Page 25 - U4SSC Blockchain for smart sustainable cities

3. Blockchain for smart and sustainable cities and communities

3.1 Current situation and context

Globally, the concerns of cities have become increasingly prominent due to several convergent trends: 34

• Cities are the epicentre of human habitation and also form the building blocks of the economy, while
serving as the basis for global innovation. With their core infrastructure, cities facilitate exchange
of information, capacity building and foster the provision of knowledge-intensive business services.
This makes it essential to have credible frameworks to be able to further guide socio-economic
developments within the urban realm.

• Cities are attracting an ever-increasing proportion of the global population. In 2014, fifty-four
percent of the world's population was located in urban areas, a number that is growing continuously
and is expected to reach sixty-six per cent by 2050. 35

• Cities are playing a more prominent role in the economy and welfare of nations, with most economic
activity being in cities. At the same time, cities are facing administrative, organizational, logistical,
social and environmental challenges.

• New political and social trends are changing the relationship between cities and residents;
including better access to information, greater transparency, less tolerance of corruption, improved
administrative efficiency, new models for citizen participation and greater awareness of the value
of electronic information and the need to protect it.

• The density of city populations is straining the environment and raising concerns relating to lowering
energy consumption, exploring alternative energy sources, providing cleaner air, reducing noise
pollution, managing waste, and preserving and protecting natural resources, including green spaces.

• Rapid and disruptive technology development in areas such as communication, informatics, data
mining and robotics are precipitating widespread, and unpredictable social changes. In line with
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this, society is developing towards a hyper-connected information society with consequences that,
while mostly positive, may also cause harm, and could be difficult to anticipate. 37

The increasing population of cities creates many challenges related to the quality of life of their
inhabitants: the need for economic growth, the increased strain on infrastructure and public services,
and the environmental impact of dense cities. These challenges are central concerns among the
proliferating smart initiatives based on ICTs for more efficient management of the resources of the
city. The pervasiveness and ubiquity of ICTs in daily life, as well as the rapidly falling cost of technology,
data storage and connectivity, have opened up substantial, underused intelligent approaches to the
city administration, resulting in the emerging concept of the “smart city”.

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