Smart City Institute
Smart City Institute
According to an United Nation’s study half of the world’s 7.5 billion population lives in cities already and it is expected this will reach 70% of the population by 2050. The existing urban areas where 50% of the population lives right now are expected to double just in 15 years. World Population Report 2017 projects that people living on the planet will reach 8.6 billion in 2030, 9.8 billion in 2050 and 11.2 billion in 2100.
World Bank reports that 72% of Turkey’s 80 million population already lives in urban areas and that in 2030, 80% of Turkey’s 88 million people will live in cities. This fast pace of population growth for Turkey and the World requires efficient use of limited resources. One way of achieving this is the smart city transformation process.
By smart city, we mean a city that invests in information and communication technologies in order to use its limited resources efficiently, saves resources as a result of such investments, uses its savings to increase the quality of life and quality of its services, decreases its carbon footprint, respects its environment and its natural resources by means of innovative and sustainable methods (Faruk Eczacıbaşı, 2014).
As NOVUSENS we propose to use a roadmap like the below for cities of different scales for a successful transformation to a smart city. Initiatives that use technology as a tool rather than a purpose, that are citizen centered and that treats the transformation as a process are more likely to be successful.
For a successful smart city transformation, a list of critical success factors identified by NOVUSENS in its nationwide and city level studies are provided below. Addressing these factors separately throughout the implementation process are essential for the sustainability and durability of the developed projects.
