WISE CITY Initiative (Hong Kong - China)

Hong Kong's population was 7,241,700 million people in 2014. The population density in 2013 was 6,650 people/km2. Hong Kong has an excellent ICT infrastructure supporting the delivery of secure e-services and the development of the local ICT industry. With the market liberalization, the infrastructure provides Internet access at an affordable price. The household broadband penetration rate is 85% and the mobile penetration rate is 231%. The average peak Internet connection speed is 63.6 Mbps and the average Internet connection speed is 10.9 Mbps. The air pollution in Hong Kong is 53%.

Hong Kong has severe waste, water, energy and air quality problems. To tackle those problems, they implemented the WISE CITY initiative, which explores the options offered by smart city technologies to integrate and optimize the usage of key resources (water, waste, transport, buildings). One key factor to achieve this goal is the collaboration between the local government, universities, businesses and other city stakeholders. The smart city process has been built through an innovative work method where multidisciplinary stakeholders collaborate to achieve breakthrough results, promoting a series of consultations and workshops that are being conducted to produce and filter new ideas.

The project combines public governance (it includes national, regional, and local city officials), people ownership and business collaboration. It has a big consortium of 13 member companies, which are involved in the definition of the smart city strategy, and many more wish to participate actively in one of the following strategic axes: Solid Waste Management; Water Supply and Waste Water Management; Mobility; Building; City Platform for Government and Citizens.

Due to the challenges faced by the city, there are some risks involved, namely the spread of infections caused by pollution, the higher influence of natural impacts, the increase in urban migration and the increasing disparities in wealth and knowledge. But these risks are largely surpassed by the many values of the initiative, like its innovative and creative character, the creation of an environmental culture and sustainability, and the collaboration in building and decision processes.