Topic: smart-mobility

The city of Poznan is a rich and vibrant city in the west of Poland. Located on the banks of the river Warta, the city is home to over 530,000 residents and serves as the administrative capital of the Greater Poland Voivodeship. Over the years, the city has served as an important trading hub, an academic center, and a seat of power. For the 21st century, Poznan is going through another important evolution, transforming into a dynamic, future-focused smart city.

Dublin is one of Europe’s most vibrant capital cities. Situated on the mouth of the River Liffey, this Irish metropolis has a population of more than 1,300,000 citizens, and hosts some of the world’s leading technology companies and financial institutions. Like many large cities, it’s not without its fair share of challenges. However, Dublin is rising to those challenges, and has made a name as one of the most innovative and forward-thinking cities in Europe. Thanks to the Smart Dublin initiative, the city is well on its way to becoming a shining example of just how smart a smart city truly can be.

Lublin, with a population of 340 000 inhabitants, is the largest economic and academic center and also the only metropolitan macro-region in Eastern Poland. Including the Lublin Metropolitan Area, this brings together more than 608 000 residents in 21 neighboring municipalities, with a total area of 2121 km². Lublin is among the most dynamically developing of Polish cities and holds top rankings for sustainable development, for its strategy for attracting investors, for quality of life, and for the level of its investment in infrastructure.

Bologna, the seventh-largest city in Italy and capital of the Emilia-Romagna region, was recently named as one of the top three smart cities in the country. The city was praised for its decisions and actions to "bring together the quality of the environment, welfare policies and territorial innovation in an overall balance." This smart city portrait provides a summary of Bologna's strategy and vision of a citizen-centric collaborative future.

This city portrait is in two parts. The first part (Alba Iulia Smart City: How Central Romania Quietly Created a Hidden Champion in Europe) described the ambitious plans of the Alba Iulia City Hall as it uses tourism and strong partnerships with private companies to transform Alba Iulia into Romania’s first smart city. This second part takes a closer look at some of the smart solutions being implemented there.

A comparatively small American city in the very center of Silicon Valley, Palo Alto has thrown itself into the smart city scene, founding a number of tech-driven projects to solve the problems of its 67,000 citizens. The first challenge to overcome, however, is its size: Palo Alto will need to pioneer smart resource management in order to fund the deployment of its smart city initiatives and the larger-scale implementation of any successful solutions.

This city portrait is in two parts. This first part describes the ambitious plans of the Alba Iulia City Hall as it uses tourism and strong partnerships to transform Alba Iulia into Romania’s first smart city. The second part takes a closer look at some of the more than 100 smart city solutions being implemented there.

This city portrait is in two parts. The first part, Seoul Smart City: The Power of Citizen Participation, described the reorganization of the Seoul Municipal Government in order to empower citizens and create a stronger climate of citizen participation at all possible administrative levels. The second part takes a closer look at some of the specific smart solutions being implemented by the city.

Prague, the capital city of the Czech Republic, has been known during its renowned history as a magnet of commercial, cultural, scientific and political activity. This thriving city, also known as the City of a Hundred Spires, is home to more than 1.2 million people and generates an estimated 25 per cent of the Czech Republic's GDP. With its enchanting architecture, visual charms and historic landmarks, Prague is listed as a Unesco World Heritage Site.

If we could travel back in time to visit Prague in the 14th century, we would see builders constructing the Charles Bridge across the Vltava River to connect the city's Staré Město (Old Town) with Malá Strana (Lesser Town). Fast forward to the 21st century and we observe Prague striving to build a new type of bridge. As this article reveals, it is a bridge of urban transformation connecting today's city to a smart city future.

Antwerp: The European ‘Capital of Things’

Antwerp is the economic hub of Belgium; as the Mayor of Antwerp, Bart de Wever, is fond of saying, “Antwerp is the city where the money is earned, Brussels is the city where the money is spent”^[1]. This is understandable: Antwerp is the second largest port in Europe, and the 5th largest worldwide. It therefore plays an important economic role not just in Europe but on an international scale, and this is without even mentioning its status as the global diamond trade hub. With 550,000 inhabitants who span around 174 nationalities, Antwerp is also a small but incredibly diverse city. Its slogan ‘Atypical Antwerp’ seems fitting for an economically thriving city where architectural remnants of Flemish history and culture co-exist alongside a vibrant immigrant population, and an increasing number of innovative smart city initiatives. In many ways, the economically secure yet creative Antwerp is the perfect breeding ground for smart city development, as we will explore in this article.