Case Studies ( S )

The Smart City Challenge was launched by the U. S. Department of Transportation to all mid-population cities, focusing on the issues of future urban transportation (shared, connected, autonomous vehicles), aiming to obtain solutions to address upcoming challenges in a sustainable manner.

In 2013, Silicon Valley Power, the municipal power company of Santa Clara, installed about 600 transmitters all over the city to offer free Wi-Fi to its residents and visitors. This project is part of the smart power meter implementation programme (SVP MeterConnect).

The Santalaia Building in Bogotá is an eleven-storey residential building that has greenery covering its entire façade: the largest vertical garden in the world. The project was a collaboration of the companies Paisajismo Urbano and Groncol, and it was completed in 2015.

The city of Santander is on the road towards becoming a smart city, and one of its most important developments in this field was the implementation of the smart waste management system.

The Sharing Cities “lighthouse” programme was launched in 2016 and it will be developed over the course of 60 months. Sharing Cities received over €24 million from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. Its approach is focused on international cooperation between cities as a means to build smart cities together, scaling up common solutions to shared problems.

Smart Agriculture is increasingly becoming an essential element to face climate change and achieve sustainability of natural resources. Therefore, more and more companies have been deploying technological solutions to address specific agricultural issues.

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County installed 401 Big Belly Bins for smart waste management. All containers are equipped with a solar power compactor (a solar panel powering a 12V battery that powers an internal waste compactor) and Wi-Fi to send a notification to the waste collection service providers when the waste sensors detect they are full.

The 150,000 m2 Lilacs International Commerce Centre, located in Shanghai, has an integrated total building management system from Siemens. The central command centre is equipped with full analytics and reporting functions, covering every aspect of the building’s performance: building automation, fire safety and security, lighting, and power distribution.

Chicago has a civic organisation devoted to improving lives in the city through technology, called Smart Chicago Collaborative.

The city of Bloemfontein, in South Africa, is improving its streetlight infrastructure by installing smart LED lights. Started in 2016, this 3-year project will upgrade 18,000 lamp posts from Echelon Corporation, which will then be installed by MAT Co., Ltd.

The Smart Commute project began as an initiative from the local municipalities and regions of the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Areas, developed from May 2004 to March 2007.

The city of Nottingham received £5 million of the European Union Horizon 2020 Research Funding Programme in 2015 as one of 5 lighthouse cities for the Remourban project, with the aim of addressing significant sustainability issues related to transport, energy, and ICT. And Nottingham has been very creative in achieving its targets.

Because the number of citizens living in apartment buildings is increasing each year, the City of Sydney piloted the Smart Green Apartments Programme with 30 buildings between 2011 and 2013, to asses how they can contribute to the Sustainable Sydney 2030 vision. The programme will continue its development during ten years with 20 multi-apartment buildings taking part per year.

Helsinki is one of the cities that is part of the 6City Strategy of Finland (along with the five other largest Finnish cities: Espoo, Vantaa, Tampere, Turku, and Oulu), which focuses on achieving a sustainable urban development based on each city's needs and strengths, finding ways to collaborate in more concrete terms.

Started in 2010, Smart MELIT (acronym for Smart Mobility and Energy Life In Toyota) is Toyota City’s low carbon society verification project that aims to reduce carbon emissions and promote a healthy environment for people and vehicles to coexist. Energy use is reduced in residential, commercial and public buildings, and sustainable urban transportation is facilitated.

Tampere is one of the cities that is part of the 6City Strategy of Finland (along with the five other largest Finnish cities: Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Turku, and Oulu), which focuses on achieving a sustainable urban development based on each city's needs and strengths, finding ways to collaborate in more concrete terms.

Singapore aims to become a Smart Nation, based on digital technology that improves the quality of life of its inhabitants, addressing a wide range of societal challenges. “Smart Nation is about creating new opportunities in a digital age, and transforming the way people live, work and play, so that Singapore remains an outstanding global city.”

Parking a car is becoming increasingly difficult in city centres all over the world. In the city of Montpellier, a solution developed with Libelium’s “Connected Parking” technology has been implemented by Montpellier Mediterranean Metropolis, a public entity that promotes Internet of Things projects, and the company Synox.

The city of Taipei has a Smart City Project Management Office (PMO) that is responsible for the implementation of smart solutions to address some of the city’s main problems.