Joint roundtable by International Smart Cities Network and OECD

The 4th OECD Roundtable on Smart Cities and Inclusive Growth under the theme "Shaping smart cities of all sizes" was organized in close cooperation between the OECD Centre of Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities and the International Smart Cities Network. 

The meeting in Paris entailed looking more closely at the breadth of smart city transitions as they increasingly also happen in smaller-sized cities, with demands for replication and scaling, or simply the prevalence of new challenges like AI-deployment, widening their (geographical) reach.

Germany, for example, has accounted for that in its funding programme for Model Projects Smart Cities (MPSC) which covers a wide variety of 73 projects with cities and sizes from large to small. Other countries are similarly concerned with fostering common good-oriented smart city development across all cities according to their needs. 
An international group of experts, practitioners and scholars from many OECD member countries came together in four Sessions to understand the current state of smart city development across the international landscape and discuss and showcase strategies and solutions for digital transitions or the leveraging of AI, always with the question in mind of how and when the size of cities is a relevant factor in accounting for deployment of measures.

Setting the scene: Understanding the current state and drivers of digitalization 

The first session focused on the drivers of digitalization in cities of different sizes.
In her keynote speech, the mayor of Sendai, Kazuko Kohri, showed how smart city initiatives can be intertwined with inclusive and resilient planning. Ms Kohri is one of the Champion Mayors for Inclusive Growth, an OECD initiative to tackle inequalities in cities. 

In the following panel discussion, the perspectives of several other cities were presented. The examples of the #connectedinEurope partner cities Alba Iulia (Romania) and Vari-Voula-Vouliagmeni (Greece) showed  the challenges that cities currently face in implementing and scaling smart city measures.

An important question for many cities remains the development of capacities within the administration in order to be able to implement solutions. However, topics such as demographic processes and cybersecurity can also present pitfalls on the road to becoming a smart city. There was a consensus that digital tools should increasingly contribute to enable participation and involving more people in urban development processes.
The issue of financing smart city measures was also discussed in the panel. Even though this is an important topic for many cities, it became clear that money is not always the solution. More important is the question of what strategies are available to roll out pilot solutions on a larger scale. 

With regard to scaling solutions, Keita Nishiyama from the University of Tokyo suggested that shared, but not centralized public infrastructure could be a possible approach. Japan for example moves towards building blocks of Smart-City-solutions that each city can configure for their needs.  
Ugo Valentini from the Smart Cities Expo World Congress raised the idea that smart solutions do not necessarily have to be high-tech or digital. The example of the superblocks in Barcelona, now established and also implemented or planned in other cities, shows that improvements in urban spaces do not always have to involve digital solutions. 

Drawing lessons from digital transition efforts across cities of different sizes and the debate ahead

The second session revolved around the questions of what role different stakeholders play in the digital transformation of cities, which success factors are important and how a change in urban governance can lead to successful digitalization.
Anthony Townsend from Cornell University opened with a keynote in which he pointed out that a comprehensive understanding of the smart city movement requires an analysis of the digital masterplans of municipalities as well as tech-enabled districts and extra governmental plans.
The subsequent panel discussion highlighted the approaches of Germany and Korea in the national smart city policy discussion. 
Renate Mitterhuber from the German Federal Ministry for Housing, Urban Development and Building presented the ambitious German funding programme "Model Projects Smart Cities", and reported on the challenges of scaling in a federal system. In Germany, this is currently being addressed with a step-by-step plan, including the establishment of a competence centre for knowledge transfer and consulting, and a marketplace for easy access to smart city solutions.
Corey Gray from the Smart Cities Council noted that in order to prevent unintended consequences of technology, a framework for smart city development must be inclusive for all communities, and that existing digital inequalities must be tackled.
Small and medium-sized cities often are facing distinct challenges, for example in terms of financing or digital connectivity. UN-Habitat expert Dyfed Aubrey therefore recommended the integration of smart city strategies into national strategies as well as the establishment of national facilities from which smaller cities can benefit. 
 

Leveraging Artificial Intelligence for sustainable urban development in cities of all sizes

One of the most discussed topics in the smart city ecosystem at the moment is artificial intelligence and its potential and risks for sustainable urban development. The third session of the roundtable was dedicated entirely to this topic and allowed experts from various backgrounds to comment on it.
In his opening statement, Guido Rink gave insights into his work as European Committee of the Regions rapporteur of the EU AI Act and the European approach to digitalisation.

During the following discussion, it became clear that there are still many unresolved issues surrounding AI. Discussions are still taking place on the definitions of different types of AI. The topic of resource and energy consumption through AI was also raised. One suggestion was to include the emissions caused by AI in local voluntary SDG reviews. The need for privacy and ethical regulations came up during the session as well. Pagona Tsormpatzoud from Mastercard highlighted for example the potential of synthetic data for analysing data without privacy concerns. 

The examples at the Roundtable illustrated that a growing number of cities are currently undertaking examinations of the potential of AI and starting with first implementations. In Vienna, for example, guidelines for the use of AI in the public sector are currently being developed. 

Hubert Beroche from the Thinktank UrbanAI cited the example of a small city in France deciding to replace smartphones in their city precincts, therefore motivating new interfaces through AI, leading to an initiative of screenless cities.

Further examples from Sao Paolo, Utrecht and Colombia illustrated the wide range of possible applications for AI. In Sao Paolo, for example, the technology is being utilized to find matches on a nationwide job platform, while Utrecht is using AI to accelerate the development of the city's digital twin.

From vision to action: how to propel a successful digital transition in cities of all sizes?

In the last session of the day, the speakers shared their success stories, but also challenges on the way of successful digital transitions.

In his keynote, Antonio Da Costa e Silva from the Ministry of Cities in Brazil gave a valuable input on the Brazilian journey towards urban digitalization, highlighting the Smart City Charter of the country and the dialogue that the ministry set up with the council of cities, social organizations and unions to find develop a national urban development policy.  

From the perspective of the Israel National Digital Agency Sharone April pointed out that there are still challenges to overcome, including finance, a lack of national standards, bureaucracy in procurement processes and a lack of skilled labor force in small municipalities.

Interventions from the cities of London and Freiburg showed how a successful digital transition can work in different cities. Victoria Itskovych from the City of Kyiv illustrated how the cities’ digital tools were adapted in times of crisis and recommended municipalities to develop action plans for resilience to disruptions.  

Tobias Revell from ARUP closed the session with a call for proportional responses to cities’ challenges. There is a tendency to view technologies as promising future solutions, to the exclusion of other potential options. To gain a better and sovereign attitude towards the use of technology and digital solutions, it is essential overcome this tendency and adopt other perspectives.