Page 25 - U4SSC: City Science Application Framework

Engaging a broad range of stakeholders may increase the likelihood of success for city science
implementations (e.g. public sector, private sector, academia, individuals, NGOs and civil society in
general).

Nurturing a rich innovation ecosystem and involving and incentivizing entrepreneurs and SMEs to
address city science implementation challenges would help boost city science in a city. Incubators,
accelerators, hackathons, etc. might be leveraged for enriching the city innovation ecosystem
around city science.

Important Note: Once the city science ideas are prioritized and the pertinent enablers have been
decided then the following steps can be used for implementing each city science solution in line
with its own implementation plan:

a) Identify the problem,

b) Model the problem,
c) Solve the model,

d) Apply the model solution to the urban problem and utilize enablers during the implementation.

This will allow implementation of city science solutions in the context of a real city. The particular
aspects of the real city for which city science solutions are implemented will shape and impact the
specific solution characteristics and the enablers selected.

5.4. Step 4: Assess Projected City Science Applications Impact

This step involves either interim or final assessment of the results of implementing city science
solutions in a city. Cities are strongly recommended to retrospectively and objectively conduct
assessments comparing actual outcomes with respect to intended ones.

Similarly, the city can evaluate various enablers for their effectiveness during the implementation.
Gaps in them can be identified to address and correct in due course. Lessons learnt can be derived
to understand positive and adverse consequences of the city science solutions. Positive aspects of
successful city science solutions may be potentially cross-utilized among other city science solutions;
for example, a successful policy in one solution may trigger the use of a similar policy approach
in another one. Such examples can be extended to other enablers as well. On the other hand,
identification of ineffective enablers would result in their potential relinquishment in due course.

City science solutions are interventions in an urban context and inevitably lead to various
transformations. Therefore, it is important to assess their impact retrospectively. An ex-post impact
assessment would be highly beneficial to understand various social, economic and environmental
changes that occurred in the city and compare them to the intended ones prior to implementation.

The comparison of ex-ante and ex-post impact assessments will indicate deviations in terms of
intended and actual outcomes. Such deviations may aid in planning more accurately in due course
or fine-tuning city science solutions.

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