Page 154 - Shaping smarter and more sustainable cities - Striving for sustainable development goals

Based on the analysis of more than one hundred definitions of what constitutes a smart sustainable
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city, the Technical Report on "Smart sustainable cities – an analysis of definitions" identifies a series
of key attributes that are intrinsic to this notion, most notably:
a) Sustainability – This is related to the city's infrastructure, governance, energy and climate
change, pollution and waste management, socio‐economic aspects and health provision.
b) Quality of Life – A crosscutting issue, the quality of life of the citizens and the initiatives in
place to continuously improve it, are vital to the strategic vision and identity of SSC.

c) Intelligence or Smartness – A "smart" city exhibits implicit or explicit ambition to improve
economic, social and environmental standards. Commonly quoted aspects in definitions
reviewed in the report include: Smart Economy, Smart People, Smart Governance, Smart
Mobility, Smart Living and Smart Environment.

These attributes are present across four intersecting dimensions of complex urban systems, where
SSC functionalities take place:

 Societal: The city is for its inhabitants (i.e., the citizens).
 Economic: The city must be able to thrive – create and sustain jobs, growth and finance.
 Environmental: The city must be sustainable in its functioning for future generations.

 Governmental: The city must be robust in its ability to administer and implement policies, and
bring together different actors.

Ultimately, the review conducted in the report identifies a series of key issues that should be
considered a part of a comprehensive understanding of SSC's role, namely its ability to:
 Improve the quality of life of its citizens.

 Ensure tangible economic growth, including higher standards of living and employment
opportunities for its citizens.
 Improve the wellbeing of its citizens including medical care, welfare, physical safety, education,
social inclusion and culture.
 Establish an environmentally responsible and sustainable approach, which "meets the needs of
the present generation without sacrificing the needs of future generations".
 Streamline physical infrastructure‐based services, including those related to the transportation
(mobility), water, utilities (energy), telecommunications, and manufacturing sectors.
 Reinforce prevention, resilience capacities and handling functionality for natural and man‐made
disasters, including the ability to address the impacts of climate change.
 Provide an effective and well‐balanced regulatory, as well as compliant governance mechanisms
with appropriate and equitable policies and processes in a standardized manner.

Based on the outcomes of this research, numerous contributions from FG‐SSC members and
collaborating institutions, as well as on extensive discussions, held as part of the focus group's
meetings, the following SSC definition was proposed and agreed:

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8 FGSSC (2014). 'Smart sustainable cities – an analysis of definitions'. Focus Group on Smart Sustainable
Cities Working Group 1, International Telecommunications Union (ITU). http://www.itu.int/en/ITU‐
T/focusgroups/ssc/

144 ITU‐T's Technical Reports and Specifications