.
StoptheFever.org, ClimateChange, GenerazioneClima),
adventure-based learning, urban gardens.

Smart wireless sensor for pollution, noise, traffic and

other environmental data, up to MEMS

Tools to help matching between unemployed workers

and working opportunities with focused retraining
support and mentoring.

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CityCamp is a FREE unconference, a barcamp focused on innovation for municipal

governments and community organizations. Content for CityCamp is not programmed
for a passive audience. Participants are expected to play active roles in sessions. This
provides an excellent format for creative, open exchange geared toward action. The
first CityCamp was held January 23-24, 2010 in Chicago, IL.

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Next Step for this research

The next steps of this research will be the collection of
detailed descriptions of several emblematic best practices
of smart city (e.g. Freiburg, Stockholm, Curitiba, Masdar,
Songdo, Melbourne, Amsterdam, Boulder, etc.), innovative
towns and eco-districts. Those examples allow to proof the
feasibility of smart cities, where ICT and innovation are the
enabling components of the new paradigm of sustainable,
ICT empowered city, on multiple dimensions: economical,
environmental, social and cultural.

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Additionally, many European and Global Organizations

and Companies, with a specific, but not exclusive, focus
on ICT ones (e.g. IBM, CISCO, ACCENTURE, etc.), that drive
the Smart City revolution, have already proposed very
interesting models but that till now they are available only
on separate documents.
There are also some technologies and vertical solutions,
such as in building, transportation and energy
management or e-government that are strongly involved in
the transformation of a town in a smart city, with ICT that
is often a winning additional tool to find new, cheaper and
smarter solution to old and rising problems.
Finally a stakeholder map will be provided to identify most
of the actors involved in a smart city.
The final scope of this broad research is that of taking the
best of each point of view, indentify low hanging fruits
and long term strategies, in order to support a general
framework, that is still flexible enough to be applied to
specific needs and scenarios. Still a document, even
rich of recent content, as I attempted to write, cannot be
exhaustive on this topic, for this reason Im inviting you to
participate to the World Smart City Forum, to discuss both
in person and by internet based virtual collaboration tools,
the future of the network of smart cities, the true laboratory
of our future.

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References

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Accenture - 2009 - The Accenture Intelligent City Network, Accenture

Andrea Caragliu, Chiara Del Bo, Peter Nijkamp - 2009 - Smart cities in Europe - University Amsterdam, Faculty of Economics,
Business Administration and Econometrics.
Connected Urban Development - 2009 - Climate Changes: Cities in Action - CUD-Metropolis-CISCO
Daniel Castro - 2009 - Whats Next for Open Government? - The Informatition Technology & Innovatition Foundatition
David Owen - 2009 - Green Metropolis - Riverhead Books
Eurocities - 2010 - Eurocities in 2009: annual report
Eurocities - 2009 - EUROCITIES Response to European Commission Survey on ICT4EE - www.eurocities.eu
European Communities - 2010 - Eurostat regional yearbook 2009 -

epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/publications/regional_

yearbook

Grald Santucci - 2009 - Smart networks, objects, buildings and people: Empowering the Internet for Smarter Cities
Gerry Mooney - 2010 - Smarter Transportation - IBM Smarter Cities Virtual Forum
Giorgio Andreoli, Carlo Medaglia - 2010 - Planning for a Smart Society - EBR
IBM - 2010 - SmarterCities: Learning from Leaders - The SmarterCities Leadership Series
IBM Institute for Business Value - 2010 - A vision of smarter cities - How cities can lead the way into a prosperous and sustainable
future
IBM Institute for Business Value - 2009 - Intelligent transport - How cities can improve mobility
ICT4EE - 2010 - ICT for Energy Efficiency - Report on the session Smart Sustainable Cities
Joel Kotkin - 2010 - The Worlds Smartest Cities - www.Forbes.com/smartcities
Monique Meche - 2009 - ICT: Enabling the Sustainable City and Community - CISCO
Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Stanley S. Litow - 2009 - Informed and Interconnected: A Manifesto for Smarter Cities - Harvard Business
School (working paper)
United Nations - 2010 - 2009 Revision of World Urbanization Prospects (+ on-line DB) - www.un.org/esa/population/unpop.htm
Vienna Univ. of Technology, Delft Univ. of Technology, Univ. of Ljubljana - 2008 - Smart cities Ranking of European mediumsized cities - www.smart-cities.eu

Web Site
Covenant of Mayors - www.eumayors.eu
Environment Directorate-General of the European Commission- European Green Capital - www.europeangreencapital.eu
IBM Smarter Planet: Smarter Cities - www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/us/en/sustainable_cities/ideas/
ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability - www.iclei.org
Port of Venice - www.port.venice.it/en
UN Global Compact - www.unglobalcompact.org

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The Innovation Knowledge Foundation