Smart City

The Smart City Observatory of the Politecnico di Milano is founded in 2021 leveraging the experience developed over the years by the Internet of Things, Digital Agenda and 5G & Beyond Observatories on the connected and “intelligent” city topic. The Observatory aims to investigate Smart City related opportunities, combining the environmental, financial, social, and technology perspectives with that of the actual development of projects and applications for Public Sector bodies and for citizens. For this, networking and discussion opportunities between companies and the PS (Cities, Regions, Institutions) involved in the various workshops will be created.

Smart City Observatory Research

As part of the annual edition The Smart City Observatory conducts the following Research activities regarding various “smart city” fields:

• application areas and projects: Italian application scenario and comparison with other countries, analysis of the benefits enabled in the various application areas (Smart Lighting, Smart Waste Management, Smart Parking, …);
• startup: analysis of recently founded Smart City focused businesses and of the most innovative business models;
• city hall’s point of view:analysis of Cities’ projects and future intentions, progress of Smart City projects in Italy, major obstacles, achievable benefits, most widespread technologies, financing used, data valorization;
• quantifying the market: estimate the value and order of magnitude of the Smart City market in Italy, focusing on the most widespread application areas;
• residents’ point of view: analysis of urban issues and needs of residents, focused on the sentiment towards Smart City operations and of the level of involvement in urban planning processes;
• renewable Energy Communities (REC): analysis of REC ventures in Europe, of the technologies adopted, the benefits identified, and of the current related legislation;
• data valorization and new technologies: value analysis resulting from data collected in field by Smart City projects, focused on emerging technologies for a data-driven city model such as Smart Control Room and Digital Twin;
• impact of Smart City projects: analysis of the benefits of Smart City projects in relation to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and benefit estimation models, in economic, social, and environmental terms;
• public agreements: analysis of most widespread financing models for Smart City projects;
• PNRR: monitoring progress of funding allocated for Smart City projects within the NRRP;
• European funding for Smart Cities: identification and analysis of European bids for Smart City project proposals.

Smart City Observatory Research is based on:

• a survey of Smart City related projects in Italy and worldwide;
• a survey of startups operating in the Smart City sector in Italy and worldwide;
• a survey addressed to Italian City Halls to learn more about current projects, application areas, and issues encountered in implementing Smart City projects;
• a survey addressed to Italian citizens to identify issues and needs within cities and define PS supporting action strategies;
• an estimation model for benefits enabled by Smart City project best practices;
• an impact framework concerning vertical Smart City application scenarios (Smart Mobility, Smart Building, Environmental monitoring, …) and their impact on Sustainable Development Goals;
• interviews and case studies of the most innovative Smart City projects;
• a survey of Renewable Energy Communities in Italy and in Europe and of the current legislation in each Country;
• a survey of European bids (Horizon2020, Horizon Europe, LIFE, …) dedicated to Smart City projects.