Page 75 - U4SSC Blockchain for smart sustainable cities

The Sustainability dimension refers to the economic, environment and sustainable dimensions in
synergy. The SDGs are a broad and universal agenda. It will not be challenging to contribute to the
SDGs and improve a city’s overall sustainability. What will make the difference is that each city assesses
its challenges and sets its priorities and targets in terms of sustainability to determine the right means
and explore if blockchain could be an option to explore for the target goals based on the findings
presented in this deliverable.

Blockchain remains an essential tool. The most important objective would be to leverage the political
will, the correct policies and to build an adequate partnership for achieving a more inclusive and
sustainable city. Sustainability should be one of the top priorities in deciding to adopt the B4C initiatives,
as increasingly policies and actions are engaged in endorsing inclusive growth, reducing inequalities and
facing the challenges posed by environmental issues. It should not be addressed only at the national
level as they require the involvement of the cities as well.

5.3 Smartness of a blockchain-based initiative

The main question addressed by the smartness dimension is whether or not a blockchain initiative will
contribute to making the city smarter. There is a wide debate on the characteristics of a smart city, and
how to determine which cities are smart and which are not.

“Smartness” depends on the vision of a city performing well in a number of areas, and the effective
harnessing of the city's endowments through the activities of competent and aware stakeholders
including officials, private companies, social entrepreneurs and individual residents. It is a continuum
along which cities and communities find themselves positioned due to their history, geography,
resources and initiatives. The task of cities is not to reach some ideal state in which they will earn the
title “smart”, but rather to improve; to move along the continuum to a state of increasing smartness
from wherever they start. Taking this approach means that smart initiatives can be applied in large and
small communities, regardless of their levels of development. Therefore, the 4S Framework considers
the characteristics of smart initiatives that will benefit cities and communities such as the core values
that drive the initiative, the smart domains and the areas that will be impacted by innovation (Table
10). The B4C use-cases smartness dimensions are summarized in Table 3 (Appendix 2).

Table 10: The smartness of blockchain for cities

1. The B4C initiative changes the relationship between the stakeholders
and their role.
Smartness of B4C 2. The B4C initiative impact smart domains.
3. The B4C initiative is innovative.
4. The B4C initiative supports smart city values.

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