Page 159 - Shaping smarter and more sustainable cities - Striving for sustainable development goals

While these mechanisms should be set up at the onset of the SSC's strategy, they should be
maintained, monitored and adjusted throughout the process of implementation to ensure
flexibility, as well as the provision of up‐to‐date information about the features and benefits that
SSC can provide to its citizens.

Without relevant and timely information, citizens can perceive SSC projects as an unnecessary use
of their taxes. It is, therefore, important to demonstrate transparency and accountability in terms
of the investments made in SSC service provision, and the way in which these investments are
having an impact on the citizens' quality of life.

A smart sustainable city needs to promote participation in crucial aspects of the city's functioning,
like participatory budgets. Citizenry can also play a key role in the provision of data to inform city‐
level decision‐making processes (e.g., citizen as a sensor, real‐time reporting/monitoring using
social media), as well as in the provision of innovative ideas to improve city services, or to tackle
emerging challenges through cost‐effective approaches. In addition, it is very important to involve
the companies in the design of the city in order to better understand their needs and facilitate
investments made on their behalf.

SSC must be inclusive and enable access to those sectors of the population that may not have access
to technology. To address this challenge, municipalities can offer training programs targeting
marginalized populations (e.g., vulnerable women, the elder), equip public zones with technologies
to broaden the user base, and implement other programs aimed at raising awareness and
encouraging citizen engagement in the realization of the SSC strategy.

Further information on the role of SSC stakeholders is available at:

 FG‐SSC deliverable (2015), Technical Report on “Setting the stage for stakeholder's
engagement in smart sustainable cities”.

3.2 Phase 2: Strategic Planning

Progress needs to be made through holistic visions and transversal policies that strengthen the
integrated approach, which should prevail in all SSC. Therefore, initiatives for SSC should consider
metropolises from a global perspective; otherwise, the effectiveness and scope of such initiatives
may be severely reduced.

In the first step of the cycle, local governments identify a SSC vision and assess the city's situation in
order to establish the relevance and feasibility of becoming a SSC. This step includes, among others:
 To define, what kind of city it should be. What are the overall aims of the initiative and what is
the main idea to achieve specific targets?
 Identifying a SSC vision that is line with the city's identity, political priorities and long‐term
development strategy;
 The vision establishes the connection between the SSC components and its guiding principle.
This is necessary to provide a deeper understanding of the vision of a smart sustainable city;
 Document the detailed business process of the main existing city services along with their
inter‐relationships and dependencies;

 Gathering relevant data on the status of ICT infrastructure and usage at the city‐level, including
the status of the city in regards to the SSC technical specifications;

ITU‐T's Technical Reports and Specifications 149