We must do more. Tech can help.

Making our cities smarter and more sustainable is no longer a choice: it is a necessity.

The international community agreed that more needed to be done to secure our cities’ future when they ratified the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs.

SDG 11 – Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable – sets out a global benchmark for achieving this future.

Technologies such as smart grids, the Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence have a large role to play in the transformation towards sustainable and resilient societies. They present a unique opportunity to drive innovation, low-carbon green growth – and critically, improve lives.

     The right infrastructure is key.

But we cannot capitalize on the opportunities presented by new technologies unless the right telecommunication infrastructure is in place. To support these ICT-based applications and services, we need to ensure that our networks are resilient, secure, reliable and interoperable. We need standards that support sustainable urban development, and 5G networks that can deliver the backhaul necessary to process a high volume of data with minimal delay.

      A ‘whole of system’ approach

Creating a more sustainable future means transforming cities towards a healthier, more sustainable model. This will require a ‘whole of system’ approach; extensive collaboration between governments, municipalities, private companies, international institutions, universities and civil society.

ITU is well positioned to support the achievement of sustainable urban development though our membership – 193 Member States and over 900 private sector companies, universities and international and regional organizations – and our global mandate to ‘connect the world’.

Together with these key stakeholders, ITU is working to improve the reliability, security and interoperability of the technology infrastructure needed for sustainable urban development, and is advocating the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to reduce energy consumption, and ultimately enhance the quality of life for city dwellers.

      Smart Sustainable Cities

Smart cities will contribute to reduced energy costs and emissions through more efficient buildings, electricity grids, streetlights, transportation systems, and energy and water networks.

                                  
                                                      
                                          Mr. Andrew Rugege, Regional Director for Africa, ITU is presenting the "Addis Ababa Declaration" at the
                                                                     14th Global Forum on Human Settlements    photo credit by @ GFHS

     But what is a smart city?

According to ITU and the UNECE, “a smart sustainable city is an innovative city that uses ICTs to improve quality of life, the efficiency of urban operations and services and competitiveness, while ensuring that it meets the needs of present and future generations with respect to economic, social, environmental and cultural aspects.”

Technology can help cities and urban planning managers to enhance energy efficiency and waste management, improve housing and health care, optimize traffic flow and safety, detect air quality, alert police of crimes occurring on the streets and improve water and sanitation systems. In essence, technology can ease the pressure on already stretched infrastructure.

Many cities are already implementing technology-enabled solutions to build smart sustainable cities:

·    In Singapore, sensors and cameras build on the city state´s existing digital system and enable the government to assess the performance and efficiency of traffic flow and identify problems such as potholes.

·    Copenhagen, Denmark, has upgraded its streetlights with efficient lamps connected by a wireless network. They can be programmed to dim or brighten automatically, optimizing the use of energy while lowering the risk of crime and traffic accidents.

·    São Paulo, Brazil, has developed a solution to estimate and predict air quality using AI and Big Data analytics. Aggregated, anonymized data is leveraged from the mobile network and layered with data from weather, traffic and pollution sensors. This helps calculate pollution levels 24 to 48 hours in advance, meaning that policy-makers and municipalities can take action to prevent death and disease—for example, by redirecting traffic before air pollution hotspots strike.

·    Holon municipality in Israel, installed devices equipped with sensors to better manage its sewer systems and send alerts via short message service (SMS) when the level reaches low or high limits to prevent blockages and overflows.

·    In Kolkata, India, a social enterprise is using geographic information systems to map unplanned settlements, providing addresses and vital services for the inhabitants.

These examples show how technology can be harnessed to support smart city goals. But each city is unique and must take their own priorities and the needs of their citizens into consideration, while ensuring that no one is left behind.

The United for Smart Sustainable Cities (U4SSC) is an initiative coordinated by ITU, UNECE and UN-Habitat, supported by 14 other UN bodies, to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. Working together with our partner agencies, we have developed a set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to help cities to set goals, collect data and measure progress in five major areas: the use of ICTs; physical infrastructure; social inclusion and equity of access to services; quality of life; and environmental sustainability.

                                                                   

Using these indicators, city planners can assess how technology has improved economic, environmental and social aspects of their cities, according to the parameters set out by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and further actions to be taken.

The U4SSC is in the process of implementing pilot projects in over 100 cities worldwide to evaluate their efficiency and sustainability using the KPIs. Some of the cities include Montevideo, Uruguay; Pully, Switzerland; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; and Bizerte, Tunisia.

      Smart villages

But when we talk about building smart communities, we shouldn’t forget our towns and villages. Cities are seen as places of economic growth and opportunity, with access to better schools and more reliable infrastructure. By addressing the rural-urban divide, we can turn this digital revolution into a development revolution – and bring better productivity, education, healthcare and financial inclusion to the rural areas as well as the opportunity for developing innovations online.

I recently went to see the implementation of a digital project in a small village in Thailand, which had won a prize at the 2019 World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Forum. The village was surrounded by rice fields, and most villagers made their money from farming the land. When I went to visit in late 2019, they had just been connected to broadband and they could now sell their rice online. In a short time, profits had risen 300%.

                                                                

                                Mobile Solar Kiosk   Photo credit by ©ARED Photo, Illume Photo, Rwanda.

ITU-T Study Group 20 (SG20) is working to address the standardization requirements of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, with an initial focus on IoT applications in smart cities and communities (SC&C).

It is a platform for policymakers, industry and academia to develop international standards which enable the coordinated development of IoT technologies, including machine-to-machine communications and ubiquitous sensor networks. The standardization of end-to-end architectures for IoT, and mechanisms for the interoperability of IoT applications and datasets employed by various vertically oriented industry sectors is central to this work.

SG20 is also working to develop standards that leverage IoT technologies to address urban-development challenges, such as ensuring the security of networks in urban areas. Our standards identify the requirements and functional architecture of smart streetlight services and smart parking lots, and outline how smart grids can help build more controllable and efficient energy systems.

Data processing and management needs of smart cities is also a top priority. A Focus Group is looking into this topic, proposing standardization approaches to the security, privacy and interoperability of datasets and data-management systems in the IoT and smart city domains.

But the deployment of these technologies - expected to exceed 40 billion IoT devices by 2025 - puts tremendous pressure on the radio spectrum which is managed at the global level by ITU.

So, while we need standards that support sustainable urban development, it is equally important that we have the 5G networks to deliver the backhaul necessary to process this high volume of data with minimal delay.

The key role of 5G

5G will help make smart sustainable cities a reality – and is an important facilitator towards achieving the UN SDGs. These networks will connect people, things, data, applications, transport systems and cities in smart, networked communication environments supporting applications such as smart homes and buildings, smart cities, autonomous vehicles, 3D video, remote medical services, virtual and augmented reality, and massive machine-to-machine communications for industry automation, as well as many new innovations yet to come.

The international community came together at the 2019 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-19) held in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, in November 2019, where they agreed to the additional globally harmonized (millimetre wave) frequency bands needed for 5G (known as International Mobile Telecommunications - IMT-2020 in ITU).

ITU has been working on the radio interface standards for 5G systems for some years. ITU’s Radiocommunications Study Group 5 is responsible for the overall radio system aspects and is in the process of evaluating and producing the final IMT-2020 specifications, scheduled before the end of this year.

      Final recommendations

Our cities cannot continue with ‘business as usual’. As more people try to fit into increasingly crowded spaces, city decision makers need to develop a sustainable urban process which promotes economic progress as well as environmental protection.

Urban areas hold the key to achieving many of the sustainable development goals, but they cannot be achieved without significantly transforming the way we build and manage our urban spaces.

Technology is a key enabler of urban development. Infusing technology into key processes will help to establish new applications, technologies and systems for smart energy, smart transportation, smart buildings, smart water management and smart Government.

This technology-enabled future will not only provide sustained economic growth and environmental sustainability, but it will also ensure a high quality of life for citizens everywhere.

                                                        

                                 Smart street light   Photo source: Barueri City Hall, Brazil