Smart Zero Carbon City: Key Factors Towards Smart Urban Decarbonization

Abstract

Fossil fuels-based human activity over time has generated unacceptable local levels of air pollution and GHG emissions. One of main implications of this activity is Climate Change, which unforeseen consequences are already impacting at local and global scales. This research is focused on defining an effective framework to shift that trend in the local level through the implementation of the Smart Zero Carbon City concept, which brings together the emerging Smart City paradigm and the 2030/2050 EU goals with the urgent need of decarbonizing our local environments. In this case, the study applies the Smart Zero Carbon City concept and implementation method into 5 EU cities, focusing on the case of Sonderborg municipality (DK) to extract the Key Factors towards Smart Urban Decarbonization, which are applicable to other cities facing this ambitious transition. Keywords: Decarbonization, Smart Zero Carbon City, Smart Cities, Energy Transition

Cities4ZERO: Overcoming Carbon Lock-in in Municipalities through Smart Urban Transformation Processes

“…A Smart Zero Carbon City (SZCC) is a resource-efficient urban environment where carbon footprint is nearly eliminated; energy demand is kept to a minimum through the use of demand control technologies that save energy and promote raised awareness; energy supply is entirely renewable and clean; and resources are intelligently managed by aware and efficient citizens, as well as both public and private stakeholders [4]. This concept targets the main decarbonization elements from a participatory and technology-supported approach, and works as the ultimate goal to be achieved by cities on board of this transitioning process.…”

“…With this guiding concept as an overarching goal for cities, the following method was developed to enable effective action in municipalities, both in planning and implementation terms. This method builds upon the previous work of the authors on the article "Smart Zero Carbon City: Key Factors towards Smart Urban Decarbonization" [4], which is here briefly summarized, further developed and finalized, answering one of the key factors identified: "Strategic municipal processes towards Smart Urban Decarbonization in the mid-long term", asking for a strategic process able to guide the commitment of municipalities in the mitigation of GHG emissions through urban transformation processes in the mid-long term. This strategic process, Cities4ZERO, is presented in the Section 3, Results, and the method to obtain it, described in the following diagram and lines of this section (Figure 1).…”

“…Searching for the crucial elements to be addressed by cities to effectively transition towards urban decarbonization, a previous study by the authors points out a real integration of energy planning into urban planning processes as a key factor [4], suggesting the need for an innovative strategic municipal approach capable of integrating diverse disciplines and stakeholders, to identify and develop the most appropriate plans and projects for an effective urban transition.…”

“…Putting this approach into practice, the STEP-UP (Strategies Towards Energy Performance and Urban Planning), PLEEC (Planning for Energy Efficient Cities) and InSMART (Integrative Smart City Planning) projects (FP7-ENERGY-SMARTCITIES-2012 EC call) examined an integrated approach to urban energy planning, testing diverse tools, methods, and levels of engagement, again, with the focus being on energy savings [10][11][12]. As a continuation of this evolution, since 2012 the EC has fostered the interaction of cities, industries, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), investors and researchers, through the European Innovation Partnership on Smart Cities and Communities (EIP-SCC) platform, bringing them all together to design and deliver smart-sustainable solutions and projects [4]. In this case, the projects derived from this platform targeted the decarbonization of cities through the formulation of integrated urban plans, and more recently through the concept of positive energy districts (PEDs), intending to tackle the integration of energy and urban planning at both city and district levels.…”

Analysis of the Air Quality of the Basque Autonomous Community Using Spatial Interpolation

“…Environmental pollution is a global problem that puts the health of the population at risk [1]. Air quality is a determining factor in the health of population and ecosystems [2]. Emission of anthropogenic origin polluting gases unbalances the natural composition of the atmosphere (e.g., CO 2 or carbon dioxide is the main greenhouse gas due to its abundance in the atmosphere [3]).…”