Making intelligent cities in Europe climate-neutral

Abstract

Smart urban futures are currently being tested and promoted in Europe using innovative and intelligent urban technologies at different spatial scales, in individual sectors such as energy or transport, or by using specific technological innovations. However, the great transformation, though often called for and widely advocated, is yet to come. This paper discusses the necessity of promoting integrative approaches that go beyond technology-centered solutions with the aim of opening up paths towards urban climate neutrality: Precisely because urban futures are hardly predictable due to diverse and partly still hidden influencing factors, it is important to include especially socio-cultural innovations, as well as resilient technical solutions. The considerations developed in this regard conclude with a presentation of the contributions in this TATuP special topic.

Urban Intelligence for Carbon Neutral Cities: Creating Synergy among Data, Analytics, and Climate Actions

“…Considering cities as large socio-technical systems (LSTS), implementation of CNC requires considering not just technical feasibility but also social complexities involving different parties and agendas. For example, transforming the legacy urban infrastructure into smart and carbon neutral ones faces both technical and social challenges, making such a transition not an easy and short-term process [90,91]. In general, urban intelligence needs to ensure proper implementation with socio-technical considerations, including but not limited to equity in access to technology, fairness of data-driven operation, inclusiveness of public participation, and safety involving information piracy and cyber security.…”

Implementing the Integrated Social Sustainability Assessment to Norway: A Citizen-Centric and Expert-Weighted Approach

“…In order to achieve climate neutrality in cities, a holistic approach that takes into account social, economic, and environmental factors is required [1,2]. An integrated and strategic approach that takes into account the profound interactions between land use, infrastructure, the built environment, behavior, and policy is required for cities to become more efficient and resilient to climate change [3].…”