2 July 2015: Participants discussed the promotion of smart, sustainable cities at the Fourth Annual Global Sustainability Summit, which addressed the theme ‘Reimagining 2050-the power of sustainable infrastructure to create smart cities.’ Participants also recognized the post-2015 development agenda and the proposed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as the Habitat III Conference and the proposed New Urban Agenda, as opportunities to promote integrated approaches to sustainable development.
“A city can only be smart if it is sustainable,” said Magdy Martínez-Solimán, UN Development Programme (UNDP) Assistant Administrator, during a session on the creation of smart cities. He elaborated that such a city must meet the needs of present and future economies and societies within the constraints of planetary boundaries, and attract people and investment. Martínez-Solimán described how innovations in smart IT systems and sustainable infrastructure information networks and modern technology have solved key problems in cities around the world.
Examples of such innovations include: ‘FixMyStreet.com’ in Maldives, a way for remote Maldivians to interact with their municipal councils, which has helped bring more effective municipal services to remote atolls; planning and tracking recovery and rebuilding efforts affected by the earthquakes in Nepal; and PetaJakarta, a crowdsourcing platform for sharing information on floods and traffic jams in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The private sector can contribute to building smart cities by developing business models and technological solutions to make cities productive and sustainable, Martinez-Soliman said. He called for a “generational leap in the efficiency of energy generation and distribution, in sustainable and affordable transportation” as well as education, employment and healthcare. He emphasized that businesses will need to think beyond their office walls and factory floors and recognize their “shared stake in the dignity, prosperity and happiness of the citizens they live and work among.”
Observing that much of the growth of cities will take place in developing countries, Martinez-Soliman also highlighted ways in which UNDP is helping countries to achieve sustainable human development, and to establish platforms and processes to identify sustainable urbanization solutions to poverty, energy, transport and other challenges.
The Summit, organized by EY, brought together representatives from governments, businesses, civil society and the media to discuss how to drive transformational change that is good for society, communities, business and the economy. It convened from 1-2 July 2015, in Madrid, Spain. [UNDP Assistant Administrator Statement] [Summit Website]