Research pick: Improving European smart cities - "Smart city in Europe: comparative analysis between Italy and Germany development"

The rush to urbanisation is inevitably characterised by more and more city dwellers. As population densities increase old infrastructure becomes less effective, less efficient. Air and water quality are compromised, public waste management is over-burdened, and the cities become decreasingly dependent on non-renewable energies and unsustainable systems. There is little time, capacity or resources available to ensure the growth takes into account environmental factors and addresses the issue of quality of life for those city dwellers.

The notion of a smart city might sound quite futuristic but there is an urgency now to face the problems of urbanisation with smart tools and systems rather than clinging to archaic ways. Smart cities could ultimately help us reduce road traffic congestion through improved public transport systems while the digitalisation of many public services would improve management of resources and waste in ways that have not been possible before.

Research published in the International Journal of Environmental Policy and Decision Making has assessed the state-of-art definitions of the so-called smart city and offers a critical reflection of this paradigm for urban growth. Gabriella Arcese and colleagues at the Università degli Studi Niccolò Cusano in Rome, Italy, have analysed smart city best practices in pioneering cities in Italy (Bologna, Florence, Milan) and Germany (Hamburg, Karlsruhe, Leipzig) that have core dimensions of technology, community, and policy.

The team has identified the advances various smart city efforts have made as well as their shortcomings so far.

“Sustainable and safe neighbourhoods, building safety, co-working, waste management; health and welfare, through the optimisation of processes and business intelligence, e-care, e-health; education and technical education, through the development of smart city projects should be included in the development model,” they suggest.

Arcese, G., Schabel, L., Elmo, G.C. and Risso, M. (2019) ‘Smart city in Europe: comparative analysis between Italy and Germany development’, Int. J. Environmental Policy and Decision Making, Vol. 2, No. 4, pp.330–359.