Smart Cities for Sustainable Development

Throughout history, cities have been the center of economic development, technological innovation, social progression and the enhancement of human capability. While growing in numbers and sizes – more than half of the world is living in urban areas today – cities are also experiencing major challenges such as congestion, pollution, environmental degradation and widening inequality in accessing opportunities and adequate living environments. For sustainable development of cities, it is imperative to mobilize diverse perspectives and bring together various stakeholders to solve these major urban problems.

Smart cities refer to an approach to making the best use of data, technologies, and available resources to improve city planning, management, and service delivery, to engage citizens, and to enhance accountability. For smart cities, advancing cutting-edge technologies such as Digital Twin, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Big Data, and IoT (Internet of Things) is geared towards creating a civic platform for new forms of cities with sustainability and agile prosperity. That is, while innovative technologies are key enablers, promoting integration and alignment in urban planning and management is the core for successful smart cities.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) represent a common development vision of our present world. This event facilitates discussion and knowledge sharing on how smart cities can contribute to this collective effort towards enhanced global sustainability.

Week 1: Green: Smart Solutions for Greening Cities ****

This week is composed of a series of multiple presentations that covers the climate action framework, environmental studies, practices of projects and examples of solutions done around the world. The participants will have a chance to hear from various stakeholders and professionals who are invited for their renowned significant contribution to green innovation. The interesting topics introduced in this session will include innovative green technology, urban ecosystem management, policy framework on climate action, and more to the environmental perspective of smart sustainable cities.

Week 2: Smart: What Makes a City and its Citizens ‘Smart’?

What is a smart city? Discussions on smart cities often return to this fundamental question as there can be many different ways of making a city and its citizens smart. The answer may lie in what we try to achieve by using data, technology and innovation in city management and citizen engagement. This week will engage a distinguished panel of practitioners at the city, national and multi-city level and an academic, moderated by the Global Director for the World Bank’s Urban, Disaster Risk Management, Resilience and Land Global Practice. ****

Week 3: Development: Global Smart City Projects for Development ****

The World Bank’s Global Smart City Partnership Program (GSCP) in partnership with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT), Korea, has been supporting over 30 World Bank Group (WBG) project teams and their clients over the past three years, introducing smart city approaches and solutions to their policy dialogues and project designs. This week showcases selected case studies from GSCP-supported projects through ignite presentations by the WBG team leaders, illustrating demands for smart cities by developing countries and cities, unique challenges and applicable solutions.

Week 4: Vision: Future of Smart Cities ****

This week discusses future of smart cities through a series of presentations that will provide food for thought and spark lively discussions. This week will introduce emerging trends such as intelligent mobility and proactive service delivery through human-centric data system, which are geared towards better serving the needs of users and citizens. An overview of new initiatives by different cities and dynamic partnerships and collaboration formed around smart cities will demonstrate the constantly evolving nature of smart cities. This week will conclude by discussing how smart cities can contribute to a global common vision of sustainable cities.