1 August 2016: The UN and partners have developed and launched programmes and initiatives to make cities smarter and more sustainable, including the United for Smart Sustainable Cities Initiative (U4SSC) and a pilot project to monitor urban-environment related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) launched a guide to promote smart city management. These actions aim to contribute to SDG 11 (Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable).
The U4SSC, which promotes the use of information and communications technology (ICT) to facilitate and ease transitions to smart sustainable cities, held its first meeting from 21-22 July 2016, in Geneva, Switzerland, organized by the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). Participants developed terms of reference to guide U4SSC’s activities, and appointed experts to lead the Initiative’s three Working Groups. The ‘Setting the Framework’ Group will develop an e-governance platform to guide urban planners’ efforts to achieve SDG 11, and will collect and analyze data on the impacts of smart-city projects. ‘Connecting Cities and Communities’ will analyze lessons from the implementation of smart living, mobility and protection of the environment in cities around the world, to inform guidelines and recommendations on transitioning to smart cities and communities. The ‘Enhancing Innovation and Participation’ Working Group will explore how ICT can improve public services by leveraging open data and inclusive smart governance models.
A number of UN entities support the Initiative, including the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT), the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), UN Women, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and the UN University’s Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS).
The City Prosperity Initiative – Metropolitan Cities (CPI-MC) and the Greener Cities Partnership (GCP) launched an International Pilot Programme in Qazvin, Iran, to monitor SDGs related to the urban environment, including 20 SDG indicators, and will support the creation of baseline data. The Programme is also expected to develop a set of indicators relevant to local challenges faced by cities, such as climate change, water scarcity, waste management and decay of green historic and public sites. Qazvin is the first city to use the CPI to monitor urban-environment SDGs indicators. UN-HABITAT and the International City Leaders (ICL) initiated the pilot project.
The IDB Guide shares knowledge on how cities can put people at the center of development, implement ICT in urban management and create collaborative, efficient governments. The Guide, titled ‘The Road Towards Smart Cities: Migrating from Traditional City Management to the Smart City,’ showcases solutions from over 50 cities around the world for addressing challenges such as citizen mobility, security, natural disaster management, connectivity, participation, and integrated operation and control centers. The Guide proposes a roadmap for how other cities can adopt the solutions, and provides examples for Buenos Aires, Argentina; Bogota and Medellin, Colombia; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Chihuahua, Mexico; and Nassau, Bahamas. [UNECE Press Release] [UN-HABITAT Press Release] [IDB Press Release]