بهبود توسعه پایدار شهری از طریق برنامه های کاربردی شهر هوشمند Enhancing sustainable urban development through smart city applications

1. Introduction Sustainable urban development and smart cities represent two growth paradigms that emerged in the previous century as a result of the drive of cities to be more responsive to citizen needs, offer conditions that promote high quality of life and sustain and enhance competitiveness in an increasingly globalized environment. The realization that unsustainable consumption of resources brings humanity closer to a future where basic goods will be unavailable to large parts of the population, coupled with significant technological advancements in reducing resource consumption, monitoring urban environments and making informed technical and policy decisions, is bringing the two disciplines closer than ever before, despite the different growth trajectories followed until recently. Recent research and policy reports indeed highlight synergies and benefits at the intersection of sustainable and smart urban development. It is characteristic that the most recent and widely cited report of the World Urbanization Prospects series of the United Nations (United Nations, 2014) not only documents a consistent global urbanization trend in the past, but it also clearly states that this trend will continue to rise at least up to 2050. Most importantly, it calls for integrated policies to improve urban and rural living conditions and highlights the role of technology in mitigating the rising sustainability challenges. As mentioned in the report, the policy implications rising from this study include – among others – the necessity to have accurate, consistent and timely data to inform city-related policy-making, as well as the usage of information and communication technologies (ICTs) toward facilitating a sustainable mode of urbanization, one that enhances and efficiently delivers services to urban stakeholders. The United Nations have already begun actionoriented research in this direction, by exploring the role of big data for sustainable development (United Nations, 2015a). The European Union’s (EU) policies also highlight the synergy between smart technologies and sustainable urban development. With Europe 2020, the EU’s current 10- year growth strategy, the objectives of fostering a smart, inclusive and sustainable growth in Europe were set. Innovation lies at the heart of the strategy, and is seen as a means to tackle challenges, inclusive of climate change and energy efficiency. Moreover, through the Smart Cities and Communities European Innovation Partnership, launched by the European Commission (EC) in 2012, the energy, transport and ICT industries are invited to work together with cities to address the cities’ needs.