Case Studies

In 2016, the UNDP Albania and the municipality of Tirana joined forces to collaborate on a project to improve the quality of life of children with special needs and disabilities: the #Crowdfunding4Children campaign, the first one of its kind in the country (crowdfunding is an alternative financing scheme based on raising financial contributions from a large number of volunteers).

The city of Cixi, in the Chinese province of Zhejiang, is home to a 200 MW solar-aquaculture project. Spreading across 300 hectares, this is the largest solar power plant installed on top of a fish farm in the country.

The Finnish 6City Strategy focuses on achieving a sustainable urban development, and it is carried out by the six largest cities in Finland: Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Tampere, Turku, and Oulu. The strategy is part of the implementation of Finland’s Structural Fund Programme for Sustainable Growth and Jobs 2014–2020.

As part of the Renew Atlanta infrastructure improvement programme, the City of Atlanta has deployed technology developed by the company Applied Information to connect traffic signals, emergency vehicles and school zone safety flashers to the Internet of Things.

Autolib’ is the first full electric and open-access public car sharing service in the city of Paris, inaugurated in 2011 and operated by the Bolloré Group. The concept was developed to complement the city’s bicycle sharing system, Velib’, and further improve sustainable urban mobility solutions.

Bandung Command Centre is the city’s flagship project for achieving its smart city vision. It was launched in January 2015 and consists of a digital monitoring facility that collects street-level data in a variety of sectors (traffic monitoring and accidents, safety issues and emergency response, floods and natural disasters, and crime), with the intent of improving the city’s management and governance.

Better Reykjavík is an online consultation forum where the citizens of Reykjavík can share their ideas, opinions, and solutions to issues related to local and public services.

Big Smart Istanbul is the project of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) and ISBAK to conceptualize and implement their smart city vision. Started in May 2016, the project will start the implementation phase of the roadmap in 2018 within a five-year timeline, but some projects were already launched.

The island of Ameland has a series of ambitious sustainability goals for 2020. As part of the Sustainable Ameland Agreement, the municipality, Philips Lighting, GasTerra, and NAM are committed to working together and trialling innovations in the field of sustainable energy on the island.

The City of Fremantle has received more than $8 million for a trial project that focuses on using Blockchain to power renewable solar energy and water systems. Part of the funding ($2.57 million) comes from the Australian Government’s Smart Cities and Suburbs Programme, while the rest is private funding coming from several of the project partners.

Blue Gate Antwerp is being developed to be a water-linked eco-effective industrial business park, with the aim of generating around 1,500 to 2,000 jobs in the initial phase. While sustainability is the key word in the Blue Gate Antwerp project, eco-effectiveness is the guiding principle. That means closing cycles: no waste and maximum reuse of water, materials and energy.

Seattle is a port city in the state of Washington, USA. It is the most populous and most densely populated city in that state, with a population of approximately 650.000 people. Seattle is frequently referred as one of the smartest cities in the country. It is very well ranked in the smart economy and smart government domains.

The Celsius project was created to achieve the vision of an intelligent, competitive and liveable city, which is also resource-efficient with smart heating and cooling. The project received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration.

Bogotá is the capital of Colombia and has a population of about 7.5 million people. The city economy is developed and diversified. Its commercial and business activities are increasing significantly. The main financial and banking centres of Colombia are located in Bogotá.

Circular Amsterdam is a circular innovation programme that presents a framework of innovation processes in the City of Amsterdam. The goal of this program is to increase knowledge in circular economy and experience the transition from a linear to a circular economy. The whole process is supported by the City Council in terms of control and policy.

City Lab Coventry is a living lab (member of the European Network of Living Labs – ENoLL) that resulted from the joint venture between Coventry University and Coventry City Council.

The city of Guadalajara, the capital city of the State of Jalisco, is home to approximately 40% of the information and communication technologies (ICT) industry of Mexico, as a result of pioneering and long term industrial, scientific and technological policies that began in the 1970s.

The construction of the bus information system was initiated with the establishment of Seoul city’s intelligent transport system (ITS) in 2000.

In 2011, the Ministry of Environment (MINAM) and the Ministry of Education (MINEDU) of Peru carried out the Project Ecolegios Sustainable Architecture, to assess the relation between academic performance and room temperature in Peruvian schools countrywide. The study concluded that ideal results are reached at 23 ºC.

From 2015 to 2016, the city of Blacktown, Australia, piloted a project related with green and cool streets. The project was very simple: to tackle the climate change effects and the impact of rapid urbanisation, planting trees in the streets helps to reduce carbon emissions, cool the air temperature and lower energy costs.