Why ‘Smart’ Cities?

 

You know that more than 3/4 of the EU population live in urban areas? And this figure is expected to rise to almost 85% by 2050.

Being the urban areas with the highest concentration of population, they are also those which consume the largest volumes of energy and, consequently, have the highest levels of greenhouse gas emissions.
For this reason, the EU is focusing its efforts on raising awareness among city administrations and the population on the good use of energy.

This is why the European Commission places smart cities at the forefront of its efforts to meet the goals of the European Green Deal and make Europe climate neutral by 2050.

 

What is a ‘Smart City’?

A smart city is a city that integrates physical, digital and human systems into traditional networks and services to make the best use of energy resources and reduce emissions for the benefit of citizens and businesses.

“Smart city” does not just mean a city that uses digital technologies: it also includes more energy efficient buildings, integrated renewable energy sources, sustainable heating and cooling systems, smarter urban transport networks, improved water supply and better waste disposal facilities to address the economic, social and environmental challenges of the city.

Of course, long-term plans are needed to achieve meaningful results and given that the ongoing climate change and global energy challenges are not waiting for our solutions, the EU will invest heavily in the coming years for political and citizen involvement in making smart cities.

 

EU energy policy initiatives and cities

There are many initiatives launched. There is the Smart Cities Marketplace, a platform where cities can exchange information (with great savings in experimentation, study and costs …). This year the Commission has selected 100 European model cities in Europe. There are also funds available, meetings, debates and many initiatives that can enjoy the support of the European Commission.

Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy

The Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy was launched by the European Commission in 2008 and has since brought together local and regional authorities who voluntarily commit to implementing the EU’s climate and energy objectives on their territory.

At present, the community includes over 11 000 signatories that are linked to the EU’s climate and energy policy framework. Covenant signatories commit to adopting an integrated approach to climate change mitigation and adaptation. They are also required to develop a sustainable energy and climate action plan with the aim of cutting CO2 emissions by at least 40% by 2030 and increasing resilience to climate change. Energy poverty is another key pillar of this initiative. Furthermore, in May 2022, the Covenant launched the Cities Energy Savings Sprint Covenant to accelerate energy savings under the REPowerEU plan.

The Covenant has brought together numerous cities around the world, leading the European Commission to establish the Global Covenant of Mayors in 2016 together with the ex-Mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg.

 

Smart Cities Marketplace

The Smart Cities Marketplace was launched as the Marketplace of the European Innovation Partnership on Smart Cities and Communities in 2012, and ever since it aims to improve citizens’ quality of life, increase the competitiveness of EU cities and companies and help reaching the EU energy and climate targets.

This initiative provides information about the roll-out of sustainable smart city solutions using its integrated “Explore-Shape-Deal” process, which enables exchanges between project promoters and members of the financing community by collecting and shaping smart cities knowledge into bankable projects. To effectively fuel the matchmaking process, the platform brings together cities, industries, SMEs, investors, banks, researchers and other actors in areas such as sustainable urban mobility, districts and built environment, citizen focus and integrated infrastructures and processes in energy, information and communication technologies and transport.

The Smart Cities Marketplace also collaborates closely with other EU initiatives to serve as a hub for pivotal practical knowledge, capacity building support and facilitation of finance across the mentioned sectors. Since 2018, this initiative has been able to match approximately 130 projects with a value of more than €600 million in investments.

 

Scalable Cities

The Smart Cities Marketplace hosts the group of 120 Scalable Cities, which are involved in 18 Smart Cities and Communities Lighthouse projects, funded by Horizon 2020 with around €345 million. The Scalable Cities are divided into 48 Lighthouse cities and 72 Fellow cities. Lighthouse cities pilot and deploy the most advanced and innovative solutions, while Fellow cities follow the lead of Lighthouse cities, engaging in replication of already deployed solutions.

The cities represented by Scalable Cities, most of which are also signatories of the Covenant of Mayors on Climate and Energy, have showed significant results, saving so far over 15 GWh of energy and 3 000 tCO2.

 

Horizon Europe Mission on Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities

Launched in September 2020, the proposed “100 climate-neutral cities by 2030” mission seeks to promote system innovation across the value chain of city investment, targeting multiple sectors such as governance, transport, energy, construction and recycling. With the support of digital technologies, this mission aims to ensure that participating cities act as innovation hubs that enable all European cities to follow suit by 2050.

In the area of energy, the mission sets as starting point on the way to 2030 improvements in clean and sustainable urban mobility, near-zero or positive energy buildings and green energy production.

After the assessment of registrations for a call of expression of interest, the Commission announced in April 2022 the selected 100 participant cities. These cities are from all 27 EU countries, with 12 additional cities from countries associated or in the process of being associated to Horizon Europe. 94 of them are signatories under the Covenant of Mayors on Climate and Energy.

Read more detail and enter in the EU provisions on EU Smart Cities..

Source: eEuropa.com, European Commission