Page 63 - Shaping smarter and more sustainable cities - Striving for sustainable development goals

1 Introduction

In 2007, the number of people living in cities surpassed the number of those living in rural areas. It
is estimated that the proportion of people living in an urban environment will exceed 70% by 2050.
From 1950‐2010, small cities have witnessed a net increase of 1.3 billion people, double the number
of people inhabiting medium cities (632 million) or large cities (570 million).
People move to urban areas with the hope of finding better job opportunities as well as a better
standard of living. However, the increasing number of people migrating to urban areas leads to
complex issues such as congestion, increased demand for a limited pool of natural as well as other
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resources including energy, water, sanitation, education and healthcare services , among others.
Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are able to provide more environmentally
friendly and more economically viable solutions to some of the aforementioned problems faced in
cities. As of today, ICTs' role in tackling environmental issues has not been completely identified.
Potential areas where ICTs can assist include management of water sources, energy efficiency, and
solid waste management, public transport infrastructure reducing traffic congestion, growth of ICT
infrastructure and managing its environmental impact with reference to concerns related to
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electromagnetic field (EMF), visual aspects and air quality monitoring .
The main question the Technical Reports series on smart sustainable cities aims to address is: In
light of the growing economic and environmental problems in urban areas (as a result of increased
rural to urban migration), how can ICTs be used to remedy the situation?
This Technical Report analyses the major aspects of smart cities and eco‐cities from: (i) the
perspective of academics, (ii) the business initiative approach, and (iii) the international organization
collaborations with the final aim of establishing a concrete definition for smart sustainable cities
which can be used worldwide. This would also provide a basis for understanding the most common
features of smart sustainable cities.

1.1 Scope

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A Focus Group on Smart Sustainable Cities (FG‐SSC) was established in February 2013 by ITU‐T
Study Group 5 (SG5) which has been working on environmental and climate change issues including
the development of a methodology to assess the environmental impact related to ICT in cities.
FG‐SSC has been assigned the task to analyse ICT solutions and projects that promote environmental
sustainability in cities. This would help identify the best practices using ICTs in cities which can be
standardized by ITU‐T SG5. FG‐SSC has held a series of open meetings with the participation of a
variety of stakeholders including ITU‐T members, telecommunications companies, ICT companies,
governments, academia and others. These open meetings provide a broad‐based source of
information gathered from all stakeholders. The FG‐SSC will leverage the role of the ICT sector to
foster the growth of smart sustainable cities worldwide, while developing a standardization
roadmap that ensures activities currently undertaken by various standards development
organizations (SDOs) and forums are taken into consideration.

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1 http://www.itu.int/en/ITU‐T/focusgroups/ssc/Pages/default.aspx

2 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD): Addressing Environmental Challenges:
The role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and the Internet. 2012

3 http://www.itu.int/en/ITU‐T/focusgroups/ssc/Pages/default.aspx

ITU‐T's Technical Reports and Specifications 53