From Smart to Knowledge Cities

Today, over half the world’s population lives in cities and this may increase to over 70% over the next thirty years. Sustainable urban development centred on people and the respect of human rights is therefore one of the major priorities and challenges of today’s societies.

Although cities occupy only 2% of total land surface, they account for 54% of the world population (World Bank, 2016), 70% of GDP, 60% of global energy consumption, 70% of greenhouse gas emissions and 70% of global waste (UN-Habitat, 2016). Habitat III, the UN Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development taking place in October 2016, is pushing for urbanization to be understood as a strategy for development, rather than just an accumulation of problems (Habitat III’s New Urban Agenda). To solve urban problems, policy-makers and urban planners are seeking to harness broadband and ICTs for sustainable development. Among the four billion people living in urban areas in 2015, 89% have access to 3G mobile broadband (ITU, 20153 ).

Cities across the world are seeking to become “smart cities”, in which ICTs play a key role in urban development by supporting cities to be more functional, efficient and competitive. ITU-T’s Study Group 20 defines a smart city as “an innovative city that uses ICTs and other means to improve quality of life, efficiency of urban operation and services, and competitiveness, ensuring that it meets the needs of present and future generations with respect to economic, social, environmental as well as cultural aspects”. However, it is crucial for stakeholders to realize that broadband and ICTs have a role to play beyond greater efficiency in businesses, resource management and governance. Digital technologies can yield many benefits for urban dwellers, mainly when citizens are at the centre of “city smartening”. Indeed, for smart cities to be truly sustainable, broadband and ICTs must serve people by facilitating people’s access to knowledge and culture, fostering creativity, increasing citizens’ decision-making power in governance and creating more inclusive cities.

Building on UNESCO’s concept of open and inclusive Knowledge Societies and ITU’s work on smart cities, countries around the world should now focus on moving towards inclusive ‘knowledge cities’, which put human needs and rights at the centre of their urban development, and which are grounded in principles of pluralism, inclusion, equity and openness, and guarantee freedom of expression, universal access to information and knowledge, cultural diversity and education for all.

From : THE STATE OF BROADBAND 2016: BROADBAND CATALYZING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (ITU – UNESCO)