Trends and Challenges in Smart City Development: Experiences from Vienna

More than half of the world’s population lives in urban settings and cities will therefore play an integral role in the sustainable development agenda. Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 recognizes the critical role of urbanization in sustainable development, but urging actors to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. This trend offers increasing opportunities for actors at local, regional, national and international levels to work together to develop more inclusive and integrated pathways to city and urban planning development. Cities around the world are coming up with innovative solutions to integrate urban land use, transport, energy, and housing policies, to improve the lives of their citizens.

The city of Vienna is internationally renowned not only for its high standard of living, but also for being a very livable “smart” city. The Smart City Wien, a long-term initiative by the City of Vienna, is a strategic and overarching effort to improve the design and development of Austria’s capital. As a result of the rapid growth of the city, Vienna constantly has to face the challenge of balancing rising demand for energy, affordable housing and public transportation options, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Experts from the City of Vienna have extensive experience related to smart urban planning and can help identify specific challenges and opportunities of cities in developing countries, which are now aiming to become smart cities. The event aims to encourage vivid exchanges between city representatives and experts from all over the world on how to make cities smart, sustainable and livable for their inhabitants.

This event will look at the concept of a smart city from various perspectives and contexts to discuss common challenges. The example of the City of Vienna, from city strategy and policy as well as infrastructure planning to concrete examples and technological solutions, will be showcased during this side event. Through this dialogue, good practices and lessons learned for various smart and sustainable cities around the world, especially in developing countries, can be identified. The side event contributes to the debate of Panel III “Sustainable Cities and Communities”.

docum: Session Summary