Page 186 - Shaping smarter and more sustainable cities - Striving for sustainable development goals

1 Smart sustainable cities: overview and challenges

The first part of this section provides a brief summary of the work undertaken by the three working
groups that form the FG‐SSC, in order to highlight the importance of adopting a multi‐stakeholder
approach in the emerging SSC field. The second part of the section identifies the key challenges
faced by SSC and its stakeholders.

1.1 SSC overview

FG‐SSC Working Group 1 has developed a general overview and a standardized definition for smart
sustainable cities, as indicated above. Studies conducted by the group experts suggest the existence
of a series of attributes that are crucial to better understand the nature and impact of SSC, including
those related to goals of sustainability, quality of life, efficient provision of urban services, as well
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as intelligence or 'smartness.'
In addition to those key attributes, WG1 suggests that the following are the key themes that lie at
the core of SSC operations:
 Society – the city is for its inhabitants (the citizens).
 Economy – the city must be able to thrive – in terms of jobs, growth, finance.

 Environment – the city must be sustainable in its functioning for future generations.
 Governance – the city must be robust in its ability to administer policies and put together the
different elements.

Building on these foundations, the FG‐SSC Working Group 2 has developed a series of Technical
Reports that explore the use of ICT in smart sustainable cities. From this series, the report on SSC
Infrastructure suggests that the architecture of SSC is composed of different layers (i.e., sensing
layer, communication layer, data layer and application layer). These layers relate ICT infrastructure
to cities, and are a useful reminder of the complexity that characterizes SSC. It suggests that the
successful operation of these cities requires an intricate articulation of multiple fields of expertise
and sectoral engagement. This complexity also illustrates the need for an inclusive, multi‐
stakeholder approach in the design and implementation of SSC infrastructure and several ICT
services for smart buildings, for climate change adaptation, and for smart water management,
among others.
Also reflecting the need for this approach, the FG‐SSC Working Group 3 has developed a series of
reports aimed at developing a standard set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for SSC evaluation.
WG3 has identified multiple dimensions to assess and measure the performance and impact of SSC
(i.e., indicators related to ICT infrastructure, environmental sustainability, productivity, quality of
life, equity and social inclusion, and non‐ICT infrastructure development) which reflect the wide
range of perspectives that need to be considered in SSC.
The next part of the section identifies some of the key challenges faced by SSC. Exploring these areas
is crucial to gain a more in depth understanding of the potential contribution of different
stakeholders to overcome existing and emerging constraints, and achieving the full potential of SSC.

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7 LINK TO OVERVIEW DOCUMENT‐WG1.

176 ITU‐T's Technical Reports And Specifications