CITY:ONE.EN

2 : 2019

Magazine for sharing innovations among Central European cities : Central Europe cities proďŹ les with their smart projects : innovations for city governance : city sources and city life

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CZECH.UP invites you to an introductory seminar Innovative public services Location Date Tour

Humpolec, CZ, Fabrika Hotel 16.-17th January 2020 Demonstrator of the Co-working center in Humpolec

Information Agenda STRATEGIC PLANNING The biggest mistakes, pitfalls and deadlocks of innovative strategies and projects - the results of the URBIS discussion and the findings of policy makers from practice.

SPATIA L P LANNING Digital planning and data management - or what should the city want from developers, how to design construction with regard to climate change, sustainable mobility or social inclusion?

TRA F F IC P LANNING Sustainable mobility plans - improper assignment and missing data can lead to investment decisions in traffic constructions that will make the city‘s traffic situation worse. What is the point of Sustainable Mobility Plans?

EN ER GY P LANNING City as a factory or how to manage its distribution area with regard to security (black-out), self-sufficiency (renewable) and economic yield (city fund).

Entry only for registered representatives of municipalities and invited guests. Registration will start from 1st December 12.2019.

Capacity is 80 seats.

The price is 2990 CZK / person.

Price includes workshop, food and evening individual network. Accommodation can be arranged after agreement.

Applications should be sent by email: pavel.nacovsky@panatec.cz We will immediately send you an invitation with all instructions.

The purpose of the CZECH.UP Association is to enable municipalities to consult and share their innovations or to replicate already successful ones and is thus a platform for innovation of territorial public services and services of general economic interest. CZECH.UP organizes cooperation of local governments to share innovations. Inspired by the successful British model, Future Cities Catapult (Connected Places).

www.czech-up.cz

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Content 2/2019

David Bárta : Chief Editor At the time of the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, in addition to celebrating freedom and democracy, a certain critical appreciation is appropriate. In the Czech Republic, we are slowly moving from the first technological and technocratic concept of Smart City, which has not produced the necessary results, to community planning. The difference between our current practice can be made first by reading articles about Polish cities that conceptually focus on citizens.

We critically look at various innovation rankings whose outcomes are misleading and do not cover the essence of innovations, Smart City strategies or Sustainable mobility plans practice, the acquisition of which is purposeful or cycle lanes, whose concepts are dysfunctional and often life-threatening. We can compare our cultural progress since the revolution with the culture of thought of Danes or Viennese, whose traditions were not forcibly interrupted by communism.

In this issue you can get an idea of how to build a smart region or village, what people want at their smart bus stop or what we can do for disadvantaged citizens. I wish you an inspirational reading and let your follow-up steps be instructed and conceptual so that we can feel in the foreseeable future that our quality of life has improved!

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Moravian-Silesian Region

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Smart Villages

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Smart stop : results

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V4 innovation : awarding personalities

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5 steps to a smart development of social entrepreneurship

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Smart City strategies

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Open data standardization

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The relevance of innovation rankings

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Bright and dark sides of SUMPs

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Parking

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Cycling

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Danish cyclo-culture

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PING city : one

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Kladno

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Žilina

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Poznan

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Gdansk

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Brno: How much a municipal politician can do in 4 years

David Bárta source : one CITY:ONE magazine 2 issues per year (April/October) 6 000 printed issues in CZ/SK version and 3 000 printed issues in ENG Distributed in Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Austria, Slovenia and Croatia, in electronic form in all EU/globally Publisher CityOne s.r.o., Královo Pole 34E, Brno, 612 00, Česká republika Chief editor and smart sources editor David Bárta / barta@cityone.cz Smart Governance editor Pavel Nácovský / pavel.nacovsky@panatec.cz Smart living editor Tereza Škoulová / skoulova@cityone.cz Water editor Petr Dolejš / dolejs@waterincity.cz Deputy Editor in chief Slovenia and Croatia Atila Urbančič / bruancic@gmail.com Deputy Editor in chief Poland Mateusz Jarosiewicz / mateusz.jarosiewicz@smartcitiespolska.org

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Rainwater Management Action Plan in Urbanized Areas

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Digital model of sewerage and wastewater treatment citizen : one

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MariaHilfe Strasse

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Transfer Station

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The Initiative for Invalidovna shows direction

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MoravianSilesian Region: Hydrogen Valley Jakub Unucka, a deputy governor of Moravian-Silesian Region : with IT education background, for the past 20 years he has been earning his living by dealing with customers demanding the automation of production in line with industry 4.0; he is committed to automating the maximum number of processes in the public sphere. He got into politics by accident; he was bothered by what his neighbours were able to burn for heating and wanted to change it.

AT THE FIRST REGION COALITION MEETING

OF THE ENVIRONMENT, THAT THE QUALITY

WE HAVE AGREED WITH THE PARTNERS ON

OF AIR IS BAD, BUT THAT IS A SUBSTITUTE

MAKING OUR REGION THE FIRST REGION

PROBLEM; THEY FLEE BECAUSE OF MONEY

4.0. THUS, WE HAVE LAUNCHED SMART

AND BECAUSE OF THE LIMITED OPPORTU-

REGION CONCEPT AND FOCUSED MAINLY

NITIES IN THE OSTRAVA REGION.

ON TRANSPORT. THE REASON IS CLEAR, YOUNG PEOPLE ARE FLEEING FROM THE REGION TO PRAGUE, BRNO, LIBEREC OR ABROAD, AND THERE ARE QUITE A LOT OF THEM, ABOUT 4,000 PER YEAR, WHICH IS A TREND OF THE LAST 10 YEARS. THEY SAY THAT THEY ARE LEAVING MAINLY BECAUSE

I believe that if we give people new digital tools, different applications guiding them to behave smarter, i.e., make better decisions, plan and be informed, then we could reverse their decision to leave the region. The other half of the success is to turn digital tools into a new industry, which is an important impetus to be initiated by the public sector at a time of phasing out of coal mining and closing down of mines. The fact that this is possible is proven by the Finnish company Tieto, which employs thousands of people here who certainly do not

smart : one earn the average salary. They undertake things that were science fiction 20 years ago, such as applications for mobile phones or virtual servers. That is also why I am convinced that in ten to fifteen years there will be tens of thousands of people in the Ostrava region who will be engaged in programming new sensors or various Internet of Things applications, and we want to go towards this vision.

That’s why we launched the Smart Region programme to help create this new wave and to show all young people that here is the seedbed, that we are the best and that they can become not only users of new things, but also their creators.And we have been successful in stopping the trend of young people leaving.Moreover, according to a survey by the University of Ostrava, people perceive the Smart City concept positively; more than 80% consider it important. Most understand the term smart as something to help them plan their leisure time, and the same 80% want smart things to make their life in the city more enjoyable. People view the activities of the regional authority positively and I consider it to be the first success that people’s awareness is changing, that everything is not wrong here and that is something we can build on.

: Role of the regional authority Drawing on the lessons learned from previous failures of smart benches for instance in Prague 6, we were thinking about how to present the concept of smart city to people. We have reached the conclusion that we want to save them time and money. And we would also like to save their health, although it is difficult. Nonetheless, most of the funding goes to telemedicine and eHealth, for more see https://www.msk-ehealth.cz/telemedicina/.

As the first thing, we announced a competition for companies to apply with their innovations and promised to pay for a pilot installation of the selected projects.Together with one company, we have offered smart medical measurement kits to 400 seniors in retirement homes and the results are very positive the effectiveness of the work of the doctor who managed to tend to a larger number of seniors has increased significantly, while the seniors’ trust in care and sense of security has strengthened. Thanks to the success of the pilot, we decided to embark on a larger project with a partner insurance company with a budget of CZK 50 million. Our long-term goal is that telemedicine will become a standard part of health insurance, even for home care, and that this efficiency and quality of care will become widespread.

The role of the regional authority is to initiate innovations, not to operate them. We do not want to own a fleet of railway carriages; we are not pushing to take on the role of businesses.

We know that these things will be better run by businesses than by the regional authority. Likewise, we wanted to support

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electromobility through the availability of charging stations and we mediated installation of tens of wallboxes on buildings of the regional authority. The role of a smart regional authority is to generate demand for investment in innovation.

Since I was a deputy mayor of a small municipality (4,000 inhabitants), I know that the smart village concept is silly, because the mayor has neither the people nor the financial resources to develop innovations; it is necessary to administer the territory and offer services within it conceptually, so it is the level of municipalities with extended powers where it makes sense at the most. The mayor of the village can buy a “smart lamp”, but he or she cannot implement any wider concept…

: Hydrogen We want to apply a similar principle to the hydrogen economy.

The regional authority, together with the municipal authority intends to purchase a few hydrogen buses andtrains to support the development of the industry. Personally, I think electromobility is a dead end, because we do not have enough electricity and the necessary distribution system and building a new infrastructure would cost trillions. We were looking for placement options for our chargers and were faced with the fact that there was not the input power required at suitable locations. It simply is not physically possible. I am also in charge of coal-free energy as part of the regional agenda, and I see how much energy we release into the ground or into the air. That’s why I bet on hydrogen.

With a little exaggeration, almost wherever in the Ostrava region you put a pipe into the ground, you come across methane, of which 75% is hydrogen.Half the hills here are heaps filled with gas. In addition, we still need coking plants for steel production

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leader : one (the use of other sources such as hydrogen is not economically viable) and coke production generates coke-oven hydrogen. The first step is thus to get enough hydrogen and start operating buses and trains on a small scale. Even though this hydrogen will be for the time being produced from coal or gas. Next, we will focus on grey hydrogen, i.e., extracting it from all kinds of waste, and then we can produce green hydrogen from solar energy in former mining sites where we could also have a hydrogen filling station for trains.Green hydrogen has a future. Already today, if we calculate the solar energy output in the Czech Republic, it would be able to produce hydrogen for 11.5 thousand buses for annual operation.

Because we are interested in a programmatic development of the whole region, we also want to support employment and adaptation of existing metallurgical and mining industry, in other words, the development of whole technological units, from production of hydrogen, purification units, compression units, transport units, hydrogen engines to whole machines. Hence, we deal with both the ecological and the economic aspect of the issue.

industry or local heating. Just to illustrate the present state, the industry todayemits about 1.5% of what it emitted in 1989. Therefore, we aim to reduce the number of cars on our roads.

: Dynamic traffic control system We want to offer people a completely different dimension of public transport to make sure that passengers will reach their destination using this mode of transport in the same way as by car, i.e. in the future a ticket for a train from Prague may also include a taxi for the

Together with VSB–Technical University of Ostrava we are putting together a “hydrogen hub”, where all technologies for purification and production of hydrogen will be tested on a small scale. We will use it to test what technology is most suitable for massive deployment. By 2022, we want to be clear about whether methane can be used to produce hydrogen, whether it can be purified to ensure the required quality and subsequently share this information with partners. By 2025, these partners are expected to start producing hydrogen in large quantities. We are part of the European Platform for Coal Regions in Transition, for which the EU has prepared 6 billion euro of investment. If we come up with the idea of the “Hydrogen Valley”, the initial investment in technology could be funded by the EU. Without European money, it would be unrealistic. The pits hold a huge potential not only for the hydrogen economy. For example, heat pumps are able to obtain 25l/s of water of 30°C in the Jeremenko mine. And in fact, it would be ideal for reclamation of the land to let it rest and use it for solar parks. Instead of simply saying “we will shut down the mines”, we can think of the whole territory as a great opportunity. That is why we signed the “Hydrogen Memorandum” with the City of Ostrava in 2018.

To start with, the city of Ostrava will buy 5 hydrogen buses; in the future, the regional authority will buy 10 buses and 2 trains, which will generate demand for 3 hydrogen filling stations. We would like to build the first one in 2021. The next one will be built in Havířov, because we will launch a tender for a carrier to operate hydrogen buses. In 2025 there will be a filling station in Opava, as we will in a similar fashion launch a tender for a train carrier between Opava and Bruntál, or possibly Opava and Jeseník. I am aware that there are 1,000 regional buses, whereas the number oftrucks and cars is 46,000 per day, but this is the first contribution to improvement, since transport has become the major polluter in the region – it is no longer the

last mile. In addition to services, we will also offer information about the most suitable connection in near real time. We have closed a tender for 800 big buses and so the next tender will take place in 8 years. At that time, we will design the tender in a way that half of the number will be minibuses that will carry passengers “to their homes”. The regional authority will be smart if there is a dynamic traffic control system that will compute and provide all these offers and information to passengers. This is one of the reasons why we have requirements for V2X communication in our tenders.

For traffic control, we need data and we are currently taking stock of what data and in what quality the regional authority actually has, what data we need and how to get it effectively. We want

smart : one to inform about road service status, i.e. road works or temporary closures. We want to define what data is owned by the regional authority and what it should look like, i.e. what data we will validate. This will create a set of data that the regional authority really needs, not only for public transport. That is why we want to support the acquisition of data from Internet of Things sensors and build a data platform. Currently, drafting of a major project of CZK 316 million (12,5 mil Euro) has been approved. It will focus on connecting the data platform and the dynamic traffic control system; however, we are still looking for funding, which will be probably found only within the next programming period.

: Smart Idea Smart Idea (Chytrá myšlenka) is a programme of the regional authority and Impact Hub Ostrava to promote good ideas; it offers professional mentors, fine-tuning business plans with an economic analysis or marketing and promotion assistance. For example, we supported the “MIOMOVE Smart Shoe” project, which has later won a national award. The point is to simply show to young enterprising people that they do not have to go to Prague to launch a start-up. We also want to change the current practice of support programmes in which start-ups learn to receive subsidies rather than innovate. The region is therefore working with the local Impact Hub to better connect existing and new companies and create synergies between entities, which is the right way. Smart Idea appealed to 50 aspirants with ideas, of which we selected 10 who received six months of intensive training from mentors, and in the end we supported 4 of them with CZK 100,000 (4k Euro) for the start phase and 2 of these companies have already “taken off ”; one of them already has orders in the US and the other one, focusing on spellchecking tools for programmers, is temporarily moving to London.

This year we launched the second year of the “Smart Idea of the Moravian-Silesian Region” competition, which focuses on supporting projects demanded in the region. We asked experts of selected municipalities to define their needs and direction of innovation within focus groups. The importance of the defined areas was then decided by the public; and at the same time, thanks to the questionnaires, there was room for new suggestions. We will then make the compact areas accessible to innovative companies in order to direct them towards practical solutions to real problems. The output will be also used for identification of promising solutions and subsequent support of their acceleration.Intensive mentoring of 14 such innovative and social projects is now underway.Also this year, we will financially support the most promising of them.

: Education and employment In November, the regional authority organizes already the third annual high school hackathon.About 30 high school students interested in IT fields regularly take part. In addition to working with real data, students are led by mentors, experienced professionals or IT company owners who are also looking for talents or employees.

This naturally facilitates both digital literacy and employment.The regional authority also organizes a “big” two-day hackathon; this year it was national and next year we want a European one (always in June). The outcomes of this hackathon are solutions very close to practice, e.g. analysis of tree health with regard to the bark beetle calamity using drone images.

In my view, public administration is supposed to manage its agendas, but it should also “kick off ” innovation by the private sector.For me it is wrong when the public sector takes over the services of the private sector, for example the investment of 5 billion in the railway carriage fleet by the South Moravian Region or the fact that the Ústínad Labem Region also plays the role of a carrier.The private sector will always do it cheaper and better.And the regional authority can influence the quality of services by the requirements of its tenders.

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It’s time for Smart Villages Franc Bogovič : is a Slovenian politician who was born in the village of Veliki Kamen in 1963. Although an agricultural engineer by profession, he became active in local politics at an early age, assuming functions in his local community of Koprivnica at only 23. Later he served more than a decade as a mayor of the Municipality of Krško, being elected for four consecutive times (1998-2011).

He is one of the founders and long-standing members of the Slovenian People’s Party (SLS).

Being the vice president of the party, he took on the role of the Minister for agriculture and the environment in 2012. In 2014 he was elected president of the same party, which was soon followed by his election to the European Parliament for the first time, followed by a recent reelection in 2019.

He is a big proponent of healthy, home-grown food, and the preservation of water as a free public resource. On top of that, he is also one of the founders of the Smart Villages initiative.

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: Introduction

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the Europe we want, where all the young people are moving away to Amsterdam and other places to build a future?”.

The Smart Villages initiative which was started by only two Members of the European Parliament, namely Franc Bogovič and Tibor Szany, saw its official inauguration with the Bled declaration, which was prepared and signed at a meeting in Bled, 2018. The document offers a concise working definition of the concept of Smart villages.

: What are some of the problems the initiative is trying to address with the concept of Smart Villages and what would be the solutions?

“Smart Villages are “rural areas and communities which build on their existing strengths and assets as well as on developing new opportunities”, where “traditional and new networks and services are enhanced by means of digital, telecommunication technologies, innovations and the better use of knowledge”

New solutions in different aspects of rural development are necessary. For instance, agriculture is quickly developing into the direction of precision farming which relies heavily on digital technology, from sensors to drones and other robots. And with this come other changes. For instance, precision farming is both very expensive and very efficient. It is not possible nor is there a need for every farmer to have his or her own equipment. This is where the sharing economy comes into agriculture.

Bled declaration for Smart Villages, 2018 We’ve sat down to talk about Smart Villages with one of the founding fathers of the idea, Franc Bogovič MEP.

: The Smart Villages Initiative started back in 2017. Where did the idea behind the proposal come from?

As MEP and a member of the REGI Committee, I followed the trends of digitalisation on one side and urbanisation on the other.

The prognosis is clear. 75-80% of the EU population will live in metropolitan areas by 2050. But at the same time, there is a big gap in broadband infrastructure. Cities are covered around 90% with quality broadband, while the figure in rural areas is half of that. So, the first thing that needs to be done is to build infrastructure and cover rural areas as well. Without connectivity, it is impossible to work today. All in all, the basic goal of this project is to empower rural areas so that they will survive and there will be no need for the people to move to the cities. I think that the reason why Europe is such a great place is that we have a strong countryside and a good interaction between the urban and the rural. : Of course, the development of rural areas is crucial if they are not to be abandoned. Do you see any wider political implication of this type of development?

I think this type of development is very important for areas with pronounced emigration such as Romania, Bulgaria, Slavonia in Croatia, Poland, etc. To an extent, Smart Villages are also an answer to internal migration inside the EU. We are all focused on external migration, but if you look inside the EU you see that 3 million Polish people left their country and that, for instance, 3.5 million Romanians left, which is close to 14 percent of the total population. In the long run, emigration will be a big problem for these countries. Sooner or later people will start asking “Is this

In this project, we also speak a lot about mobility in rural areas, as public transport infrastructure is generally underdeveloped in rural areas. A good example of a solution to this problem is the Institute Sopotniki that we have in Slovenia, a social project that organises free travel for the elderly based on a modern sharing economy platform. Such practices are not only about technological innovations but also about making social connections between people.

This way, we are strengthening our society.

Another example is the concept of decentralization of social care.

Usually, we build social care institutions in the cities and with this, we move older people out of their environments. But if you organise a decentralised model where care for the elderly happens at their home, it can also be a part-time job for someone. These are just some examples. A lot is to be done also in terms of e-health, e-learning, cooperatives in the energy sector, supporting SME-s in rural areas and so on. It is a way through which we can develop rural areas. : Can we compare smart cities and smart villages? To what extent is the knowledge transferable between the two?

There are indeed many cases, for instance in housing and energetics, where we can use some of the knowledge that accumulated under smart cities. On the other hand, I have to say that this is quite a different type of development. It’s unique. For instance, a region in Finland where there are more deer than people has very different challenges than a village in Malta which is heavily populated. You must find your own solutions for every case. Of course, in both cases technologies that connect people between themselves as well as with their environment are crucial.

However, some technologies are not transferable. For instance, you can’t really have Uber in rural areas. But based on the experience of Uber, the Institute Sopotniki in Slovenia drew a great deal when implementing their service. So, although there are some comparisons to be made, you can’t simply copy-paste Smart City ideas to Smart Villages.

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The farms of the future will integrate sustainable farming practices with renewable energy sources to achieve self-suffi ciency and a low environmental impact.

: If we can’t compare them in that way, what is the main difference between the two?

When we speak about Smart Cities, we mainly talk about technological innovation, business cases, and big data. But within the concept of Smart Villages, we mostly talk about people; so, the main point is the social innovations. I also see this as an added value for society, where social relations are getting worse and worse. We need better communication and these tools offer exactly that. : In terms of what the initiative is doing, what would be the long-term goals?

As said before we first need to improve connectivity, which is the basis for everything else. We need public support on this. The second is the development of new models and the exchange of good practices. As part of that, the EU Commission supported and established ERND, a network where one can follow thousands of different good practices. The third is to train new skilled people for these challenges. And here we are not only talking about young people but people of all ages. So that would be the three main directions: connectivity, exchange of good practices and skills fostering. : What has been done so far by the Initiative to set these processes in motion?

I can tell you what I do. I worked together on this idea with my Hungarian colleague Tibor Szany. We are called the fathers of

Smart Villages in the European Parliament. First, we tried to develop this idea together with our colleagues in the European parliament. Together with the Commission, we produced the EU Action for Smart Villages in 2017. It was clear to us that we need to push for development in this field and find support for it in the future EU multiannual financial framework (MFF). On the other hand, it is crucial for us that we spread this idea among the people. That is why I organised more than 30 roundtables in Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary, Serbia, and Brussels. In these roundtables, we show good examples of smart technologies and services. When people understand the philosophy behind the idea and see examples, we can really take this to the next level. : The EU seems to already be supporting many of these smart actions through different frameworks. What else can be done in that field?

On the European level, you can find support for such projects in different frameworks such as the LEADER scheme, the Cohesion Fund and even in the Horizon. However, I really hope that I will be successful with my proposal in the regulation for the future European Regional Development Fund for the years 2021-2027. I have proposed that 5% of the fund or 13.5 billion euros should go into the development of naturally, geographically and demographically deprived rural areas and that, out of that, 2.4 billion would go specifically into actions that we call Smart Villages activities. What this would change is that there would be a special section of a fund allocated for Smart Villages. In this case, it will become necessary for governments to

smart : one use this money in their national strategies. With such a motion there also comes an obligation to think about this topic. This is how Europe can push and set directions. : How will these movements on the level of the EU translate into actions in different member states and then on the local level?

A very important part of our work here is to influence national governments. What we need is for them to prepare national partnership agreements and to design the documents for future financial frameworks so that it will be possible to support such ideas. In the last 3 or 4 years, there have also been many representatives from the business sector who showed interest in the concept. This is very important. As we’ve seen with Smart Cities the idea really took off when big private players such as Uber, Siemens started showing interest.

Content users of the free ride for elderly service offered by the Institute Sopotnik in Slovenia. The service is a non-profi t social service built on the principles of sharing-economy.

A cattle farmer overlooks his herd with the use of smart farming technology.

: However, the initiation of the bottom-up effect seems to me to be a much harder challenge than preparing the terrain with top-down approaches, such as setting strategies and frameworks on an EU level. How are you encouraging the bottom-up work?

Yes, you are right. Well, so far, I can say I have a recipe for Slovenia. I’m organising round tables, meeting with ministers and mayors and so on. I can say that in Slovenia the idea is ripe and there is quite a lot of interest. ButI agree with you, it is not easy at all. I think it will be crucial that we receive a part of the regional development fund for such projects. Then people will have to think about it. For example, between the years 2007 and 2013, it was necessary to prepare operational programs for communal waste. Before that we mixed all of our waste, today we know that only 5% of waste ends up at the landfill. : The EU Commission is changing as we speak. What does it mean for your initiative?

It is a challenge. We’ve had excellent cooperation with Phil Hogan, the former Commissioner for Agriculture, who understood the topic very well. We will soon see the stance of the new commissioner. It is very important for us that the Commission understands and supports this idea. The papers that were prepared by the team of Commissioner Hogan, which set the regulations for the next seven years include the topics of Smart Villages very well. But I am optimistic. In the EU we speak a lot about topics such as the gap in digitalisation between the urban and the rural, sustainable practices, clean energy, etc. Smart Villages have answers to all of them.

More on the Smart Villages Initiative can be found on: https://enrd.ec.europa. eu/smart-and-competitive-rural-areas/smart-villages/smart-villages-portal_en

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Smart stop : results OSTRAVA PUBLIC TRANSPORT COMPANY AND CITYONE DESIGNED THE SMART STOP CONCEPT AS A NETWORK OF POINTS WHERE A STANDARD RANGE OF INNOVATIVE PUBLIC SERVICES CAN BE EXPECTED IN THE FUTURE. IT IS PART OF THE CONCEPT OF SMART INVESTMENTS, IN WHICH THE INVESTOR ALSO INCLUDES THE NEEDS OF OTHER ORGANIZATIONS, INCLUDING THOSE FROM THE DOMAIN OF CIVIC-USER ONES, IN THE INVESTMENT. IN APRIL 2019, A CROWDSOURCING CAMPAIGN ALLOWING USERS TO VOTE ON INDIVIDUAL ITEMS OF THE PROPOSED CONCEPT WAS LAUNCHED ON THE ICITYPOINT.EU WEBSITE. ALMOST 300 USERS TOOK PART IN THE CAMPAIGN AND THE RESULTS OF THIS POLL ARE PRESENTED IN THIS ARTICLE.

“We take user feedback very seriously and it is an important input for our investment decision-making,” says Daniel Morys, the CEO of Ostrava Public Transport Company (OPTC). “At a time of climate change, digital technologies and sustainable mobility, public transport plays an important role, and it is definitely worthwhile for every city to invest in increasing its attractiveness and public awareness of this form of transport, as well as in transforming it into a more pleasant experience. We will use the results of the poll both for discussing the concept of public transport stops with the representatives of the city of Ostrava and for the first implementation of a specific stop.”

“The proposed concept will enable the public transport company to create a passport for the future form of stops; in other words, what we want, not just what we have,” says Michal Bočvarov, project manager for the application of new technologies at OPTC. “From the very beginning, we consider investing in stops that will be part of a network of stops designed to offer standard services for passengers and passers-by in the future; this gives the public transport company an idea of the order of magnitude of investment needed, technological equipment of stops, availability of utility networks etc.”

The concept itself is complex. It requires the involvement of the city and its organizations, as well as some state bodies, such as

the police; therefore, the development of such a system is a matter of long-term planning. „We need to unify asset management and records and hierarchize our stops according to the proposed categories in relation to our other systems to consider in advance not only the investment to acquire new stop equipment, but also their operation and maintenance. It is a strategic step for creating digital twins of all stops,” says Ivo Pleva, BI manager of OPTC. It is the keeping of records of planned state compared to the existing equipment, including the fact that the OPTC does not manage some of the stops, that is gently pushing all stakeholders to adopt a conceptual approach of the whole issue of “smart stops”. Preparatory processes of the whole concept will be much more complex than the actual equipping of stops with technology.

“The set-up of the whole system in terms of organization and processes is one thing, the implementation of the first smart stop is another thing”, explains Patrik Elbl, head of ICT at OPTC. “By sample implementation of one stop, we want to test the reliability, sustainability and control of individual technological components and thus get feedback for further investments. In the meantime, we could align the overall strategies of the city and the OPTC in the realm of equipment design and information provision to be ready for further investment. In other words, there is the possibility to address invest-

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Author of the concept visualization – Lukasz Kuciel, INNVIA Poland, www.innvia.com

ments in the entire network, which implies both economies of scale and deployment of the core service at one time, i.e. providing the information people require from both the public transport company and the city, ideally across the entire network of stops. ”

Poll results : Crowdsourcing Collecting user suggestions through a web polling application was not an easy task. The overall concept was quite complex, very technical, and many things were unknown to the general public.

With regard to the complexity of the concept, the total number of voters around 300 is considered to be very good and can serve as a foundation for discussion between the public transport company and the city. “We have experience in introducing new things, innovations, and we are aware that this is difficult both inside an organization such as a public transport company and outwards in relation to politicians, officials or citizens. We value the strategic dimension of the smart stop concept because it allows for a matter-of-fact debate to be initiated over what is realistic at present, whether technically, economically or politically. It is thus an important input to the discussion on the form of a long-term investment plan to support public transport in Ostrava,” adds CEO Daniel Morys.

The voters were giving their opinions on what they would or would not like “their” stop to have and then assigned these elements to the individual categories of stops.

: What people don’t want Things they don’t understand, like V2X technology or the Internet of Things. Things that are annoying, such as print materials, leaflets, stickers, but also push up notifications via mobile phone (email/sms) or based on sound transmission (data-over-voice). Also, people do not want ads at the stops, even those promoting local merchants. They do not want any political or advertising messages.

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: What people want From a wide range of options, people have chosen the elements they consider to be standard now, usually the first two left columns, and the elements they would expect to see at stops soon. Here are the basic characteristics of individual categories of stops: Transit Hub (complex transport interchange of the future): the stop is characterized by a high number of passengers with additional needs in terms of transfer and connectivity, micromobility, orientation/navigation, barrier-free accessibility, device charging and connection, provision of information and payment options, air quality and safety information elements. It covers at least 3 modes of transport (city public transport, public transport, train, metro, aircraft), necessary backbone transport network (metro, tram), parking (P+R) and taxi.

City Transit Hub (a significant transfer stop (station): The stop is characterized by a high number of passengers and a connec-

Energy sources and connectivity

tion/transfer to regional transport. It accommodates at least 2 modes of transport (city public transport, public transport, train, metro, aircraft) and is connected to the backbone transport network (metro, tram).

Top Stop (a significant stop): The stop is characterized by a high number of passengers, a short waiting time, access to city public transport and regional public transport and is connected to the backbone transport network (metro, tram).

Mid Stop (local stop): The stop is characterized by an average number of passengers, medium waiting time and access to city public transport or regional public transport.

Low Stop (peripheral stop): A stop predominantly on the outskirts of the city, with low number of passengers, an existing post (no shelter).

With regard to aesthetics and availability, the most common choice of a suitable power source at bus stops is the power supply cable, or possibly photovoltaic panels with battery storage as off-grid backup; photovoltaic panels or wind micro-turbines with battery storage may be used as a marginal solution suitable for insular systems. As standard connectivity at all types of stops, people expect Wi-Fi and the availability of a 4th or 5th generation mobile network.

TransitHub

electrical grid

photovoltaic panels with battery storage (off-grid/ backup)

electrical grid with battery storage (backup)

WiFi 5G/LTE

optical network

CityTransit Hub

electrical grid

photovoltaic panels with battery storage (off-grid/ backup)

electrical grid with battery storage (backup)

WiFi 5G/LTE

optical network

TopStop

electrical grid

photovoltaic panels with battery storage (off-grid/ backup)

electrical grid with battery storage (backup)

WiFi 5G/LTE

MidStop

electrical grid

photovoltaic panels with battery storage (off-grid/ backup)

wind microturbines with battery storage (off-grid/backup)

WiFi 5G/LTE

LowStop

electrical grid

photovoltaic panels with battery storage (off-grid/ backup)

wind microturbines with battery storage (off-grid/backup)

WiFi 5G/LTE

smart : one

Street furniture

People consider a bench, a waste bin and a shelter, and now also a bicycle stand as standard bus equipment; other required elements include built-in infotainment, a rack for electric scooters and a green roof shelter.

TransitHub

bench, waste bin, shelter over 10 m2

bike stand

built-in infotainment

green roof shelter

stand for electric bikes and electric scooters and a charging point

CityTransit Hub

bench, waste bin, shelter over 10 m2

bike stand

built-in infotainment

green roof shelter

stand for electric bikes and electric scooters and a charging point

TopStop

bench, waste bin, shelter over 10 m2

bike stand

built-in infotainment

green roof shelter

stand for electric bikes and electric scooters and a charging point

MidStop

bench, waste bin, shelter

bike stand

built-in infotainment

LowStop

bench, waste bin, shelter

bike stand

Surprisingly, people chose, probably because of the increasing number of incidents caused people by paying attention to their mobile phone, that they would like to be alerted about the arrival of a vehicle by a LED bollard or pavement.

They also require information panels, touch screens and speakers. They expect to be provided with Wi-Fi, electric outlet or USB.

Information and payment instruments

TransitHub

LED bollard/ pavement

two-sided information panel

touch-screen information panel

speakers

ticket machine

Wi-Fi, USB Electrical outlet

CityTransit Hub

LED bollard/ pavement

two-sided information panel

touch-screen information panel

speakers

ticket machine

Wi-Fi, USB Electrical outlet

TopStop

LED bollard/ pavement

two-sided information panel

touch-screen information panel

speakers

ticket machine

Wi-Fi, USB Electrical outlet

MidStop

LED bollard/ pavement

one-sided information panel

e-paper information panel

ticket machine

WiFi USB

LowStop

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e-paper information panel

push-up notification via mobile phone (email / sms) based on geolocation or pairing with Wi-Fi captive portal

WiFi USB

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People want to be informed

The old view of stops is limited only to their transport function. The new view, through the lenses of the smart stop concept, also addresses other needs of the place. People clearly want to be informed, among other things through information panels and displays, about what is happening in the city. They expect the public transport company to provide information about current connections, delays and closures and request a possibility to search for connections. Information they expect from the city include emergencies (smog situation, accidents…), but also visualization of city plans. The category of acceptable content comprises city’s concepts and campaigns (e.g., schoolchildren, travel by public transport), cultural and sporting events and social and community campaigns. Information expected from the city district includes events in the area, or news from the city district. The prevailing categories of information to be provided by third parties are weather forecasts (Czech Hydrometeorological Institute), train arrivals and departures, as well as current car traffic and car parking situation and the availability of micromobility (bicycles, scooters, etc.). Information to be provided by state organizations is clearly dominated by security-related emergencies, such as reports of the Police of the Czech Republic (search for missing persons/children) or nationwide to global events (Mobility Week, To Work on Bike, Let’s Clean Up the Czech Republic, Climate Week, etc.). It is logical that this information is required in places where people have chosen information panels, i.e. also for the MidStop category. It is also clear that the entire system will require a single content management system and an organization to operate it.

Information is sorted by importance from the left.

Public transport company

timetables current delays closures

vehicle movement, traffic information

connection search

direct connection to an application (web solution / android)

emergency line – connection with operator

City

emergency events (smog situation, accidents...)

visualization of city plans

promotion of city concepts and campaigns (e.g., schoolchildren, travel by public transport)

cultural and sporting events

social and community campaigns

City district

events in the area

city district news

data source for POI (Points of Interest on the map)

connection via RSS/ XML/API to the administrator system

Third parties

weather forecast (Czech Hydrometeorological Institute), train arrivals and departures

current car traffic situation

micromobility availability (bicycles, scooters, etc.)

events in the area

State interest

reports of the Police of the CR (searching for missing persons/ children)

nationwide events (Mobility Week, To Work on Bike, Let’s Clean Up the Czech Republic, etc.).

current availability of parking spaces

smart : one

DATA COLLECTION

: Passport and sensors :

What the public transport company should record by default

The following list is ranked according to the importance that people have determined, which may seem a slightly chaotic.

Generally speaking, in addition to the existing standard records, people want to know if the stop is monitored by a camera, whether it is barrier-free accessible, whether Wi-Fi is provided and whether there is a bicycle stand. For administrators and potential mobile application developers, information on network availability (electric, optical), street furniture (shelter or ticket machine), number of connections (for stop categorization), and surface type (for maintenance purposes) are important.

:

Static data (sorted by importance)

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

camera surveillance (yes/no) stop name barrier-free (yes/no) Wi-Fi availability direction of travel type of shelter municipality stop post ID ticket machine type micromobility (bicycle / electric bicycle / electric scooter stand - yes/no, number of places) surface (mastic asphalt, asphalt concrete, concrete, paving, interlocking pavement) number of times a public transport vehicle stops electrical connection photo administrator optical network availability

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

:

Dynamic information (sorted by importance):

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

camera recording (for police use) video-recognition for cleanliness monitoring (waste bin fill-level) data at least on temperature and humidity (weather station) data on dustiness (particle matters) data about the passage of vehicles in the given place / in the vicinity number of connections sound level meter data video-recognition for evaluation and recording of emergency events searched connections the amount of data transferred to the system data on vibration/shock camera only as an optical sensor (without video output) for counting people video-recognition for counting people communication with public transport vehicles communication with other vehicles use of the system number of tickets sold by type (for tariff strategy) video-recognition for vehicle counting

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

If the city aims to implement this concept, it is necessary to proceed strategically •

•

•

• People would like to feel safe at the stops and therefore want to give the Police the option to use surveillance camera recordings, but only in the event of an incident. To achieve a synergistic effect, cameras can also provide information on the number of passengers at stops or automatic detection of an emergency situation. Sensors that provide information on temperature, humidity, dust, noise and traffic load are also a desirable feature of smart stops. The administrator should also monitor the number of user connections and popular connection searches to gradually increase user friendliness.

•

•

•

Transfer all stops to be managed by or even to become part of the assets of a single organization, logically the public transport company; ideally long-term lease to a single administrator at a symbolic price Set up a digital passport, i.e., create a digital twin of all stops; initially, a unified records/passport in digital form, with a map and stop attributes will be sufficient Categorize stops according to a key parameter, e.g., the number of times public transport vehicles stop there according to the timetable or the number of passengers from a survey performed Establish a standard of features and services for each category at the level of the city Reflect the requirements for connectivity or other networks in projects of the city and municipal companies that are being implemented or planned Design an investment plan for top-level stops (highest impact, value for money), i.e., building of key points of the future network at traffic junctions Organize an ecosystem of content providers at city level, develop rules for appropriate content and secure staff to operate the system

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V4 innovation : awarding personalities 12 CELEBRITIES FROM FOUR COUNTRIES RECEIVED A NEW AWARD OF V4 PERSONALITIES WITH A SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION TO SMART CITY - THE SMARTONE INNOVATIVE PEOPLE AWARD - AT URBIS 2019 IN BRNO. THE AWARD WAS GIVEN FOR IMPORTANT ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE FIELD OF INNOVATION, NAMELY GOOD PRACTICE EXAMPLES THAT ARE WORTHY OF BEING FOLLOWED (SO-CALLED DEMONSTRATORS), FOR THE GREATEST CONTRIBUTION TO THE DEVELOPMENT AND REMOVAL OF BARRIERS TO INNOVATION, AND FOR INNOVATIVE WORK AT NATIONAL LEVEL.

smart : one

Category: Innovation Ambassador 2019 – the best demonstrator Václav Jáchim and Petr Pavlinec (Vysočina Region) - an innovative leader in public sector, awarded for conceptual approach to innovation from the position of the region and its digital services (regional identity space, eAmbulance, Rowanet, educational projects and projects with Taiwan…) and the ability to work with all types of projects, for the Vysočina Fund and for supporting the local economy.

Daniel Morys (Ostrava Public Transport Director, Smart Transport Company Demonstrator) for the very progressive management of a customer-oriented transport company, for the data management of the city company, for the courage in introducing innovations inside and outside the city.

Vít Skála (Social Entrepreneur, Demonstrator of the Coworking Center in Humpolec, he was the founder of the eStat.cz project and the introduction of GIS in small municipalities), for the creation of community and coworking centres, for supporting the local economy and disadvantaged citizens.

Mgr. Petr Jelinek, Mgr. Roman Novotny, Mgr. Jana Plachetska, all 4E consulting, s.r.o. and JUDr. Lukáš Klee, Ph.D., LL.M., MBA, CCConsulting s.r.o. (authors of the public tender for quality) for a breakthrough activity that will enable local governments to use standard and legal procedures for introducing quality and innovation into public services, thus surpassing existing competitions for the lowest price.

Zdeněk Zajíček (ICT Union, author of the law on the citizens´ right to digital services) for the enforcement of the right to digital services in legislative form.

Vladimír Dzurilla (government commissioner responsible for the elimination of resorting to digitization) for promoting the national transformation strategy Digital Czechia 2.0.

Markéta Pěchoučková (Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of the Czech Republic), for the application of innovations and human-centred design of services and evidence based policy in public administration, for the initiation of the project Better Social Services (https:// www.lepsisocialnisluzby.cz), to design specific improvements in senior care in state-supported organizations, but also to provide a methodology of human-centred design freely available for similar projects.

Category: Innovation Ambassador 2019 – sharing and collaboration Miloslav Jurík (Smart City Club SK) for organizing Smart City activities in Slovakia, for promoting sharing and cooperation in V4 and supporting the dissemination of innovations in the form of a joint Catalogue of Innovative Public Services.

Mateusz Jarosiewicz (Smart City Polska) for organizing Smart City activities in Poland, for promoting V4 sharing and collaboration, and for promoting the dissemination of innovations through a joint Catalogue of Innovative Public Services.

Category: Innovation Ambassador 2019 – the greatest benefit Miriam Letašiová (General Director of the Business Environment and Innovation Section of the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic) for launching the first subsidy program to support Smart City in Slovakia, for process innovation in state strategy development (Industry Action Plan 4.0 and Intelligent Cities), supporting V4 in the form of Joint Statement of the V4 Ministries signed on 5.3. 2019 in Bratislava.

Samu Semerey (Lechner Consult, Hungary) for the development of Smart City in Hungary, for promoting V4 sharing and collaboration, and for promoting the dissemination of innovations through a joint Catalogue of Innovative Public Services.

Josef Večeř (Královská s.r.o.) for his ability to introduce and explain innovations to the mayors of small municipalities, for spreading the spirit of sharing and cooperation in joint implementation of innovative public services in the territory according to the RASC methodology.

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5 steps to a smart development of social entrepreneurship in the Czech Republic

ON 6 MAY 2019, A ROUND TABLE ON SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP WAS HELD IN BRNO AS PART OF THE URBIS FAIR IN THE CITYONE ARENA. REPRESENTATIVES OF SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS, UMBRELLA ORGANIZATIONS, ACADEMIA AND THE ECONOMIC SPHERE DISCUSSED THE COMPETITIVENESS AND INNOVATIVENESS OF SOCIAL ENTERPRISES IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC.

The Smart City concept is mainly about making citizens’ lives in cities and municipalities better. In the Czech Republic, there are approximately 1 million people, i.e., 10% of the population, with a disability.

These fellow citizens suffer from a 3 times higher unemployment rate than the general population. The situation is similar for other target groups (long-term or repeatedly unemployed, people leaving institutional facilities, persons after serving a sentence, etc.), whom the so-called work integration social enterprises help to return to a full life.

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·

: What were the conclusions of the live discussion? ·

The effectiveness of social enterprises is largely dependent on the target group they work with. While a decent performance can be achieved with people with minor physical disabilities, the situation is completely different when working with people with intellectual disability.

·

Whatever target group the social enterprise works with, it must have more employees for one position than an ordinary commercial business (higher sickness rate) plus additional workers, or part of the work load of operational managers available for providing psychosocial support. This significantly increases overheads compared to conventional companies and reduces competitiveness.

There is no clear systemic support in the Czech Republic to compensate for this business disadvantage. Social enterprises have to fulfil all obligations as any other company. Including the payment of VAT, health and social insurance contributions, payments for employee health checks, control reports, electronic records of sales, etc. (Section 78 of Act No. 435/2004 Coll., The Employment Act, concerns only one of the many target groups on which social enterprises focus.)

Despite this “handicap”, many social enterprises have been successfully operating in the open commercial market for a long time thanks to sophisticated work organization and relatively lower wages.

smart : one · ·

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·

·

·

·

·

Few social enterprises make a profit in the first five years of their activity.

Public administration practically ignores social entrepreneurship, with a few exceptions. In some regions, there are glimmers of hope on the horizon.

The institute of socially responsible public procurement is practically not used. Access to public procurement is very difficult for social enterprises. Administration, awareness of these contracts, proof of qualification for larger contracts, etc.

It is necessary to develop national and regional social entrepreneurship strategies that will also address systemic support for social enterprises.

Given the local dimension of social entrepreneurship, this topic should be particularly attractive to mayors of towns and municipalities.

There is still low awareness of social entrepreneurship. Who should provide this information? The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MoLSA)? There were no representatives at the round table. Regions? Some are working on it. In particular, the Moravian-Silesian, Pardubice, Hradec Králové regions, and Vysočina region is just starting. Schools? Social economy is already taught at several universities. Social enterprises? Social entrepreneurs themselves do not have time and resources for more than their own business and local activities. Umbrella organizations? They have no financial resources for their operation. Regional groupings? The Social Innovation and Enterprise Cluster (SINEC) is active in the Moravian-Silesian region; in Vysočina region, Vysočina Social Enterprise Association has been launched, working closely with the Social Economy Innovation Centre in Humpolec. In Hradec Králové and Pardubice regions, social entrepreneurship is coordinated and developed directly at the level of regional authorities.

There is not much awareness of innovation in social enterprises. Yet, we have examples of good practice, be it product innovation or process innovation. There is a lack of visibility of these examples, see previous point. The role of regional centres of social economy? E.g. the SINEC cluster in the Ostrava region, Social Economy Innovation Centre in Humpolec.

A bill on social enterprise went in the wrong direction.

Legislation is needed to set the boundaries, clearly define what a social enterprise is. However, a law must not impose additional bureaucratic demands on highly overburdened social entrepreneurs without adequate financial support.

The ideas of the MoLSA concerning the support of social enterprises (Call No. 129) are unrealistic. A detailed business plan on a very limited space, with deliveries ensured for two years before applying for a subsidy, clear profitability within two years. All of this in a situation when evaluation of applications takes several months and many things in the market change in the meanwhile. The strict application of these criteria by the evaluation committee excludes a number of promising projects of successful entrepreneurs, which have the potential to help needy people in the territory.

: So what action should be taken next? 5 smart steps 1.

Involve official representatives of social enterprises in the preparation of the Social Enterprise Act.

2.

Elaborate national and regional strategies of social entrepreneurship. The strategies must be carried by the state and regions.

3.

Define systemic support for social enterprises in the framework of strategies.

4.

Provide systemic financial support to umbrella and support organizations, regional centres of social economy. The foundations of these centres are already in the Pardubice and Hradec Králové regions, a cluster operates in the Moravian-Silesian region and a centre is starting in the Vysočina region. It is necessary to combine national, regional, municipal, private and European resources as well as the cooperation of these organizations, regions and the MoLSA.

5.

Ensure access of social enterprises to public contracts, including small-scale contracts—for many social enterprises more attractive than contracts awarded under the Public Procurement Act. Instruct state, regional and municipal organizations to primarily use local social enterprises to meet their needs and to use the services of other commercial companies only if social enterprises are unable to meet the requirements. Increase awareness of social enterprises about public procurement and of representatives of public sector institutions about active social enterprises. Encourage the creation of on-line and printed versions of social enterprise catalogues. The role of MoLSA and regions or regional centres of social economy.

Round table participants Mgr. Iveta Vrbová, MBA, director of Háta, o. p. s, executive of the social enterprise AKROBRAB s. r. o.

Ing. Milan Venclík, MBA, chairman of the Board of Directors of the Chamber of Social Enterprises Ing. Karel Rychtář, director and member of the Board of Directors of TESSEA ČR, z. s.

Mgr. Markéta Dubnová, PhD., DiS., head of the Department of Social Work at the College of Polytechnics Jihlava Ing. Jana Smetanová, consultant of the Centre for Investment, Development and Innovation Ing. Lenka Štraubová, specialist in the area of financing social enterprises In the role of moderator: PhDr. Ing. Vít Skála, Ph.D., chairman of the Board of Coworking Cooperative Spolu, owner of the social enterprise PTL, s. r. o.

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The practice of Czech cities in preparing

Smart City strategies CONCLUSIONS FROM THE DISCUSSION PANEL AT THE URBIS FAIR ON 6 JUNE 2019, WHICH EMERGED FROM A DEBATE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF CITIES ABOUT THEIR EXPERIENCE WITH DEVELOPING SC STRATEGIES. MICHAEL KAŠPAR (KOLÍN), KATEŘINA VOSIČKOVÁ AND VÁCLAV LUŽNÝ (PROSTĚJOV), MICHAL BAČOVSKÝ (ŽĎÁR NAD SÁZAVOU) AND ROMAN MRÁZ (PŘÍBRAM).

· ·

: Kolín ·

One of the key concepts was the concept of social policy Practical approach of the Labour Office: using the OPE 92 grant call—no big strategies are created, but instead passports, websites, simple strategic documents Making use of natural intelligence of the participants

We have described the SC concept in several points. We see the existence of too many concepts and the resulting fragmentation as a problem. As a result, services are not compatible, because they are not based on one holistic model. · · ·

·

·

DATA: Data ownership is handled in each individual case.

We have a rule that the data always belonged to the city.

Making data accessible (opendata) – a definition is required. Different suppliers can then provide the same services in different locations.

Dashboard – presents data in a useful form (in a specific scenario). We can see the outputs continuously and can analyse them. This leads to improvements in the PDCA system.

One of the milestones of the city development – changing the boundaries of the PID (Prague Integrated Transport): Kolín–Prague, which also led to dynamic timetables indicating the actual positions of buses

: Příbram · ·

Smart Příbram 2030 – a better place; inspired by Kolín Setting up of Smart City working group (committee). The composition of the committee is cross-sectional, across the population (young and old, representatives of different urban entities). Setting up of the committee (established by the City Council, i.e., at a political level), gives an opportunity to work with visions and it is not so much affected by the negative experience of officials in implementing previous changes. This experience usually hinders significantly innovative ideas, which is natural. The committee has a more universal perspective. Its tool is a visionary corner—the so-called melt-

smart : one

·

·

·

·

pot—where other projects are brought to life. Officials are then in charge of implementing the changes approved at political level, under correct legislative conditions.

We are currently dealing with what data to use and how to use and store it, what OpenData will mean. We are aware that this issue will be addressed on an ongoing basis throughout the implementation of the Smart City programme The first Smart City solutions were Citizen Portal and Official Notice Board. These projects were crucial, because they include a conceptual approach to data warehouse decision-making and the question of how to work with and protect data. We are working on a vision for the future: what the volume of data will be, how it will be protected and provided. We need to consider in advance how to demonstrably speed up processes (especially eiDAS, IaaS, “On premise” solutions) Another task is to deal with transport. All functional parameters are part of a tender: passenger handling (cards), information systems, PID negotiations First experience: Do not purchase hardware, purchase comprehensive services that include complex servicing.

The management and purchase of the service is thus predictable financially. We work with a budget perspective of 5 years and further take into account service upgrade

· ·

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The concept was prepared using a OPE grant, including the creation of the position of “Smart City Coordinator” Smart City was part of all election programmes of all parties; the difference is in the perception of the essence and outputs of Smart City

: Prostějov We have prepared the document “Smart City Manual” (14 chapters) internally. It was created in cooperation of the office and politicians.

· · · · ·

CONTENT: replaces complex methodological manuals, tackles the issues directly, is practical is not based on technological solutions gives guidance on how to implement Smart City sub-projects will become the basis of a new strategic plan provides inter alia for the announcement of architectural competitions in the case of investment projects

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A signpost (Action Plan) has been prepared in a similar way as in Kolín, to be updated every two years The City Council commission is responsible for monitoring compliance Critical document including a SWOT analysis revealed real problems of the city. The manual addresses these issues.

We focused on a holistic approach, because communication between individual departments of the Office is crucial now The OPE 92 Call was used to implement Smart City into the Strategic Plan. Furthermore, blue-green infrastructure and mobility were dealt with externally Smart City also includes the involvement of children in its participatory part. Children draw how they imagine our city of the future Technological solutions are listed in the Action Plan (AP), such as Energy Saver (return 5–6 years); combined heat and power unit, ČEZ energo; water monitoring in 1/2 hour interval; photovoltaic power plant 29 kWp, CZK 700k, 30 MWh, 30.7 t CO2; rainwater management; use of online services

: Žďár nad Sázavou BASIC QUESTION: whether to use an external contractor to prepare the concept.

Pros and cons – an external contractor does not have sufficient knowledge of the city and a relationship to individual stakeholders and key officials OPEN QUESTION: how to win over for the implementation of the SC program people who tend to consider who submits the proposals as more important than the content of the proposals. We need efficient and cooperating personalities, not positional players. · · ·

SC implementation plan and its integration into the strategic plan of the city will be crucial We will promote and implement the SC program using a 5-year investment plan (budget and budget outlook) The relatively clear idea of the Smart City project we had at the beginning of the project has gradually undergone some substantial changes during the project supported by the grant

: Conclusions from the discussion Smart City is a concept for innovation of territorial public services in conditions of Digital Transformation. Its focus is both an organizational change and the use of new technologies. However, it is based on the fundamental principle of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, from which the Digital Transformation and Smart City in fact stem, and that is the emergence of a “Digital Twin”. This means a digital model of the service, which consists of electronically executed scenarios over the necessary data model. It is clear from what has been mentioned that Smart City is a major (revolutionary) change that aims to innovate territorial public services (which need to be desired and accepted by the clients—citizens). This innovated service is provided by a value chain of supplier solutions that together create and offer such an innovative service to municipal authorities.

Municipalities alone do not have the capacity to participate in such value chains, nor is it part of their role. Such involvement would mean interference with and disruption of the business environment. For example, by making the rollout of a service developed in this way more difficult, with all the consequences in terms of availability, standardization and consequently the quality of the service.

smart : one It is the vision that plays an essential role for the self-government authorities. This vision, through commenting, discussion and the approval process, must represent a consensus on municipal change and innovation for the substantial forces in the city. It must be communicated and shared so that citizens can become acquainted and identify with it, and make their decisions independently. Including election preferences. If only a few people hold the vision, even if there are key players in this narrow group, such as the mayor, it will not work. In addition, it is necessary to win over the whole office, key heads of departments, the staff of municipal organizations, and ultimately the whole population. We are talking about the creation of the Municipal Innovation Consortium.

By involvement in preparation of and collaboration on the concept, it is possible and necessary to get engaged these key members for the Municipal Innovation Consortium: politicians across the council, representatives of social and business structures. Equally, it is also necessary to win over officials, departmental heads and office staff who find themselves in an uncomfortable zone due to “smart” solutions in that they lack support for decision-making and action with reference to higher workload and laboriousness. It is necessary to convince them and show that introducing innovations in the right direction can in fact make work easier.

“Smart City” label as an attribute—projects marked in this way usually have a better starting position for implementation.

: Conclusions in relation to state administration Cities need to avoid “getting lost in translation”, i.e., they do not accept any complex and overcomplicated methodologies and guidelines; they require simple, unambiguous and proven principles and guidelines, ideally supplemented with examples. Documents that are clearly detached from the practice of the municipal authority cannot work and be useful. The easiest way would be a system of planning based on specific goals.

Cities would welcome assistance and support in preparing the administration of innovations, in particular in the area of public procurement. For example, they need to launch calls for tender for conceptual documents with the application of quality parameters, not price-based; this could be resolved by defining the tenders in such a way that the city determines a fixed amount that is available (including amounts from a grant that it would otherwise have to return) and is able to evaluate which of the bidders offers a better solution at the given price. This procedure is not only in compliance with the existing legislation, it is also required by it with regard to preliminary financial con-

trol. Nevertheless, the methodological apparatus of the calls and the Office for the Protection of Competition interpret the legislation differently, always to the detriment of the quality of the work and thus of the municipalities.

Low price usually means, among other things, that the supplier cannot go deep enough. It also entails a significant corruption risk, which then threatens the entire programme that is being continuously compiled from many projects.

Cities would also welcome a much more flexible approach— initially, they are usually not aware of all the elements and documents that they will need when applying for a grant for a Smart City concept. This will only be revealed in the process of preparing the concept—which is also why it always contains an analytical part. It is only after this stage that the requirements for a specific form and scope of innovations of territorial public services are defined.

Grant calls also push municipalities to buy solutions: SW, HW, data, communication… They are forced to take on the role of a research and development organization and to elaborate partial concepts. Municipal authorities should be able to “turn on” a particular service, not to develop it themselves. We have experience from eGovernment projects, where we are now faced with a situation where almost 8,000 individual pilot information systems have been created, which does not allow us to make use of networking as a natural phenomenon for municipalities, not even at the level of data, processes and administration systems (such as internal set-up of budgeting, accounting, property records, filing service, etc.). For Smart City projects, legislative standardization is almost zero compared to eGovernment, and thus the risk is approaching certainty.

There is no systemic support from regional authorities. Support and interconnectedness of systems at the regional level is essential and crucial for the entire Smart City range. Where appropriate, methodological support, joint projects and funding can be applied. This is where the fact that the Smart City concept was originally developed for agglomerations with population of 20 million comes into play. In our conditions, we therefore have to reconsider the feasibility and sustainability of most innovated public services in cities that are 3 orders of magnitude lower than what the basic concept was designed for. Therefore, the cooperation of local self-government authorities is necessary. For example, through innovative associations such as the CZECH.UP, or in natural higher self-governing units. #Miroslav Šafařík and David Bárta

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Open data standardization OPEN DATA HAS BECOME AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE CONCEPTS OF EGOVERNMENT, OPEN GOVERNANCE AND SMART CITY. IN TODAY’S WORLD A DATA ITEM LACKS INFORMATION VALUE; THE ACTUAL INFORMATION IS TO BE FOUND IN THE CONNECTION TO OTHER DATA FROM VARIOUS SOURCES. THEREFORE, DATA NEEDS TO BE PUT IN CONTEXT AND IT IS CRUCIAL TO ENSURE DATA INTEROPERABILITY. IN OPEN DATA PRACTICE, THIS MEANS PUBLISHING ALL DATA BASED ON STANDARDS.

A city, and on another level also public administration as such, consists of sub-systems that must cooperate and use each other’s resources. The “smartness” of the city then represents how well connected urban systems, people, organizations, finance, facilities and infrastructure are, that is, how interoperable they are from the perspective of the services they provide, and especially from the perspective of using data.

: A bit of theory In the European Union, interoperability is defined by the European Interoperability Framework (EIF) – https://ec.europa.eu/isa2/eif_ en at several different levels, ranging from technical interoperability to legislative interoperability. For Open Data, it is the concept of data interoperability that plays a central role. It can be briefly described as the ability to access machine-readable data, process it from multiple sources, often automatically, without losing the context and meaning of the data and without losing its integrity.

only applies if all relevant rules and recommendations are actually followed, which often is not the case. In the context of Smart Cities, it is more difficult to ensure technical interoperability for sensor data or specific technical devices used, and it is often necessary to develop an appropriate integration platform for such data.

Syntactic interoperability concerns the specification and adherence to specific data formats, communication protocols, and other system features that allow data to be accessed from different sources in a standard way.

Semantic interoperability focuses on how to describe and map data items across systems to minimize ambiguity and ensure a consistent understanding of the meaning of individual pieces of data. This can be done by creating common dictionaries and a uniform classification of terms. This is crucial for combining data, deriving new information and ensuring a consistent understanding of the elements by all communicating parties.

Technical interoperability Metadata Interoperability in the field of Open Data is ensured by using standard web technologies for data exchange, especially HTTP protocol. This could lead to the belief that it is provided automatically. However, this

concerns especially the structure and importance of metadata (data about data) and compatibility of data usage conditions.

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: Open formal standards The main obstacle to achieving data interoperability is the lack of a general agreement on how to represent data and metadata from different sources in a consistent way when it is published to users and application developers. In the area of public administration, this situation is gradually addressed by standards issued as open formal standards (OFS – https://ofn.gov.cz) within the meaning of their definition in Act No. 106/1999 Coll. An OFS standardizes the publication of Open Data of a certain type that appears across different Open Data providing organizations, e.g., across different cities and municipalities.

We may use an events calendar as an example. Currently, there are a number of municipalities and cities that make their calendar of events available on their websites and various info panels, but not in the form of Open Data. This way of presentation serves only one purpose. Provided a potential visitor is able to find the website or info panel, they can view the events calendar.

Figure 1: Cities and municipalities, represented as grey rectangles, provide their events calendars as open data in the same form defined by an open formal standard.

Only a handful of these bodies also publish their events calendar as Open Data. Yet this form of data allows plenty of other uses in addition to the one described above. For instance, various web services or applications can use this data to plan trips routes for their users and take into account events in towns and municipalities to help attract more visitors to these places. In fact, open data can also be a data source for the application that displays the calendar of events on the city’s website.

Currently, it makes no sense to develop or have a supplier develop an application for a specific city that makes information available on the website of that city without first having that information available as Open Data.

It is meaningful to develop applications using this Open Data, and not only for a specific city, but universally for all cities and municipalities adhering to a given OFS. The only reason we post information on websites is to get the information to the widest possible audience. Ignoring Open Data is completely contradictory to this intention.

The aim of OFS is to make it clear that the given data type should be published as Open Data and at the same time unify its publication method in such a way that different services can draw data from all providers with minimal integration work.

Figure 1 schematically outlines the situation in which different cities and municipalities, shown as grey rectangles, provide their events calendars in the form of open data represented as blue dots. The fact that circles with blue fill and a blue border

Figure 2: Cities and municipalities, represented as grey rectangles, provide their events calendars as open data in various non-unified forms.

are used indicates a uniform form of data corresponding to OFS for events calendars. The only difference is the size of the dots, which indicates a different number of events in the calendars of individual municipalities and cities.

The amount of work that creators of applications and services over Open Data need to put in is substantially reduced. They only need to collect Open Data for events calendars from individual providers, and instead of complicated pre-processing, they can invest their time and resources in their user-friendly use, for example, to plan trips.

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leader : one needs to obtain data for its service in different structures and convert them into a single structure. For each new structure, this means additional unnecessary programming for the data processor.

In today’s Open Data, however, the situation is not so rosy, or, in fact, blue in the context of our example. It is often the case that the provider comes up with their own form of data. In reality, the situation looks more like in Figure 2, where each provider of the same data type provides data in a different form, if at all.

The data provided is displayed as different shapes of different colours, which schematically represents the situation where the open data provided for events calendars differ in various ways.

Semantic interoperability

In what ways can the provided data of the same type differ?

Let’s take the perspective of the levels of interoperability described in the theoretical introduction of our article.

is represented in Figure 2 by the fill colour. Different colours indicate a different understanding of the meaning of data. This includes, for example, an understanding of the meaning of the term event in the calendar of events. While one provider interprets it broadly as referring to all events held in its territory, another provider includes only events officially organized by the provider.

Technical interoperability

Metadata interoperability

is represented by a border style in Figure 2. A solid border line indicates that the provider provides open data for an events calendar as a single file for download. The dashed line indicates that the provider provides access to individual calendar items through an application interface (API). The data processor must therefore obtain data for its service through various technical interfaces.

is represented in Figure 2 by the border colour. Different colours indicate a different way of cataloguing datasets in the National Open Data Catalogue. This is caused by different providers naming their datasets for the events calendar differently, e.g., Events Calendar vs. Interesting Events, or using different unrelated keywords, such as occasion vs. event. This aspect also includes various incompatible conditions for using datasets. For instance, one data provider allows the data to be used without restrictions, while another one requires indicating the author of the data.

Syntactic interoperability is represented in Figure 2 by shape. Different shapes mean that different data providers structure (shape) their data differently. In the simplest case when data is provided as CSV tables, different shapes indicate different table columns. Thus, the data processor

All of these, seemingly minor, differences mean a lot of work for data processors to prepare the data for use. Studies show that data specialists (not only in the field of open data but in

Admission Amount

Location

name

geometry

m

n

conditions

amount

address

...

n

name

value currency

admission

... m

Public Event n

Person or Company

m iri

location n

name

m

description

contact

name n

m organizer

n

id given Name family Name

Contact duration

...

email twitter url

m Time interval

... beginning end Figure 3 – a conceptual model of a calendar of events

smart : one general) spend 50–80 % of their time preparing data before they can start using it meaningfully.

OFS solves data unification in all the above mentioned dimensions.

Let us take a closer look at the open formal standard for the calendar of events and explain what and how the standards unify.

An open formal standard begins with a description of important entities and relationships, which unifies the way we understand the data. For the calendar of events it is certainly the very concept of an Event and its properties, such as title and description.

Further entities include Event location or Event admission. Here we use a standard software engineering tool called conceptual modelling. Important entities and relationships between them are represented in the form of a conceptual diagram that graphically depicts these entities and relationships. In this way the basic data semantics is unified. An example from an open formal standard for an events calendar is shown in Figure 3.

An open formal standard also unifies the data format and specific data structures. In our example, it specifies that events from the events calendar are to be provided in the JSON format, and it determines a specific JSON structure for representing events and related entities according to the conceptual diagram. This unifies syntax and ensures full syntactic interoperability.

data processor can find open data for events calendars of different providers, for example using the keyword events calendar.

: Conclusion It is necessary for both publishing organizations and data users to have a common understanding of how data is structured and how different parts of a dataset are related to each other, and how they relate to other datasets. Ensuring interoperability of published Open Data, adherence to standardized publishing methods and standards are crucial for data use. Unfortunately, the reality is that organizations often decide how to structure their data and metadata without considering the interoperability needs of the wider ecosystem they become part of. Nonetheless, open formal standards are gradually being promoted in the Open Data field, as evidenced, for example, by the approach of the cities of Zlín, Kolín, Slaný, Trutnov and the municipality of Dolní Břežany, which were actively involved in the pilot phase of the project titled “Open Formal Standards and Municipal Open Data”. The aim of the project is to support an effective use of public information of cities and municipalities by their standardization through open formal standards. The first phase focuses on cultural, sporting and other events, city news, sports grounds, tourist destinations and important places in the area.

About the authors Furthermore, OFS provides detailed documentation based on the conceptual diagram for each data structure element. It uniquely identifies the single meaning of each element in the data structure and, in conjunction with the conceptual diagram, ensures full semantic interoperability.

OFS also provides a sample catalogue entry to the National Open Data Catalogue so that the data records for the events calendars of individual providers look the same and can be searched in the same way. Figure 4 shows that, thanks to the unified keywords, the

Figure 4 National open data registry

The authors are the principal investigators of the “Implementation of Open Data Strategies II” project carried out under the auspices of the Office of Chief eGovernment Architect, Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic.

One of the goals of the project is to create and enforce standards for publication and cataloguing of open data of the public administration of the Czech Republic with the contribution of open formal standards.

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The relevance of innovation rankings DO YOU TRUST IN RANKINGS? IS PRAGUE REALLY THE 11TH SMART CITY IN EUROPE?

innovation indexes and in-depth analysis of the 12 most relevant, our research revealed three short comings:

IS ORLOVÁ REALLY THE WORST CZECH CITY TO LIVE? WOULD YOU LIKE TO LIVE IN ŘÍČANY, THE CITY WITH THE HIGHEST QUALITY OF LIFE BASED ON A RANKING? WHAT IS THE QUALITY OF LIFE, WHAT IS INNOVATION AND HOW TO MEASURE IT?

1. There is no clear definition of innovation What do we really mean when we say “innovation?”. The term is so widely used that it’s meaning has meandered. Even in interviews with leading innovation experts, there is no consistent definition of innovation. And, when we look at innovation through an urban lens, things blur further. https://www.ideatovalue.com/inno/nickskillicorn/2016/03/innovation-15-experts-

Urban DNA in partnership with a researcher from Stanford University during 2018-2019 have done the research on rankings and here is a summary of the findings. https://issuu.com/francescopapa1/docs/innovation_dsui_white_paper_u-dna_ v3.11_jul19 1

What cities do and how they develop will define our future. To tackle modern challenges cities must innovate. Innovation can reduce poverty, wasteful resource consumption and can achieve higher economic outcomes. It is key to creating a diverse economy and building regional resilience. These benefits have been substantiated in the many ways we measure innovation.

Over 40 indexes compare cities on the basis of innovation. While individually these indexes are rich and helpful to start a discussion, they measure different things. From a review of these 40

-share-innovation-definition/ 2

We took a birds-eye view of how indexes are defining innovation based on what 12 of the most relevant indexes measure. We analysed nearly 500 indicators from these innovation indexes and recategorized them into 15 topics and 6 themes.

Figure 1 highlights the wide variance in how indexes perceive and measure innovation.

The composition of each index is different: from an index that measures innovation with 75% of indicators related to technology (EU Innovation Scorecard), 3 to those that have a similar bias towards business and economic (London: The AI Growth Capital of Europe, The Logic of Innovation Locations).

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Figure 1 Extract of key terms underpinning the 12 prominent Urban Innovation Indexes

While each of these themes and topics is relevant and important, the lack of consistency across indexes prevents cities from seeking a clear a path to innovation performance. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/industry/innovation/facts-figures/scoreboards_en 3

2. We measure inputs; yet cities seek to achieve impact Urban innovation does not just occur. It requires careful management, strategic implementation, and patience. There is a logic and discrete components that make up urban innovation. This reasoning is fundamental to understand how a city sets itself up to address innovation.

Figure 3: Mapping around 500 innovation indicators against the different category of a logical framework

Input

Process

Output

Outcome

Impacts

The raw materials provide a basic for programs (resources, technical expertise, relationships, personnel, policies, assets)

Action taken to meet a program’s objectives (hiring staff, purchasing equipment, constructing infrastructure, technical assistance)

Tangible and intangible products that result from program activities (number of start-ups, number of patents, personnel trained, etc.)

Benefits that a program is designed to deliver (improve confidence willingness, GDP growth, etc.)

Higher level goals that the program will contribute to (increased access, improvements to public safety, improved prosperity, etc.)

Figure 2: Example of a logical process to measure and deliver urban innovation

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leader : one Such logical framework, as illustrated by figure 2, is usually adopted by many organizations to show how inputs lead to impact. This logical pathway is useful for program evaluation and identifying strategies to improve and sustain performances.

We applied this framework to the nearly 500 indicators by mapping them against the different categories: input, process, output, outcome, and impact. What we found was shocking: 90% of all indicators measure inputs (Figure 3).

Input indicators are perhaps easier to measure yet without the logical connections to process, output, outcomes and finally impact, cities won’t deliver innovation effectively.

Conclusion Now, more than ever, cities must implement strategies, attract investment, engage people and make new policies to drive innovation. Urban innovation is the vital ingredient to achieve and sustain progress, particularly as cities are so wellpositioned to tackle a host of increasingly worrisome global challenges.

Instead of deploying bespoke solutions to address common challenges, cities must look beyond their differences and share practices, learn and most importantly collaborate with other cities to deliver innovation.

Innovation indexes are starting points to inform the conversation. However, there are significant gaps that make it difficult for cities to swiftly and confidently manage innovation. Inconsistent definitions, lack of a clear logical process to achieve impact and absence of contextual differences between cities do not help city leaders drive innovation.

Figure 4: Global Urban Population (UN)

About the Authors

3. Smaller and developing cities, where most people live, are overlooked Big cities are the main focus of innovation indexes. Innovation hubs like New York, London, Singapore or Paris, boast far more than 500,000 inhabitants, are located in developed regions, and continue to rank high in these indexes. As a result, the baseline for urban innovation is based on the performance of these large innovation hubs.

While these cities are notable for their size, they are home to a modest percentage of the world’s urban dwellers. Presently, most people live in smaller cities (less than 500,000 habitants; Figure 4) which arguably have a greater need for innovation.

Kate Gasparro is a National Science Foundation Research Fellow at Stanford University’s Global Project Center. Her research bridges public policy and civic engineering in order to help local government officials improve infrastructure delivery in their communities.

Kate has conducted policy reviews and infrastructure projects in the Americas and Africa.

Francesco Papa is committed to advance cities and joined Urban DNA to support this journey.

His main focus is on ‘packaging’ smart city solutions to support scale market adoption. He holds 2 master’s degrees from Imperial London and Exeter. His ambitions are growing towards Innovation; SDGs; Circular Economy and Societal Engagement.

https://esa.un.org/unpd/wup/publications/files/wup2014-highlights.pdf 3

Smaller cities are often challenged when it comes to leveraging public funds or attracting new talents. Yet, their small sizes offer more agility in decision-making, allowing them to realize innovations faster.

Innovation indexes are also missing out on innovation in developing cities. By 2100, Lagos is forecast to host nearly 100 million habitants. And, by that time, the 20 biggest cities will be located only in developing regions mostly Africa and Asia (Figure 5).

Graham Colclough is founding partner of Urban DNA. He is driven by the ambition to support systemic urban transformation to improve and sustain fairer better lives for society worldwide. And is passionate about pulling together the capacities, beliefs, tools, and business models to do so, fast.

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Figure 5: Top 20 cities by population in 2010 and in 2100

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Bright and dark sides of SUMPs PLÁN UDRŽITELNÉ MĚSTSKÉ MOBILITY (SUMP) K LÉTU 2019 ZPRACOVALA VĚTŠINA MĚST V ČR, PO KTERÝCH JE TENTO DOKUMENT, NEBO JEHO ZJEDNODUŠENÁ VERZE ZAMĚŘENÁ POUZE NA VEŘEJNOU A CYKLISTICKOU DOPRAVU (SUMF), VYŽADOVÁN PRO ČERPÁNÍ PROSTŘEDKŮ Z EU NA ROZVOJ DOPRAVNÍ INFRASTRUKTURY. VĚTŠINA ZE ZPRACOVANÝCH SUMP/SUMF PROŠLA POSOUZENÍM KOMISE PRO POSUZOVÁNÍ DOKUMENTŮ MĚSTSKÉ MOBILITY ZŘÍZENÉ PŘI MINISTERSTVU DOPRAVY, KTERÁ POSUZUJE ZEJMÉNA SOULAD PŘEDLOŽENÉHO DOKUMENTU S DOTAČNÍMI PRAVIDLY. TENTO ČLÁNEK MÁ NABÍDNOUT SHRNUTÍ NĚKOLIKA VYBRANÝCH POZNATKŮ Z PROCESU PŘÍPRAVY A ZPRACOVÁNÍ NĚKTERÝCH SUMP/SUMF Z POHLEDU ZPRACOVATELE NÁRODNÍ METODIKY SUMP.

Ultimate solution for cycling issue

THE SUSTAINABLE URBAN MOBILITY PLAN (SUMP) HAS BEEN DEVELOPED BY MOST CITIES IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC, AFTER WHICH THIS DOCUMENT, OR ITS SIMPLIFIED VERSION FOCUSING ONLY ON PUBLIC TRANSPORT AND CYCLING (SUMF), IS REQUIRED FOR EU FUNDING FOR TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT. MOST OF THE PREPARED SUMP / SUMF HAVE BEEN ASSESSED

BY THE COMMISSION FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF URBAN MOBILITY DOCUMENTS ESTABLISHED BY THE CZECH MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT, WHICH ASSESSES THE COMPLIANCE OF THE SUBMITTED DOCUMENT WITH THE SUBSIDY RULES. THIS PAPER IS INTENDED TO OFFER A 2019 SUMMARY OF SOME SELECTED FINDINGS FROM THE PROCESS OF PREPARATION AND PROCESSING OF SOME SUMP / SUMF FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE NATIONAL SUMP METHODOLOGY.

smart : one SUMP / SUMF are strategy papers that have a limited level of detail. Their purpose, together with the involvement of stakeholders and the public, is to set a sustainable direction for the city‘s transport development, to set goals that we want to achieve, and not to tend to defend the already planned plans.

It is wrong that the document addresses solely the current traffic problems of the city. By its very nature, the document is an instrument of an active transport policy that seeks to change transport in favour of sustainable modes of transport. An example of a level of detail can be taken from the area of cycling. If a city does not have a cycling master plan or does not make it under SUMP, it cannot expect to replace existing transport infrastructure-oriented strategy by SUMP and propose a similar solution for cycling in its details. From its strategic level, the SUMP cannot address a specific street space and the form of a traffic measure (e.g. whether there will be a bicycle lane or a bicycle path in the street). To put it simply, the SUMP level of detail is above the street level. Specifically, for example, whether the measures in favour of cyclists (without its specification, whether it is a bicycle lane, a bicycle path or other) will be on one or another street. Any more detailed measures belong to other documents.

: Reasons for cities to purchase SUMP / SUMF Most cities prepare SUMP in order to draw subsidies for transport measures from the EU, namely operational programmes for transport and regional development. Ensuring the minimum necessary to access EU finance often outweighs the document‘s greater sense and process. Another reason is the possibility of obtaining financial support for its acquisition, especially from the subsidy programs of the Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Social affairs. Thus, some cities funded the whole SUMP from external sources, which could have contributed to the degradation of the SUMP idea and reduced its quality requirements. We also encountered a case where the city wanted to buy mainly a transport model and SUMP demanded just to get the model.

: Quality of tender documentation The quality of the tender dossier has a major impact on the quality of the resulting SUMP / SUMF. As a rule, cities create documentation by their staff, drawing inspiration from the procurement documents of other cities available on the Internet.

This copies some errors that may result in lower quality of the resulting tender documentation. Here are some examples:

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Evaluation criteria Selection of a supplier based on the lowest price offered is the most widespread method of evaluating SUMP suppliers and is probably the easiest to defend from a legal point of view. To a limited extent, cities publish competitions in such a way that the evaluation is made up of a price and a proposal for the completion date, or a price and quality (i.e. a proposal for a solution methodology). We do not recommend using the deadline proposal as one of the evaluation criteria. In order to achieve a high-quality SUMP, it is necessary, among other things, to have a quality discussion, which is time-consuming and cannot be speeded up too much. The city should check in advance what time it takes to process the document and include the deadline in the call. The methodology of the solution as a quality evaluation criterion is possible, but it requires setting the evaluation to be objective and legally defensible. We are aware of the case of a city that was fined by the Czech Office for protection of the competition because it did not adequately justify the selection of the winning bid in a competition where the methodology was one of the evaluation criteria. If the technical specification of the work is clearly described in detail and technical specification are set so that only qualified and experienced candidates meet them, it is possible to set the lowest price as the only criterion.

Regarding the current practice, however, the amount of references or their financial amount cannot be associated with the quality or experience of the applicant, and therefore this criterion is not good either.

Different levels of detail Often, the technical specification does not maintain one level of detail, especially as regards the provision of inputs for the SUMP analytical phase. Sometimes the required activities are described in detail, which is below the detail of the strategic document, in other areas, for example, a specification of the partial output is missing.

Non-specific specifications If the requirements for SUMP / SUMF and its individual analytical work are not sufficiently specified, the city indicates that it does not know what to expect from the document or its partial inputs and the decision is passed on to the SUMP supplier. Combined with competing for the lowest price, there is a risk that the supplier will adapt the project solution to his needs, knowledge and limited budget. We encountered a case where it was stated in the tender dossier that the supplier would perform a cycling census at suitably selected locations. Of course, such a specification is not enough, it is necessary to describe in detail how the survey is to be conducted - how many census sites will be surveyed, whether it will be intersections or sectional censuses,

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Figure 1: Development of the transport modal split in Zurich between 2000 and 2015 with a target for 2025. MIV = individual car transport, ÖV = public transport, Velo = cycling, Fuss = pedestrian transport. Note: The graph shows the shares of the number of journeys by the prevailing means of transport in the city territory, only the source and destination transport, excluding transit. (source: Stadtverkehr 2025 - Beilage zum BERICHT 2017, City of Zurich, September 2018)

on what days and what hours will be added, traffic behaviour data, etc. If a city requires anything to be assessed, it is necessary to indicate on the basis of what data, against which criteria and to what extent the assessment will be carried out. If this is not explicitly required and formulated in the tender dossier, it can hardly later force the supplier to perform activities and outputs which they did not count on when bidding.

teristics of the whole SUMP process. Furthermore, the timing of the distribution of activities, such as traffic surveys, should be appropriately planned. The tender documentation for the SUMP of a city had a very tight schedule; the whole SUMP solution incl. the analytical part was planned for 1.5 years (which is unrealistically short) and for example the cycling census according to the schedule was based on February / March, which are extremely unsuitable months for this survey.

Anticipation If it is stated in the SUMP assignment that the subject of the solution will be, inter alia, an assessment of a certain measure under consideration (e.g. new transport connection, extension of the public transport line, etc.), this may give rise to doubts as to whether the plan should defend / reject this previously proposed solution. The proposed measures should arise only from the preparation of the document itself. From its analytical part and objective assessment of variants.

Timing The process of making a quality SUMP requires enough time. In Dresden, the entire SUMP preparation, development and discussion process took 5 years to approve. In the case of limited time, the communication (participatory and marketing) activities of the project cannot be reduced, as these are the main charac-

Specification and usability of existing materials The cities in the tender documents list the documents and surveys at their disposal and the supplier can use them (especially in the analytical part). Consequently, the supplier does not acquire them under the SUMP. We have found that not all documents mentioned in the tender documents are in the required quality, details, scope and applicability for SUMP, eventually. Cities often do not know what input document they have.

A city stated in the tender documentation that it has a multimodal transport model at its disposal, only during the contract it became clear that these were two unimodal models.

In cases where the technical specification of the work is not well prepared, cities are very unlikely to obtain quality output. They get a result that (perhaps) corresponds to the cost, but which does not

smart : one have to meet the needs of the city. A document is created according to the wishes of the author, not the city as the contracting authority. Of course, the related question is whether all the cities that process this document know what they want from the document and have a clear idea of what their SUMP should look like.

: SUMP / SUMF realization SUMP tender documentation is a prerequisite for achieving a quality result. However, it does not in itself guarantee that the work will be of good quality unless quality is required in all sub-steps during the realization. There are many possibilities for deliberate or unintentional quality degradation, and it is not the purpose of this article to identify them all. However, we will give some examples.

In addition to the main supplier, the development of SUMP is usually carried out by subcontractors (e.g. for the collection of data for traffic surveys, a household survey agency as part of the survey of traffic behaviour, an agency for the communication part of the project, etc.). Before starting, the city should define how the quality control of the outputs of the supplier and its subcontractors will be carried out and whether it will manage the quality control itself or will need external professional assistance. We recommend that you do not underestimate the quality control and, in case of doubt, entrust it to external experts (here is analogy with the investor‘s construction supervision). We have witnessed a case where the supplier, by offering the lowest price, won a contract involving a survey of traffic behaviour through a household survey. This was described in detail in the tender documentation. The contractor nevertheless convinced the city of another way of obtaining data on traffic behaviour, which was more convenient, faster and cheaper for him. The city felt that it had acquired what it wanted because the supplier delivered the required partial output, but it was based on poor input data.

Project communication activities (participation + marketing) Urban mobility is a topic that affects every citizen or visitor to the city. A large part of the public feel that they know the solutions to current problems and want to comment on it. The aim of communication activities is simply to activate the public, acquire their knowledge and enable them to co-create the plan. Communication activities aim to raise the visibility of the SUMP and make it an attractive topic to be discussed. Targeted marketing campaigns should ensure visibility of the plan. The involvement of the public and stakeholders in the SUMP process is through participatory activities. Both activities are a professional matter that cities, if not

very experienced in this field, are difficult to manage alone without the assistance of specialized agencies. It is highly recommended that these activities are dealt in cooperation with experts in this field, since the preparation of the tender documentation. The importance of communication activities is also evidenced by the fact that in Western countries, which have many years of experience with SUMPs, communication costs are the dominant item in purchasing SUMPs. In the Czech Republic, due to the absence of data to be completed within the SUMP, the analytical phase is dominant. In the future, we can expect a significant increase in the share of document communication costs as cities will collect data for SUMP continuously and the costs of this collection and processing will not be included in the SUMP price.

Political involvement and influence The urban mobility plan should have its politician – a visionary in the city, who will be its face throughout the preparation, elaboration and implementation. This policy should convince that the SUMP makes sense, trusting its ideas and requiring its fulfilment at all stages of processing by others. If SUMP is well prepared from tender documentation, through data collection, analysis, design and approval, and all these phases are thoroughly and well communicated with the public, this policy will generally receive political points at SUMP. The politician must be oriented in the area of urban mobility, he must also be able to convince the public about the benefits of introducing seemingly unpopular measures for the inhabitants of the city.

As mentioned in the introduction of this article, in many cities the mobility plan is only drawn up to raise funds for transport investment from European sources, or from other sources, because it is possible to obtain a subsidy for its acquisition. The central idea of SUMP – to improve the mobility and quality of life of city residents, is deliberately or unintentionally delayed. This is in part because many politicians or officials responsible for SUMP do not believe this idea too much, or at least do not believe that their city can achieve this improvement. Or it is because SUMP is considered an unpopular topic, because it usually proposes some restrictions in individual car transport. And so, it really is.

SUMP indeed supports other modes of transport and seeks to set limits for individual car transport (again very simply). The fear of opening and discussing this topic with the public is great, and this can be the main reason why SUMP is not yet a very popular topic among politicians. Even though many Czech cities already have clearly formulated support for transport sustainability in their general strategic plans. But it is not enough. Our cities lack clear, politically measurable targets, see the Zurich example. For them, however, political courage is needed, which our politicians have been slowly getting! #Ing. Zbynek Sperat, Ph.D.

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leader : one Ideal parking lot

Better parking!

Ideal price for parking

CITIES ARE THE SECOND MOST IMPORTANT HUMAN INVENTION, AFTER FIRE. THEY ILLUSTRATE THE STATE OF CIVILIZATION AND CAN BE BEAUTIFUL, ALTHOUGH MOST OF CITY AREAS ARE NOT ATTRACTIVE.

It is practically impossible to create nice urban environment similar to historic centres in our conditions. The reason is that current urban development is mainly driven by the speed, geometry and parking capacities of car traffic.

Cars are a legitimate type of transport and criticism of the stupid organization of parking in the Czech Republic should not be confused with the demonization of their owners. Nevertheless, the main problem of today’s cities is that there are too many parking spaces and in most cases parking is too cheap.

The impression of a lack of parking space is a universal problem in all cities, even though at first sight, parking is the only thing that the city centres overfilled with cars seem to abound with. A typical car is usually parked somewhere. And although about 3 to 4 parking spaces are available for each of the 5.5 million Czech cars, up to a third of the urban traffic is made up of drivers looking for a place to park.

The problem with parking is that the ideal place is right in front of the entrance to any place where we need to be during the day, is reserved only for us and is completely free.

park house

ground parking

underground parking

This idea is unrealistic, but cities are trying to accommodate it. Cheap parking creates the impression that it is only due to the bad intention of those who do not like cars that there is not enough of parking spaces. The paradox is that, in particular, parties that otherwise propose to charge for most state activities, including health and education, treat car transport as something the state is supposed to provide for free.

Parking spaces are very expensive. Only construction costs per parking space are often higher than the value of the cars parked there.

No one thinks that cities should distribute cars almost for free, but in the case of parking, the idea is that everyone is entitled to it and it is the duty of others to provide the spaces free of charge.

The number of parking spaces is not an abstract quantity; it has a major impact on function and appearance. Places where it is easy to park, such as large parking lots by shopping malls, are places we want to leave as quickly as possible, while it is extremely hard or impossible to park in areas where we want stay for some time.

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Residential parking in Prague costs about two rolls a day.

: Parking creates two problems 1.

Standards require a specific number of parking spaces for all constructions regardless of any factors, including the investor’s wishes.

2. The cheap price of public parking subsidizes car transport at the expense of everything else and contributes to the increased price of goods, services and real estate, degradation of landscape, public health and time wasted in traffic jams.

New construction projects are governed by the parking minimum; a table for each function determines the number of parking spaces on the plot. Parking is required even for functions incompatible with driving, for example a 100 m2 disco is supposed to provide 12.5 parking spaces.

If parking spaces were profitable, investors would surely build a higher number of them than what is required now nothing prevents them from doing so. Since this does not happen, it is obvious that the minimum number of spaces is set too high.

The second approach is a parking maximum a similar table will determine the maximum number of spaces, including the 0 value.

Strict parking capacities also affect private spaces. The form of a typical apartment in a new building is not based on the idea of good housing; it is based on the geometry of the mandatory parking garage for 1.5 cars per apartment. The resulting ugliness of this architecture is one reason for the people’s understandable distrust of any new development.

Parking minimum and maximum; have a lot of disadvantages, especially the difficulty of determining what number is correct.

Ideally, therefore, parking capacities should be up to the investor, the context of the location and the capacity of the surroundings. Somewhere many, elsewhere none.

The inability to build apartments without parking contributes to the housing crisis. The smaller the apartment, the greater the proportion of underground parking in its price for a cheap apartment, parking space comprises about 10–30 percent of its price.

In addition, the space does not belong to the apartment automatically and must be purchased separately we thus pay twice for parking. The requirement to build an apartment with a garage makes it impossible to build cheap apartments availability then lies in an unattractive location, not in a cheaper typology.

Let us compare a typical new street in Vienna with a street in Prague. Both are intended for a similar income group, but the Czech street is designed with 1.5 parking spaces per apartment, while the Austrian one with 0.7 cars per apartment. The profile of Prague street is full of walls with garages; in Vienna there are many shops and public amenities. Everyone has a different taste, but in Czech conditions it is impossible to consider any another model. The right approach would therefore be to allow the construction of both types to show whether people prefer parking or everything else.

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: Parking participates in the Wheel of Death of the urban environment ·

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Construction is designed to facilitate the smoothness of car traffic; most of the investments flow into roads; everything else has to conform in the residual space.

The environment designed for cars disadvantages all other modes of transport, public transport service decreases.

Insufficient and uncomfortable public transport coverage leads to stigmatization of its users, which is visible on periphery bus transport. Anyone who can afford it prefers a car.

The hostility of the car environment puts pressure on suburbanization—cities expanding into the landscape.

People want to escape the “noisy and dirty city” (which means they want to escape cars).

Suburbanisation increases the need for planning and construction of new roads that create space for a higher number of cars.

Dependence on car transport puts endless pressure on the construction of parking spaces.

Parking and transport construction projects create fragmented construction, with long distances between buildings where any other type of traffic is unpleasant, dangerous or impossible and the car is a necessity for a dignified life.

This circle has to be broken somewhere and the fastest way is a revision of parking capacities. And it can be solved simply by a market price for parking.

The reason for the complicated parking situation in Prague (and elsewhere) is not a lack of spaces but an absurdly low price. For example, residential parking in Prague costs about two rolls a day. Even if there were a little more parking spaces, they would be immediately filled up. If parking in the centres is scarce, but at the same time almost free, the demand for it will be infinite.

How much should public parking cost? It depends on when and where. Donald Shoup, the parking economy guru, suggests the lowest possible price which guarantees about 10 percent of free spaces that is from experience of other cities a number when it is always possible to park. The lowest possible price would mean an increase in the price of public and residential parking in attractive locations, but in the more remote areas, it would be as low as it is now and possibly even lower. A higher price has an advantage it guarantees that if we really want to go somewhere by car, there will be a space for us.

The current frustration over the zones is understandable; any fee, even a very low one, creates an expectation that you will be able to park. But the low price leads to inefficient parking of wrecks and cars of Sunday drivers. More expensive parking, even with the possibility of renting a specific space will reduce the total number of parked cars and allow easy parking where we need it.

Fewer cars in the best places of Czech cities would free up space for anything else; more greenery in the streets, quieter, safer and less polluted environment, more playgrounds and parks, more buildings instead of surface parking lots, more front gardens and outdoor seating, more space in front of shops for supply, terraces, more attractive facades, entrances and shop windows.

smart : one Parking criticism is one of the most serious misdeeds following an insult to someone’s mother, face, or religion, and the debate is dominated by many myths Technology will solve it.

Electric, shared, or autonomous cars will indeed once change traffic as we know it today, but it will take decades before the effect is experienced, with consequences that cannot be estimated (autonomous vehicles in which it will be possible to work or sleep are more likely to increase the requirements for the length and area of infrastructure). Everything we need for better parking is available today and waiting for salvation will only make future problems worse.

Let’s build more roads and parking spaces.

The most popular myth because it sounds intuitive, even though the phenomenon known as traffic induction causes that any increase in capacity of the car infrastructure will increase the overall volume of traffic. Car traffic is not like water which needs a certain diameter to flow, it is more like perfect gas perfectly fills all available space. The problem was best summed up by urbanist Lewis Mumford: “Curing congestion by adding more lanes is like curing obesity by buying bigger pants.”

Without parking shops will go bust Most customers come on foot. Is it convenient for business to have two or three spaces on the street in front of the entrance blocked by all-day parking of someone who does not visit the shop, or is it better to have a more pleasant environment for pedestrians who are the best customers? Ten years ago, Prague‘s Náplavka riverbank was a parking lot for 150 cars, and the argument against closing it down was that without parking no one would come there and all the shops in the area would go bankrupt. Both concerns turned out to be unsubstantiated; what happened was the exact opposite. Wherever parking has been reduced in favour of a better environment, higher shop revenues are the first measurable change.

Cars underground!

The idea that parking on the surface will be resolved by moving it underground is unrealistic; underground garages are expensive, impossible to pay off and even in locations with minimal street parking half empty. The demand is not for underground parking, the demand is for free parking. The key to making use of existing garages is the right price for street parking.

It’s antisocial!

If paying for parking is antisocial, we must admit that subsidized parking is a type of benefit which, depending on the locality, is one of the highest and most importantly not granted to those in need. People who most benefit from cheap parking are those who have the most cars and use them most often, that is, in principle, those who

least need the subsidized parking. For lower-income areas nothing will improve the value of their environment more than a safer public space of a higher quality, i.e., one with significantly less parking. The problem of automobilization of excluded areas is not that poor people like to drive, but rather that the remote areas in which they can afford to live do not allow them to live without a car.

It’s social engineering!

Yes, it is social engineering, just like any other type of public administration. And if a minor change in parking policy in city centres is social engineering, then it would be good to know how the global economy dependent on global oil extraction, distribution and processing, with the follow-up car industry that kills over a million people each year (500 in our country alone if the year is good) and revenues that allow sheikhs to build an indoor ski slope in the desert is not social engineering.

It’s just a theory!

In many cities around the world, including our country, attempts at parking reduction have been made and these modifications almost always lead to the development of the area and no one would think of returning parking there. Even the originally controversial modification of the Vienna Mariahilferstrasse was approved by a slim majority in the referendum and 5 years after the reconstruction is universally popular.

You are leftists / communists!

The aim of a better parking policy is deregulation of standards and a market price. The popularity of car transport is not a preference of the free market, but rather its absence, because no other mode of transport is more dependent on state support. Many mayors who have introduced these changes are popular conservative figures, such as Boris Johnson. He did not cancel the minimum because he cares about polar bears and whales; he did it to increase the value of real estate and attractiveness for further investments. Market parking policy is one of the few topics whose benefits meet both right and left-wing policy goals fewer cars, less pollution and subsidizing of the rich for one group, market price and deregulation for another group, front gardens, safer streets, cheaper housing and better parking for all.

: How to improve parking?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Deregulation of capacities in buildings.

Price for public parking set at a level that there is always somewhere to park.

Close down or build up surface parking lots; a compact city where everything is within reach and it is realistic and pleasant to move on foot and by public transport is the best transport policy.

Use space in the streets for anything else than parking.

Invest public parking revenues in the immediate vicinity of the space intended for parking.

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Would you let your six-year-old child go there?

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ARE YOU AFRAID OF CYCLING IN YOUR CITY? THEN, CYCLING SUPPORT REMAINED JUST A POLITICAL PROMISE OR AN UNFULFILLED ITEM IN THE SUSTAINABLE MOBILITY ACTION PLAN (SUMP).

LET‘S SEE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN „JUST DOING THINGS „ AND „DOING THINGS RIGHT“.

Doing things right, with conviction, expertise and user-friendliness is the foundation of any strategy‘s success. In transport, more it should integrated, i.e. when different modes of transport work together in synergy across the catchment area, and safely, i.e. when the supply of transport services is still perceived as standard even for more vulnerable users.

: More cyclists = shorter congestions Sustainable transport requires a change of mindset, and this is a long-term process. Our cities are just at the beginning and have much to learn from the advanced. We see sustainability as the ability of a city to motivate its citizens, commuters and visitors to use regularly other means of transport than a car.

The nature and number of the planned transport investments in the Action Plan, which are interrelated, is the litmus paper of whether the city‘s current transport policy is sustainable.

Smart City is building networks, at the points of which it offers the necessary services for various users and thus connects these often-separated worlds (drivers with public transport, public transport with cyclists, cyclists with pedestrians…). If the city does not have a network of parking lots in the territory offering to switch to another mode of transport, the P + R system and the residential parking system cannot be considered as functional and it is only „a promotion“. If the bike path suddenly ends, cyclists share the lane with the vehicles or at the end of your bike ride there is nowhere to park the bike, then the bike arrangements are far from functional practice.

It is logical that the solution to congestion is possible only by creating space for traveling by other means, not by a higher number of parking places. It‘s simple math!

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: Would you let your six-yearold child go there?

Any proposal for a transport measure should be assessed by this simple and personal question. Only by the parents‘ view anyone can correctly assess the safety of the measure. You can keep asking yourself this question in the following photo report.

Jumping under the train is out.

This bicycle lane invites you to use it. Who‘s brave enough to go?

Pedestrians, cyclists, public transport, parking and cars safely together.

When the cycle path ends

When the bike path does not end or has its lane

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When cars and bikes are mixed, the user cannot be sure.

Would you let your six-year-old child go there?

Copenhagen cycling highway also informs about the change of direction, so the user knows so easily that he/she is on the highway

Do you think electric cars will improve something?

and with electric scooters?

Only when they get sufficient and deďŹ ned space along the entire length of the track with good surface. 200 m of such a bicycle lane makes no sense

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How can those parked cars see cyclists when they drive out?

Would you let your‌

San-Javier MarMenor parked cars provides a barrier to harm cyclists

Evidence that simply painting a bicycle lane does not work.

Physical separation of cyclists from cars in Seville, two-way cycle path at the crossroads, traffic light info

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City cares about the convenience of its users!

Attention, it is not a railing preventing entry into the road, but a cyclist support.

Riding a bicycle is safe: cool

Bicycle ride in a delightful green environment along the Estepona (ESP) bike bridge. Would you let your six-year-old child go there?

A bicycle lane runs 35 km from Copenhagen, with greenery or barrier-separated lanes anticipating high safety, would you let your child?

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BUS TAXI

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Cycling directions as already established cultural standard of traveling around the city.

(Jerez de la Frontera) Would you let your six-year-old child go there?

Gendarmes from Saint Tropez drive along physically separated bicycle lanes. They are warned by the sign that they are moving along with pedestrians and that cyclists are responsible for safety and should drive slowly A bicycle lane leads through the centre of Seville, cyclists are cautious that pedestrians can enter the lane

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Just like the electric scooter boom comes the boom of various electric carts (Monte Carlo). The question remains, where will they be able to ride and according to what rules.

: What the future will be?

A culture of mixmobility!

What we have now shown is a matter of culture. Culture is a set of what one must learn to become a valid member of a community-society. So, in the above communities, one must learn to meet others more and to cooperate more than we do. It is the ability to cooperate and learn to participate in decision making that makes these societies more democratic, less vulnerable and more dynamically growing.

The future will show how the mobility mix will evolve. Maybe mini cars with some cleaner fuel will win

#David Bárta, Pavel Nácovský source photo: Automat a Nácovský

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Danish cycloIN THE PREVIOUS ARTICLE, WE HAVE SHOWN A HUGE GAP IN THE APPROACH OF OUR CITIES AND ADVANCED ONES. JUST AS CHILDREN LEARN TRAFFIC HABITS AND TRAFFIC RULES, SO OUR CITIES LEARN TO MANAGE TRAFFIC AS SUSTAINABLE. BECAUSE IT IS ABOUT BUILDING A CULTURE, RAPID PROGRESS IS NOT EXPECTED, BUT GRADUAL LEARNING. TOGETHER WITH FLIXBUS, AUTOMAT (PRAGUE NGO) AND REPRESENTATIVES OF SOME CZECH CITIES, WE VISITED DENMARK TO SOAK UP AN ALREADY ESTABLISHED CULTURE OF THINKING WHICH BENEFITS ARE VISIBLE AND REAL.

Safety of cycling when crossing a junction (the safest solution was evaluated at the bottom left, i.e. separated recessed bicycle crossing) Source: Comparison of five bicycle facility designs in signalized intersections using traffic conflict studies, Tanja Kidholm Osmann Madsen, Harry Lahrmann, Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, April 2017

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culture Danish cycling culture can be considered a long-term, progressive, proven experience… Danes realize that cycling must be safe first and foremost. In the form of concrete projects focused on transport safety, they thus reached concrete design solutions.

: Culture of walking and cycling In the 1950s Copenhagen looked like today‘s Brno. Lots of cars, parking lots, little space for pedestrians and cyclists. Today, people are willing to travel more than 10 km by bike to work.

The Danes are building a culture of long-term „green goals“ that translate into both social discourse and state policy. For example, a new car costs 180% of the price because the state does not support the culture of cars and thus tax their purchase. That is why 52% of Danes do not own a car.

Automobile Copenhagen of the 1950s

Map of existing and planned cycling network

Danes also have a long-term strategy in building cycling infrastructure as an interconnected network of cycle paths of various types, defining the backbone network as cycling superhighways. The cycle superhighways are created by 27 municipalites and the Capital Region joint in the Cycle Superhighway Cooperation. The ambition is to build 45 routes of 746 km.

The reason for building cycle superhighways was originally to move commuters from the cars on to the bikes to decrease congestion in and around Copenhagen by offering opportunities to safely and sustainably travel from point A to B in an interconnected network. It is not a purely new construction of cycling paths and cycling lanes, but rather a connection of existing sections into one interconnected unit with standard road parameters and with a uniform designation, the so-called cycle superhighways.

2012 2014

: User support tools

2016 2019

What characterizes a cycle superhigway is physically separated lanes from vehicles or public transport, high road surface quality (as for cars), vertical and horizontal traffic signs, traffic

2022

2045

17 km 38 km 52 km 167 km 248 km 746 km

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User support

control at crossroads taking into account cyclists, counting and information panels, repair stations with tools and compressor, lighting for safe driving in the evening or at night…

Such a user-friendly approach has the results: a 23% increase in bicycle traffic and even 14 % of the new cyclist was former car drivers. Altogether, cyclists on the cycle superhighways in Denmark drive 400,000 km every day. The average length of commuting to work by bike reached an incredible 11 km. It is clear that the metropolis is leading the way for cycling and actual unconvincing strategies of our cities thus correspond to the mental settings of politicians and their voters.

: Why the Danes do it The structured questionnaire survey clearly showed that Danes cycle for health. Thanks to modern ways of work, they usually do not move all day long and in the afternoon due to many duties there is no time for sport / active movement. It is so natural and clever that they combine travel to work and sports activities in one time. 65 % of the citizens in the Capital Region have more than eight hours of sedentary activities on a weekday. In addition, the investigation revealed that driving every 1 200 km by bike means one sick day less, which has an impact

+ = ▼ How to create a cycling highway: linking existing cycling sections into one network, unifying the parameters of cycle paths including traffic signs

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Danes realize the importance of regular daily exercise for their health and time for themselves

on more accommodating cycling negotiations with employers as well as national transport policy. By physical movement we prevent many diseases, from cardiovascular, type 2 diabetes to mental disorders such as depression or dementia. Health benefits make up for €616 million of the total socio-economic surplus of €765 millon of the cycle superhighways. A complete network of cycle superhighways costs €295 million. Health is the most important reason why Danes support cycling. Moreover, it is the fastest way of transport in Copenhagen.

If the Danes did not support cycling, car traffic would increase by 30 % in the Capital Region. It would be a mistake to think that the Danes are somehow different than Czechs, for example; even in Denmark, the number of cars increased; over the last 10 years by 27%, i.e. the cycling culture still competes with the automobile, and without the support of cycling traffic congestion would increase significantly. So, 34 % of commuters travel by bike and 58 % work within 10 km of their home, so it is desirable for them to move without a car.

In addition to congestion, the Danes also tackle climate change; transport in a typical household contributes 29 % to CO2 production. When travelling up to 7.5 km, switching from car to bike saves 92 % of CO2. 16,500 tons of CO2 is saved annually every time there is an increase of 1 percentage point in the number of cycled kilometres. The 1 % change in favour of cycling before automobile represents an annual saving of 23,000 tons of CO2.

: How they promote cycling Each cycle superhighway is launched differently through e.g. media campaigns, educational articles, a questionnaire survey, video-testimonies of specific people, but also the possibility to try to ride on the cycling highway virtually, using augmented reality glasses. Within the campaign, culture is built with politicians, but also with large employers who are actively participating in the campaign and bringing concrete measures to their employees.

: Not only transport but also culture The biggest mistake in our country is that cycling is perceived as a mode of transport, not a culture of movement. This loses the many levels that cycling can bring. To illustrate this, Cycling without ages (CWA) is a worldwide health and sociological activity. As part of the joint event Automat and Flixbus we also visited the local retirement house with the CWA program.

It is a social entrepreneurship and elderly care program where nobody pays anything to anyone. Volunteers arrange meetings with seniors in retirement homes, which they take for a ride on

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a specially modified bike, see the photo. For many seniors, it is a transition from an interior „prison“ where they spend up to 97 % of their time, to the external real environment, the life of the city, where they can breathe fresh air and even perceive the weather. They cease to be patients but become companions. While driving, both parties gain greater insight into each other‘s world (e.g. old versus young) and raise curious questions to achieve integration with other cultures, whether age or racial, or for a better understanding of history by the young ones. Police officers were also involved in the program to give them due respect and confidence / security, but this also led to the natural collection of valuable information.

The program is based on the following principles:

Danish culture is thus built not only by the availability of cycling paths, but also by a culture of healthy and safe everyday movement, which is conceptually invested by the public administration and in which non-profit organizations enter their programs.

: FlixBus as a pioneer of sustainable and environmentally friendly transport

slowness (cycling at walking pace), establishing a relationship (volunteer and senior program cooperation), generosity (volunteering, helpful approach for program adjustment by senior citizens), without age restriction storytelling

By 2030, FlixBus wants to have all its buses, trains and all its associated business activities carbon neutral. It already offers its passengers the option of off setting the CO2 emissions produced on their journey. Thanks to modern fleet and high capacity, long-distance buses are already one of the most environmentally friendly means of transport on the market. In addition, the first long-distance E-buses powered by Greenpeace Energy have been on the road in France and Germany for more than a year.

The special bike costs around 7-9k Euro. The communities are making public collections for it. Local entrepreneurs, such as cafes, are also participating in the program, allowing free or significantly reduced prices to allow the companions to purchase selected goods.

“We want to push sustainable mobility forward; we want to be directly involved in shaping the future of public transport. Traveling by long-distance bus will save approximately 80 % of emissions compared to driving a car“ says Martina Čmielová from FlixBus.

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The carrier is now working with technology experts on how to use the hydrogen fuel cell drive over long distances.

“Fuel cell vehicles should be able to cover at least 500 kilometres before refuelling. The actual refuelling process should take a maximum of 20 minutes, as hydrogen is used instead of diesel fuel. The driving characteristics of fuel cell buses, their performance and acceleration should comply with the current standards of long-distance buses“ adds Čmielová.

27 municipalities 45 routes 746 km

Investment in cycling infrastructure pays off ! €765 milionů

1 milion

socio-economy surplus

fewer car trips annualy

92% less CO2 emmision when changing from car to bike

40,000 fewer days of sick leave annualy

These numbers are JUST from the cycle superhighways in the Capital Region of Denmark

#David Bárta, source: Cycle Superhighways, Capital Region of Denmark

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PING if you care!

Changing cycling policy at the push of a button

SINCE ITS INVENTION 200 YEARS AGO, THE BICYCLE HAS BECOME MORE AND MORE POPULAR. ONE REASON FOR THIS IS, AMONG OTHER THINGS, THE CONSTANT FURTHER DEVELOPMENT WITH A VIEW TO DESIGN, MATERIAL, AERODYNAMICS AND COMFORT. BUT THE GREATEST REVOLUTION MAY YET BE AHEAD. LIKE HARDLY ANY OTHER TREND, DIGITALISATION COULD CHANGE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF CYCLING IN THE LONG TERM. BOTH DIGITALISATION AND CITIZEN PARTICIPATION ARE SPREADING TO THE BICYCLE INDUSTRY. GRADUALLY TURNING TWO-WHEELERS INTO INTELLIGENT MOBILITY COMPANIONS.

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: Digitalisation of cycling Big Data is a hot topic in most digitalisation discussions. The use of data is of great importance and interest for many applications, for example, in the Smart City area. A large additional benefit is created in the area of cycling.

Conventional planning tools are either hardly noticeable for citizens or do not provide direct added value. In the long term, the use of data that derives from the active inclusion of cyclists provide an important increase in value. Even less knowledgeable citizens can participate in this way.

The digitalisation of transport is not a question of ‚if‘, but of when and how. In the long term, all existing transport systems will be completely digitalised. In addition, almost all traffic planners have so far only received insufficient figures for local bicycle traffic. Stationary permanent counting stations are expensive and cover only certain points in the network. Manual counts are time-consuming and are used only for a very limited period of time.

Of all the survey methods, smartphone recordings deliver the highest information density. GPS points are recorded every second and provide, in addition to the position also coherent information like, for example, velocity, standing times and start-finish matrices based on street segments.

Hence, this data can be used to provide information about route selection and it can even be a source for setting cycle infrastructure measures.

: Crowdsourcing for more cycle friendly cities Exploring the city by bike is fast, inexpensive and healthy.

And it‘s a great way to get to know your city. Although cyclists can offer praise, but also challenge their city administration, this often takes a lot of time. To give this kind of feedback, as a cyclist, you have to take notes and then find the right contact person, so that the request ends up on the right desk.

That’s where PING if you care! comes in.

This crowdsourcing campaign enables a direct and transparent way of communication and cooperation between the city administration and the cyclist. PING if you care! offers a platform connected to an app with which citizens can actively participate in the improvement of their city.

During the campaign period, registered cyclistst rack their journeys, mark spots during the ride by pressing the PING button and leave comments on the marked points from a selection of ready-made answers via the Bike Citizens app. This feedback covers a broad spectrum of impressions in order to present as detailed a picture as possible of the subjectively perceived cycling experience.

PING if you care! is therefore a clear sign in the direction of digitalisation and user-oriented survey, which can become an innovative showcase of the digital agenda of any city.

: A platform to actively engage in the improvement of urban cycling The PING button is available for all participants, and is attached to the handlebar or clothing. Via a Bluetooth connection it communicates with the Bike Citizens app. This app acts as a platform for the PING button, providing participants with guidance, information and digital functions, all free of charge.

Cyclists can use the button to ‚ping‘ certain spots. These are then automatically marked on a digital map in the app. A short instruction explains participants in which situations ‚pinging‘ makes sense. Cyclists can immediately or later categorise the pings recorded on their journey via their smartphone. The wide range of possible feedback does not only cover infrastructural deficiencies but also emotions. Finally, the campaign informs the city on route data (tracks, speed, distance, etc.), about PING data (location of the ping and category of the ping) and about data of the users.

At the end of the campaign, all the data is analysed together with the city administration. That way PING if you care! provides the city with information and insights into daily traffic situations. However, a ping does not mean the city administration has to remedy any negative experiences immediately. In contrary. The gathered information and data helps the city administration to update their cycling plans, strategies and even infrastructure with a long term view. #Fred Dotter, Mobiel 21 For more information about PING if you care! visit the website pingifyoucare.eu or send an e-mail to ping@mobiel21.be

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Kladno Smart City or Smart Laboratory pilot project 1318

69 000

CZ

Pavel Rous : Head of the Department of Computer Technology and Informatics of Kladno City Council, where he has been working in the ďŹ eld of ICT administration and operation since 1994. He is also responsible for the operation and development of the city’s optical network and for the Smart City concept.

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: City info The statutory city of Kladno is with 70,000 inhabitants the largest city in the Central Bohemian Region and the 13th largest city in the Czech Republic in terms of population. It is located 20 kilometres northwest of Prague and is dynamically developing as a city focused on sport, healthy environment and quality of life of its citizens. It has a rich metallurgical and mining history that began in the early 1850s. Thanks to the name of the “Poldi” steelworks, the city became famous in many countries of the world. Today, these industries no longer play a crucial role in Kladno. Currently, the city focuses on light industry, education, culture and sports. Surrounded by forests with a number of cycling paths and sporting opportunities, Kladno offers its citizens a wide range of leisure activities. The world-famous face of Czech ice hockey, Jaromír Jágr, was born in Kladno. The Faculty of Biomedical Engineering of the Czech Technical University (CTU) is located in Kladno and the University Centre for Energy Efficient Buildings (UCEEB) of the CTU is located in close proximity to the city, on the premises of the former company Huť Poldi s. r. o.

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location in front of the city council—the Centre of Administrative Agendas, located in the city centre, was selected. There is a high turnover of vehicles of citizens who come to deal with their identity documents. To determine which technologies and transmission networks are suitable for monitoring the occupancy of parking spaces, 44 spaces were fitted with three types of parking sensors (GOSPACE, CITIQ and Tinynode) using four data transmission technologies (IoT networks LoRaWAN, Sigfox, NB-IoT and SPEL mesh network). To monitor the fill-level of the underground containers for separated waste (glass, plastic, paper and mixed waste), ultrasonic sensors provided by SENSONEO j. s. a. were installed at four container locations. These sensors communicate via IoT networks LoRa and NB-IoT. They were installed under the lids of the containers, and along with them the insertion openings of paper and plastic containers were fitted with sensors supplied by Sensority, s. r. o. that communicate over the LoRaWAN and Sigfox networks, to indicate their blockage. Information provided by

: Information about the Smart City project in Kladno Like many cities around the world, the city of Kladno has decided to focus its efforts on improving the quality of life of its citizens with the help of smart technologies, now perceived under the popular label of Smart City. Smart elements or smart technologies are at present to be found in almost every area of life. Confronted with this trend, at the end of 2017, the city of Kladno began preparing a pilot project, in which it set out to first map the possibilities of using these technologies. At the same time, it had individual solutions presented. It has found an integration platform where information from individual sources converges and can be easily and transparently presented.

Based on the information obtained from similar solutions in the Czech Republic and abroad, the Kladno city hall decided to select fi ve thematic areas in which it could under the “Kladno Smart City Pilot Project” test the technical possibilities and benefits for citizens and for the future development of the city.

Efforts were focused on these areas—parking, underground containers, public transport, public lighting and the use of shared bicycles. And since we have a lot of data from these areas that need to be clearly presented and compared, the INVIPO integration platform provided by the Czech company Incinity s. r. o. based in Zlín was purchased for the pilot project in 2018.

The project provided us with a great deal of knowledge and we gained a wide range of both positive and negative experience.

The first thematic area was monitoring of parking spaces. The

Scheme of parking spaces arrangement in front of the Centre of Administrative Agendas

TELMAX s. r. o. and ROPID was linked to allow tracking of the movement of public transport vehicles., which provides the citizens with access to up-to-date information about the location of buses in the city and about their early or delayed arrival.

Already these three areas have brought interesting findings, such as the suitability of different sensors and IoT networks for the monitored areas, the accuracy and frequency of calibration of individual chips and also the necessary skilfulness in installing these devices. At the same time, we learned that operating own LoRaWAN network, for example, is not reasonable, because it is necessary to carefully look at what frequencies it can use to communicate to avoid a situation when that sensors collide with the LoRaWAN network operated by CTU

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city : one in the city, as an practical experience has shown. However, in addition to positive experience, we have also obtained some negative information. For example, that for some networks an underground container behaves like a Faraday cage or that it is necessary to install the parking sensors so that they do not protrude from the bitumen because of snow removal. We did not incorporate data from shared electric bicycles into the presentation platform because, due to the irresponsible approach of a part of the public to their use, the data would be highly distorted and misleading.

Photo of camera and IAQ sensor at Pražská crossroads

The photo of the post by the grammar school

As the knowledge and experience gained were beneficial, in the spring of 2019, the new leadership of the city, established after the autumn municipal elections in 2018, decided to launch the second phase of the project. It focused on traffic monitoring, air quality measurement, smart buildings, monitoring of the quality of surface of municipal roads and information on public services. Within the scope of these activities the use of cameras of the Municipal Police of Kladno and traffic cameras of traffic signals provided by SWARCO TRAFFIC CZ s. r. o. are tested for road traffic monitoring. Furthermore, in cooperation with UCEEB staff, fi ve air quality parameters (temperature – °C, relative humidity, CO2 concentration, indoor air quality index, barometric pressure, and concentration of solid particles PM10) are monitored via ten indoor and three outdoor IAQ sensors located at the city council offices and at three Kladno intersections. The sensors of the company FORM08.COM s. r. o. are used for road quality monitoring. They are installed on three vehicles of the city council and seven vehicles of AVE Kladno s. r. o., which ensures collection of municipal waste and therefore drives through almost all streets in Kladno. In the area of public services, a system of informing citizens about the number of people waiting and their handling at the office counters is being prepared. It will also include a prediction of fast handling during a visit planned for a statistically convenient time period, based on data obtained from the newly installed calling system in the Centre of Administrative Agendas supplied by TETRONIK – výrobní družstvo Terezín, družstvo.

As far as smart buildings are concerned, information from remote water meters operated by Vodárny Kladno – Mělník a. s. and located in fifteen buildings owned by the city, such as primary and nursery schools, city council and other, are being integrated in the INVIPO platform. Obtaining data on heat and electricity consumption in the same buildings is under negotiation.

We are currently evaluating the measured data from monitoring of potholes in roads, testing the level of CO2 and airborne dust, in relation to the growth of road traffic and comparing the suitability of using parking space occupancy monitoring in the form of parking sensors or surveillance cameras.

smart : one We are now also integrating in the pilot project data on temperature and noise levels from the seventy electronic posts at Kladno public transport stops that have been installed as part of the “Transport Telematics” project that is being finalized.

The city administration also expects to use the experience gained for “Smart metering” within the framework of the international fi ve-year HORIZON 2020 project. It was launched in October 2019 with a focus on the development of sustainable, surplus and carbon-free energetics. Along with Kladno, the cities of Reykjavik in Iceland, Maia in Portugal, Lvov in Ukraine and Kifissia in Greece are involved, and as leaders with experience in the field of renewable energy, Espoo in Finland and Leipzig in Germany have joined.

Both phases of the “Kladno Smart City pilot project” enriched us with valuable knowledge and experience that we will certainly use in the future and that we can also share with other towns and municipalities.

Photo from the installation of parking sensors

Photo of underground containers

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Žilina data-based mobility THE MECCA OF TRANSPORT, THE CITY OF ŽILINA, IS A PIONEER IN THE FIELD OF DATA-BASED MOBILITY MANAGEMENT IN SLOVAKIA. AFTER THE FIRST SMART PARKING PILOT PROJECT IN 2014 IN COOPERATION WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF ŽILINA AND THE TRANSPORT RESEARCH CENTRE IN BRNO WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF CROSS-BORDER COOPERATION, THE CITY JOINED OTHER EUROPEAN PROJECTS. ONE OF THEM WAS THE SOLEZ PROJECT FOCUSED ON SMART PRACTICES AND TECHNOLOGIES FOR LOW-CARBON MOBILITY.

Mr. Slebodník

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A balance chart showing parking demand for the selected time period based on data on the total number of vehicles entering and leaving the zone of interest

Ľuboš Slebodník, Head of Mobility Department of Žilina, summarized the benefits of the project: “The SOLEZ project first of all taught us, officials, a lot about international projects, about the work of an official in terms of training, knowledge, and expertise. It showed us how they implement projects in foreign cities, what measures constitute a trend and how they communicate with citizens and how to create a strategic document.”

Despite the fact that Žilina has prepared several conceptual, but also strategic documents, the Low-Carbon Mobility Action Plan was different. It opened our eyes and, in particular, started a discussion on low-emission zones in the city. It emphasizes the need to prepare the population for this measure, and we have also analysed how the individual measures are linked to each other and whether they will bring the desired effect at the end of the period.

Thus, the project had concrete practical impacts that Ľuboš appreciates, because they help him proceed with his rather demanding daily agenda of promoting sustainable mobility in the city.

A study evaluating the deployment of e-buses in public transport showed how this issue should be addressed in the future, because in Slovakia we witnessed a way of deploying e-buses that was far from ideal, as it had the opposite effect than expected in terms of saving emissions. We are glad that Žilina has this study, because in the gradual replacement of public transport vehicles, the Transport Enterprise of the City of Žilina (DPMŽ) will be able to make the right decision. At present, the DPMŽ

operates 2 e-buses, eventually in the mode described in the study, which confirmed to the DPMŽ that this mode really makes sense and this is the way for the future.

The study was undertaken within the project by experts from the University of Zagreb who used their sophisticated software to plan the electrification of city buses. The software consists of four modules: post processing of bus operating cycles, e-bus operation simulation, charging optimization and technical-economic analysis.

The software provided the city with a technical-economic plan to implement electromobility economically and consistently.

In connection with deployment of modern technologies in the city parking solution, I appreciate the benefit of a study analysing parking capacities in the central part of the city and the results of a questionnaire survey carried out for this purpose. Following the recommendation, the issues of long-term traffic monitoring as well as parking need to be addressed. For this purpose, the city has secured a system for continuous monitoring of the movement of vehicles. This system provided a continuous overview of vehicles entering this part of the city during the day and the number of vehicles parked there. This data will be used to design a new parking policy that the city is planning to formulate in the near future. At the same time, parking capacity will also be adjusted considering residents, people with severe health disability, electric vehicles and visitors. Since we want to give space to pedestrians, the new parking policy will also be based on the measurements of traffic in the centre carried out thanks to the SOLEZ project.”

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city : one Žilina’s approach is wise and shows good practice for addressing urban mobility. The use of modern data collection or simulation tools makes it possible to prepare appropriate data-based arguments and investment scenarios and to consistently plan in the long term beyond the term of office.

#David Bárta, Ľuboš Slebodník

: The conclusions of the SOLEZ project (from the conference at the URBIS fair) were discussed by Karina Rambiewska (PL, Gdansk), Mihály Lados (HU, Pannon Business Network Association) and Carlo Triolo (IT, Vicenza).

Major barriers to smart mobility · · · · ·

Culture and funding (lack of information and educated officials and politicians) Definition of mobility (understanding mobility as a right, not as a service) Controversy of political decisions Legislation and standards Missing data, especially on mobility composition (modal split) University of Zagreb software output

Key activities of the city to promote low-carbon mobility · ·

·

·

·

Mobility can only be addressed in the catchment area (functional areas, FUAs) Promotion of SUMP (Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan) awareness and close cooperation with municipalities within FUA Reducing the number of parking spaces in the streets, putting together arguments to convince other politicians to support the solution Setting goals for a specific change, collecting inspiration and examples, and testing on a pilot basis to further expand successful tools Saving people time and money

What should an enlightened mayor do? · · · · ·

Promote public transport Guide people to use alternatives Close the main road to the centre so that cars cannot pass through the centre Measure air quality Deploy the concept of City Centre for Pedestrians

a map of sensors and a detail of the number of vehicles in 24 hours on Štefánikova street (3,747 on 3 October 2019)

#David Bárta, Ľuboš Slebodník

Low-cost traffic measurement

citiq q.c cz

anywhere Wireless autonomous sensor

Long term lifetime of the baterries

We measure

Quick installation into all the pavement types

Simple replacement after the lifetime

Number of vehicles Vehicles´ length (vehicle categories) Average speed of the vehicles Number of vehicles above the chosen velocity limit

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Poznan 10 century

551 000

PL

Together we create a smart city!

Agata Materna : (City of Poznan’s Smart City Specialist) After ďŹ nishing her master studies in Denmark, she moved back to her home-city Poznan. Smart development was her main interest ever since and she has experience in helping to achieve greener, more sustainable, and more cost-efficient planning. She is responsible for implementation of the smart city concept in Poznan, as well as for creating opportunities to test smart solutions.

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Poznan is one of the largest cities of Poland which is known as a strong academic, business and fair centre. With approx. 550 thousand residents, Poznan is the 5th largest Polish city. The Agglomeration of Poznan counts approx. 1 million residents.

Poznan is a strong academic and scientific centre which belongs to the absolute leaders in Poland. The city hosts 25 universities, including 8 public universities, with 120 thousand students. This means that every fifth resident of Poznan is a student. The scientific activity of the universities is supplemented by tens of scientific and research and development entities.

Poznan is an important business centre on the map of Poland.

The city is the seat of over 100 thousand business entities, while the number of companies with foreign capital is one of the largest in Poland.

: Strategic vision

: Key Smart Living projects

In January 2017, the Development Strategy for the City of Poznan 2020+ was adopted. The vision presented in the Development Strategy for the City of Poznan 2020+ outlines the desired image of the city in all significant dimensions of its development and reads as follows: “Poznan in 2030 is a multi-generational community of people living in a green, friendly, and well-connected residential estates. Its residents – enterprising and socially engaged, realizing their dreams and aspirations – are satisfied with the living conditions the city provides, and they are proud that the city is well-known in the country and abroad thanks to its historical and cultural heritage and academic character, and modern, unique achievements. The favourable business climate and the social coherence policy enable all the residents to fully engage in the city life.”

Ageing friendly city – the important standard

The Smart City concept that is included in Poznan’s strategy emphasises the technologies used to create smart cities.

Above all, however, it draws attention to the benefi ts for residents, their participation in the creation and development of a smart city. Six key areas for this concept are Smart People, Smart Governance, Smart Living, Smart Mobility, Smart Environment, Smart Economy. In the past years in Poznan there were numerous solutions known as “smart”. They supported already existing processes or were implementations trying to respond to completely new needs of the City and its inhabitants. Projects had to be innovative, inclusive, integrate the data or contain a technological factor. In the past months, Poznan’s Smart City Team was able to identify over 100 smart project.

In 2018, the percentage of population aged 65 years and over for Poznan was 20,4%. Similarly to other large Polish cities, the number of senior citizens will increase year by year. That is why the city is gradually developing the “Poznan VIVA Senior” package and is working on new ways of supporting older residents. In City of Poznan, we care about the quality of life of every group of citizens. Therefore we should emphasize the strong need of including groups that typically don’t associate with a term ‘smart city’.

Senior policy In 2017, the Poznan City Council adopted the “Senior Policy Programme for 2017-2021.” Its implementation is to contribute to making Poznan more and more ageing-friendly city, where seniors will be able to develop their needs and aspirations, and meet their needs. The senior policy of the City of Poznan includes the support of institutions in conducting activities for the seniors, as well as in the organisation of cultural, sports and recreational and tourist events addressed to the elderly.

Senior Citizens City Council Seniors of Poznan have an impact on the shape of the City’s senior policy thanks to the Senior Citizens City Council functioning since 2007, which is a consultative and advisory

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city : one body. The council was established for an indefinite period, with terms of office, and is composed of 15 people over the age of 60.

The activity of the council covers six main areas: 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

preventing and overcoming the marginalisation of seniors supporting the activity of older people housing for seniors preventing and promoting seniors’ health overcoming stereotypes about seniors and old age, and building their authority developing leisure activities, access to education and culture

Centre for Senior Citizens Initiatives The Centre for Senior Citizens Initiatives (SCI) has been operating in Poznan since its establishment at the initiative of the City Council of Seniors. The SCI works for the activation of seniors and has an informative function through the 60+ Information Point as well as a self-help function thanks to the Poznan 60+ Volunteering project.

The main project of the SCI is “Poznan Viva Senior”.

The package of services includes: Senior Card - Poznan Golden Card entitling to a wide range of discounts, both from cultural, sports events organized by city, as well from the educational institutions and private companies. The project is addressed to persons over the age of 60 who indicated Poznan as their place of residence. Another add-on is an access to the minigrant programme. Seniors with Poznan Golden Card meet the income criterion will be able to receive support to adapt their flats to their needs. It concerns renovation works (equivalent to a maximum of PLN 10,000) including e.g. replacement of a bathtub with a shower or installation of handrails, which will make it easier for the senior citizen to move around.

smart : one Handyman for the elderly - especially for elderly people with low incomes, disabilities and long-term illnesses. Activities carried out under the project include small home repairs (e.g. broken locks, electrical sockets, leaking taps or clogged drains) which do not require specialist knowledge, specialist qualifications and large financial outlays, which are not provided under other agreements and do not require immediate intervention.

Taxi for seniors - includes free transport services provided to people who have difficulty moving around independently on public transport. The project is aimed at people aged at least 70 years, single, disabled and/or chronically ill). The main objective of the project is to facilitate direct (personal) contacts with public offices, specialist medical facilities and to enable visiting the burial site of relatives.

Life box - the project is aimed at older people, single people or people living alone by choice. It aims to make it easier for health services to access critical information about health and people who need to be informed in an emergency. The box contains a questionnaire about your health, including the operations and treatments you have undergone, the medication you are taking and the dosage you are taking, the sensitising substances you are taking, and who to hand over the key to and notify when needed or who to look after your pets. The box is placed in a shelf on the refrigerator door.

A sticker on the outside of the refrigerator door is also included, informing the paramedics where they can find information about their health condition and the medication they are taking.

A book for the senior - people over the age of 60 can borrow books, audiobooks and films. The service is addressed to people over age of 60 who, due to disability and other limitations in functioning, find it difficult to reach the lending library on their own.

Poznan’s Medical Bracelet - a pilot project aimed at improving assistance to seniors in life-threatening and health-endangering conditions, containing information essential for efficient rescue operations (past and current diseases, information on medications taken, allergies and contact details of a loved one).

Rental of rehabilitation equipment - equipment can be borrowed free of charge from the rental company for people over age of 70, with particular emphasis on people in financial difficulties, at risk of poverty or social exclusion, who due to their health condition need to be supported by the use of suitable equipment.

Baby Cuddler Program - In addition to the Viva Senior package in Poznan, there are many other programs for seniors. One of the new programs is „Baby Cuddler Program“, implemented in the one of city hospitals. From October, seniors will help parents who cannot be in the hospital with their children to hold their babies.

This is the first such initiative in Poland. Volunteers have already been selected and are now finishing their courses.

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Gdansk 997

464 254

PL

Gdańsk is a unique city with over 1000 years of tradition. Its history is so rich that it could be divided between other cities of comparable size. Gdańsk is the capital of the agglomeration with over one million residents. Together with Sopot and Gdynia it forms Tricity. Thanks to the location near the Vistula River estuary Gdańsk was one of the most important members of the Hanseatic League even back in the Middle Ages, as well as made it to be a very rich city from early on. The numerous events over time have shaped the characters of Gdańsk residents. Despite all the turmoil and migrations, the locals still value freedom, openness and the right to express their opinion. They have the courage to say “no” even under the most unfavourable circumstances.

smart : one

How to build relations with the inhabitants? : Gdansk Resident Card Within two years of its operation, the Gdańsk Resident Card has become an inseparable element identifying the residents of the city. Almost 220 000 of them already have it and this number is constantly growing.

How it all started “The initial idea was about why would the inhabitants of Gdańsk, who pay their taxes there and are de facto investors in many tourist attractions, would not have the opportunity to visit the most popular places in their city for free? After all, those residents who identify themselves with their place of residence simply live better” said the former mayor Pawel Adamowicz. This is how the Gdańsk Resident Card was created in November 2017.

ones as the Gdańsk ZOO, the European Solidarity Centre and the Old

Town Hall. Thanks to the Card, we promote the use of municipal swimming pools and ice rinks, as well as supporting local sports teams. We also use the discount potential of the Card, thanks to which residents benefit from the services of Gdańsk entrepreneurs receiving permanent discounts from 15 to even 70 %. Entrepreneurs gain new customers and promotion of their services through the Gdańsk Resident Card information channels, and their cost of entering the project is not financially demanding.

Of course, the most popular is the free travel package for children and youth, which after being added to the Gdańsk Resident Card enables the use of Gdańsk public transport without charge. Thanks to this privilege each day around 70 000 of the youngest Gdańsk residents travel to school and around the city for free.

The rich and attractive offer of the Gdansk Resident Card has resulted in a significant increase in the number of people paying taxes in Gdańsk. Many people want to receive the Card and enjoy the privileges associated with it. As many as 95 % of its holders rate it positively. Such a result proves the usefulness and need for further functioning of the Card as well as the social trust it is given.

Residents as the best ambassadors We have turned the inhabitants of Gdańsk into its best ambassadors. The residents of Gdańsk are exceptionally proud of their origin and willing to emphasize it. Through the Gdansk Resident Card we have made easier for them to access many of the city‘s attractions. We focus on local tourism, because thanks to thorough knowledge of cultural and scientific facilities in the city, its inhabitants identify themselves with their own city even better and they become its natural promoters. After all, there is nothing better and more credible than the recommendations of a resident.

: Measurable benefits for the inhabitants Each Gdańsk Resident Card includes a package with 25 free entrances to city facilities, including such popular

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Card is only ID with no other information on it, so it is safe and can be used for many purposes

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city : one Activate and educate By matching the offer to specific age groups, we activate those residents who need it the most. Thanks to the additional offer addressed to seniors, we increase their involvement in the life of the city. In cooperation with various entities, we carry out the „Work for Seniors“ project and health and educational project „Third Age in Health“. Taking care of the youngest inhabitants of Gdańsk, we support the „Maritime Education Programme“, under which pre-schoolers, primary and secondary school students adapted to age groups take part in practical activities on water.

‘I am from Gdansk’ Application In November 2018, we introduced the ‘I am from Gdansk’ (Jestem z Gdańska) application, which replaces the physical version of the Gdańsk Resident Card. Thanks to the application, each cardholder can always have it with them and not to worry if they leave a physical equivalent at home. After logging in to their account in the application, users can use all the functionalities of the Card, including the most popular package of free travels. The application has been adapted to Android and iOS. So far, more than 22 000 people have downloaded the application.

project coordinator Elżbieta Korybut-Daszkiewicz

Technology ... is not important Gdańsk Resident Card is not a system, but a tool to communicate with the residents. 90 % of the card users are interested in participating in research on city issues, which confirms that the Gdańsk inhabitants want to have a real impact on what is happening in their city. Statistics on the use of the Card that we run allow us to monitor on an ongoing basis which objects are most popular and most frequently visited. In this way we reach the actual needs of the residents and conduct a constructive dialogue with them. The Card never works as a bearer, which means that we study the individual use of the Card and its services.

What was the biggest challenge Being a pioneer is never easy, but it is always very interesting.

We not only had to develop a convenient and easy to use system, but we also had to take care of the people digitally excluded. For this purpose, we have created Authorized Sales Points, where residents can use the help of employees and obtain information they are interested in. We do not focus only on the use of new technologies; we also use traditional communication channels to reach the residents.

: What‘s ahead of us Gdańsk residents expect more and more urban services will be integrated with the Gdansk Resident Card.

The card is to be used even more frequently, e.g. when paying for parking spaces or renting a city bike. We understand this very well, therefore we are constantly establishing new partnerships and improving our offer in order to better meet the expectations and needs of Gdańsk residents. We also strive to make a rich and interesting offer of cultural and conference events, which in Gdańsk are plenty throughout the year, available using the Resident Card, e.g. as a ticket carrier.

Residents describe the Card as attractive, innovative, necessary, pioneering and simple - we want them to perceive it as such in the years to come.

www.jestemzgdanska.pl

smart : one

president of the Gdańsk Tourist Organization, Šukasz Wysocki

Mobile application is available on Android and iOS and can replace traditional card

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How much a municipal politician can do

in 4 years YOU CAN DO A LOT IF YOU ARE WELL PREPARED AND ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE TOPICS THAT YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR AS A COUNCILLOR. IF YOU HAVE COLLEAGUES WHO SEE THINGS IN THE SAME OR AT LEAST SIMILAR WAY. THIS IS THEN REFLECTED IN THE POLICY STATEMENT OF THE LEADERSHIP OF THE CITY (MUNICIPAL) DISTRICT. IF YOU DO YOUR WORK FOR PEOPLE AND CARE ABOUT THINGS GETTING BETTER. IF YOU ARE PERSISTENT AND COMMUNICATE AND WON’T GIVE UP EASILY. IF YOU TALK TO PEOPLE ABOUT WHAT BOTHERS THEM AND YOU EDUCATE YOURSELF IN WHAT YOU DO NOT KNOW.

I knew almost nothing about transport when I was assigned this area at the city district, together with the environment, plus the area of trade and services. And it was in the end me who came up with a way of using parking spaces in residential parking that was more efficient than the one initially proposed by experts from Brněnské komunikace a.s. But let’s take it step by step.

I studied environmental protection at the Faculty of Science of Masaryk University. I was busy raising my three kids for a long time and then I took the post of the director of the Veronica Foundation with a focus on the environment and culture. To this day, the project of shops of the Veronica Foundation, which I have implemented, is the greatest joy for me. The shops sell donated items that someone no longer needs and others would like to buy. The foundation uses the proceeds to support ecological and community projects.

I was a councillor at Brno-Centre representing the Green Party since 2006. Only after the 2014 elections did the opportunity arise to replace the grand coalition of the Civic Democratic party (ODS) and the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) in the leadership. The negotiations were not easy, but in the end we managed to forge the coalition of Žít Brno, Cristian Democratic Party, ANO and the Green Party. I like to remember its beginnings. We were almost all newcomers to the city hall, and when we were writing the policy statement, there were few points we could not agree on.

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And what were all the things that were a success? There were many.

Transport became the biggest challenge, especially because the city districts in Brno do not have the power to set traffic signs and must turn to the Brno City Municipality with even the most insignificant request. And here is the rub, because several requests somehow went astray on its way to the officials or ended up in a drawer. In the course of the 4 years, we submitted more than a hundred of proposals that had been discussed and approved by city district representatives and only a small part of them has been so far implemented. If we did not take the time to visit the Transport Department on a regular basis, probably nothing would be implemented. This is a very sad picture of public administration. Yet, several of the requests aimed at increasing traffic safety. A partial explanation, which is not an excuse, is that at the same time the Transport Department devoted a lot of its capacity to preparing the residential parking system.

Cities or now CITY:ONE. I have found and continue to find a lot of information and inspiration there.

At the same time, it is difficult to explain to people that such a simple thing as a single yellow line has to go through a multi-month ordeal of approving and following legal procedures, and that in the end the city district has to wait for someone else to provide funding and carry it out.

Coloured garbage bins + bio-waste pilot

Several implemented projects were initiated by me, others arose from suggestions of other people that I felt had a potential or appeared as inspiration in various conferences or educational seminars. I think this is very important because only if you keep up with the latest trends in the field, you can do your job well. Therefore, I am also grateful for magazines such as Smart

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What I neglected in my service to the public, however, was the care of myself. And my body made this quite clear to me after the end of the term. This is also an experience that I take to my next place of work.

Jasna Flamiková, former deputy mayor of Brno-Centre district for transport, trade, services and environment for the Green Party

: The successful stories

Greater interest in waste sorting brought more coloured containers in the streets, which have become, due to their number, a visual burden to the public space. The proposal that those who are interested can place their coloured bins in their houses in Brno-Centre was pushed through. When we published this offer in the Newsletter, only six houses showed interest and it seemed it will fall through. Therefore, I chose the path of coloured eye-catching leaflets distributed directly to the post boxes. For the next few weeks, my assistant’s phone kept ringing. So far, we have managed to push through bio-waste bins as a pilot project only in one location.

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Pushing fl y posting out

Coloured garbage bins + bio-waste pilot

The residents of Brno-Centre now have more than 900 coloured containers for separated waste in their houses.

areas where the introduction of residential parking was being prepared. Also, in this area, discussions with people gave rise to a number of suggestions that made it possible to think of a number of specific needs or situations in the preparation of the rules.

Pushing flyposting out It is not highly visible, and it is important. We have managed to push out illegal putting up of posters that had defaced the entire historic centre. When you have all the bins, containers, columns, cabinets, and other street furniture covered with ragged posters, the space can hardly be perceived as clean and tidy. The law does not provide for any possibility to fine the organizer of the event; you can only sanction the person who was putting the poster up, if you catch them. So, I started taking pictures of the furniture items pasted all over and sending the logos stuck to waste bins to sponsors of the events, asking them not to support cultural events that use fly-posting. We had the litter bins treated with anti-stick coating. At the same time, I invited the owners of the street furniture, Public Transport Company, SAKO, Technické sítě, Municipal Police and other entities and we agreed to intensively deploy staff to check and remove the posters. It took perhaps half a year before most of the organizers gave up (they were using the services of the same people anyway) and started looking for other ways of promotion. I felt sorry that some of them felt aggrieved, but I believe that you cannot promote culture at the expense of the public space that serves all.

Revitalization of the space in Nové Sady

Public discussions with people

The renovation of the park on Mendel Square, initiated and taken up by one of my colleagues, turned out to be a real challenge. Revitalization of this space had been considered several times in the past. Our predecessors were discouraged by the fact that the entire square is to be adapted in the future and that the park could complicate these plans. But the park is located next to the city centre, not far from the exhibition grounds, which means an unflattering image

Also, thanks to this, it was possible to create better public spaces and revitalized parks that cater for the needs of people living in their vicinity. During my term of office, I held more than 20 public meetings with people from the localities concerned. In addition to the public spaces planned for revitalization, they concerned

It started with a suggestion to create a sandpit, which eventually did not receive support during a public discussion. More urgent issues emerged, and, thanks to the presence of a landscape architect, a proposal was made for planting a flowering alley and a long hornbeam wall, screening the noisy road. Consultation with the public not only brings detailed knowledge of the territory of its everyday users into the planning process, but a discussion where people listen to each other and assess priority of the proposals by assigning points leads to a greater mutual understanding of both their different needs and the resulting form. While these discussions are seldom easy, they contribute to community building and I find them insurmountable in terms of the sum of their benefits. At the same time, however, it should be emphasized that the discussion of public space has its own rules and, if not respected, the result can be counterproductive.

Park on Mendel Square

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Mendel square park before and after

for the city that on the other hand invests money in its promotion.

Moreover, we need greenery in cities more and more, so the decision to renovate the park won in the end. The whole area is interwoven with a lot of utility lines and it was found after the competition that a private plot was added in the space. As there was a great need for the creation of public toilets, a variant of a modern container solution was chosen. The competition was won by architect Zdeněk Sendler, who has the feeling for offering people a space in which they feel good. This was the case also here, as the area started to buzz with

life immediately after the renovation. However, we had to let go of the idea that we can renovate the park for 3–4 mil. The final solution cost, also due to the public toilets, more than doubled.

Introduction of residential parking Residential parking entered the design phase at the beginning of our term at a time when even much smaller towns in the country already had them in place. While most people did not understand why they had to start paying for parking in the streets, most of them understood that some change was needed. Their experience showed that most of them, after arriving from work, circled for tens of minutes each day before finding a parking space. Lost time, stress, used up petrol, unnecessarily air pollution, non-observance of safe views at intersections, not to mention the needs of pedestrians.

After its introduction, safety was improved thanks to better views, which is important not only for drivers but also for children who complained in the survey that they could not see from behind the parked cars when crossing. Although there are fewer parking spaces, it is much easier for visitors and residents to find a parking space. In addition, in some of the streets, two-way cycle routes were introduced, making it easier for cyclists to move through the city and safer than cycling along streets with heavy traffic.

Increased safety for children in Jakubská street For several years, I fought for the placement of a sign in front of the school restricting the entry of cars before school began in Jakubská street. However, once the sign had been pushed through, a developer with a seat there has put considerable pressure on the

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Resident parking has brought the pavements back to pedestrians

city and the responsible officials who were afraid of a legal action.

Thus, the original sign with an absolute ban on entry between 7 am and 8 a.m. was replaced with a sign enabling supply. Although it is a shift for the better, it is are still far from ideal. A solution that they would elsewhere consider normal given the safety of elementary school children is still considered too radical in our country.

Safely to School project The Safely to School project is based on a survey of school children.

The aim is to find out how many are driven to school by car and which places on their way to school are considered by those of them who walk to school not safe and why. It was only when one of the first surveys showed that more than 150 children missed a crossing in Nádvorní street that I realized what a valuable tool it was. Other more frequent complaints concerned careless driving of drivers and disregard of crossings or poor views in the streets filled with cars. Some of the suggestions, such as highlighting the crossings in Nové sady, highlighting the crossing in Husova street or calming of Polní street and marking the places for K+R, were pushed through and will be implemented. Unfortunately, the Transport Department of the Brno Municipality still did not implement the crossing in Nádvorní street.

Improving the condition of the space in front of the railway station I was shocked to find that the benches on the island platforms were under our administration. I started to discuss with architects what new street furniture to choose. During the negotiations there was an effort to modify the space by a series of smaller steps even though the overall reconstruction of the space in front of the railway station already seemed within sight. However, as some of the people fami-

liar with the history of the debate pointed out, the complete renovation has already been discussed for over 11 years. For many people, this space is the gateway to the city and up to 100,000 people pass through it every day. I therefore persuaded others that every day in this condition is a disgrace to the city. The change was not as simple as it might seem, because except for the benches, other elements were managed by other entities. The Brno Public Transport Company had to proceed with the repaving. After a series of negotiations, however, we managed to follow through with the pro-

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Park Křídlovická revitalization

Greenery adoption programme

ject; given the significance of the space, the funding for the benches was eventually provided by city administration. The space in front of the railway station has been a more cultivated space for the second year and the renovation project is probably undergoing some difficult approval process. It is incomprehensible to me that nobody had addressed this embarrassing condition earlier.

Greenery adoption programme

Improving greenery management Sometimes small interventions and at other times expensive measures are needed. Young tree protection is an important element that protects the trunks from being damaged by string trimmers. Although the effect of the damage need not be evident immediately, various diseases can enter the wound and the tree is weakened. Under additional stress, this can be the decisive factor that the tree does not survive. Trees are one of the few helpers in climate change. Underground space interwoven with utility networks is a big pain of today’s cities.

The protection zones of these utilities are by law so large that it becomes impossible to plant trees in many places. Even when we manage to plant them in the streets, they have a hard time because of the too small space for their roots and increasingly warmer weather. As big the crown of a tree is, that much space it needs underground for its root system. Tree-root bunker system, that we managed to push though in some renovation projects, despite their cost, provide trees under the ground with a support system and space for their healthy growth. Another possibility to improve living conditions and help older trees survive is to expand the space around the trunk for better water infiltration and “breathing”. This is a difficult matter to discuss at city level but I am sure it is a measure that we will have to take to save several trees in the city.

The greenery adoption programme I devised allows people to manage a piece of public space in the city district. Part of the agreement is providing advice on planting beds. Not everyone is an expert on what conditions a plant needs and a wasted effort would not encourage anyone to care. Another form is to contribute to the account for planting trees. Many people, however, take care of some place without agreement, for instance a man from Obilní trh who simply sowed the seeds of Afrikan marigolds into the gap between the house and the pavement, or people who just grab a watering can and water a nearby tree in the hot summer. To help trees and active people, this year an application was launched in Brno, on the initiative of two people, which helps people find out which tree in their area might need watering.

Chemical-free cleaning Before we were elected to the council, the city district was cleaning, just like most municipalities in the Czech Republic, using chemicals, i.e. glyphosate (Roundup) on all pavements and roads.

This substance is currently on the list of substances that can cause cancer. Therefore, in the new contracts, we have reserved the use of glyphosate for emergencies subject to approval by the municipal authority. And the cleaning companies found a way. Instead of staff spraying Roundup around a city, there is a worker with a string trimmer walking around. Plants appear on the pavements and road edges, but people move along the streets in a healthier environment, without facing the potential risk of carcinogenic chemistry from cleaning. And frankly, don’t you find a green pavement more pleasant? I shudder at the thought that in many municipalities the withdrawal of Roundup has not yet been enforced.

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Rainwater Management Action Plan in Urbanized Areas in the Czech Republic RAINFALL INTENSITY FREQUENCY OF APPEARANCE

TOTAL SHARE TARGET STATUS

TOOLS - ACTION

Normal

Strong

Extreme

deficit

1 per 5 years and less

1 per 5-50 years

1 per 50 years and more

65–80 %

19–34 %

1–5 %

imitate the natural water cycles

flood protection

population & critical infrastructure protection

water resources, good microclima

evaporation, infiltration, watering the green fields, blue-green infrastructure

drainage, temporary retention capacities

emergency outflow paths (ie. streets)

blue-green infrastructure accumulation

THE RAINWATER MANAGEMENT ACTION PLAN (2019) PROVIDES A FRAMEWORK TO IMPROVE THE WATER REGIME OF URBAN AREAS IN ORDER TO ADAPT THEM TO CLIMATE CHANGE AND IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF LIFE IN CITIES. IT SETS 6 STRATEGIC WATER MANAGEMENT OBJECTIVES OF URBANIZED AREAS IN THE AREA OF RAINFALL MANAGEMENT, DESCRIBES THE CURRENT SITUATION IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC, IDENTIFIES ITS DEFICITS AND PROPOSES CHANGES FOR THEIR ELIMINATION AND ACHIEVEMENT OF STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES. THE ACTION PLAN WAS PRESENTED AT THE URBIS 2019, THE WATER 2019 CONFERENCE AND THE CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC - MITIGATION AND ADAPTATION CONFERENCE ON 17TH SEPTEMBER 2019 IN THE CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES OF THE PARLIAMENT OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC. THE AUTHOR IS THE ASSOCIATION FOR WATER OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC.

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ment Policy of the Czech Republic , river basin management plans and flood risk management plans. The coordinator of the above-mentioned task is the Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic and the co-sponsors of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic and the Ministry for Regional Development of the Czech Republic.

As rainwater management in the settlements covers several professions, a 15-members team was set up, which included water managers, architects and urban planners, landscape architects, transport engineers and city engineers from all the academic and design, operational and consulting sectors.

: Context of the current state of RMC in the Czech Republic

: Rainwater management concept The requirement for the development of the rainfall management concept (RMC) is based on task 10_1.1 of the National Action Plan for Adaptation to Climate Change (2017): “To update the draft rainfall management concept in urbanized areas taking into account the Czech Republic‘s approved adaptation strategy and new knowledge; The need for the development of the RMC is also emphasized by the Drought Protection Concept for the Czech Republic (2017) and, more generally, other documents, such as the State Environmental Policy of the Czech Republic 2012-2020, Territorial Develop-

Currently, the basic legislative documents in the Czech Republic that introduce the obligation to apply the principles of RMC, Act No. 254/2001 Coll., The Water Act (specifically § 5, Section 3) and the Implementing Decree of the Building Act No. 501 / 2006 Coll., On general requirements for land use (specifically § 20, Section 5c). For built-up areas that divert rainwater into public sewerage systems, Act No. 274/2001 Coll., On water supply and sewerage systems, introduces a payment for the volume of rainwater discharged, including exceptions that are not subject to rainwater discharge charges (ie. owners of motorways, roads, local and utility roads open to the public, national and regional railways, residential areas and homes).

However, these exceptions in real terms imply a covert transfer of these costs to the sewage system (calculated according to the water meter status) and thus no motivation of the exempted subjects to disconnect rainwater from the public sewerage system. The much-needed change of approach and the active implementation of sustainable rainwater management in cities are therefore not sufficiently economically stimulated in the current state of legislation.

Strategic direction of water management of towns and municipalities in the area of rainwater management, see. Strategic goals: 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Achieving a natural water balance Protection of urbanized areas against flooding due to torrential rainfall Protection of surface and groundwater Reduce drinking water consumption by using rainwater Improving the microclimate in cities Promoting the use of water to provide aesthetic, recreational and other services

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source : one The Action Plan identified 94 deficits that currently prevent the achievement of strategic objectives. Deficits have been described and related to the different stages of the RMC implementation process, from target setting through motivation, planning, authorization, engineering design to management, operation, maintenance and control. In order to eliminate these deficits, 49 comprehensive changes were proposed, divided into three chapters, ie critically important; very important; important.

In this study, the Czech Republic has an implementation strategy document for adapting municipalities to climate change through sustainable rainwater management and Blue-Green infrastructure in urbanized areas.

life of the population. The RMC Action Plan responds to these needs and proposes measures that are sometimes difficult to implement or politically risky but necessary.

The authors of the presented Action Plan David Stránský, Ivana Kabelková, Vojtěch Bareš, Jan Bartáček, Vladimír Habr, David Hora, Karel Kříž, Tomáš Metelka, Petr Pánek, Petr Pelčák, Milan Suchánek, Ludvík Vébr, Jiří Vítek and Miroslava Zadražilová. #David Stránský, Ivana Kabelková, Petr Dolejš

Water and Green Infrastructure are the main elements that can help us adapt to climate change in settlements and generally reduce the negative impact of urbanization on the quality of

The 13 critically important changes listed below have the highest priority for the coming period: 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

Eliminate tax exemptions in Act No. 274/2001 Coll. on water supply and sewerage systems Implement theBlue-Green infrastructure in Czech legislation Introduce the obligation to build vegetation roofs for new buildings To supplement the territorial analytical data with documents related to the water regime of the territory and to create methodological instructions on how to include RMC in the spatial planning documents and spatial planning documentation Revise the legal and technical regulations governing the relationship between transport structures, utilities and RMC / Blue-Green Infrastructure To create methodological instructions for the implementation of rainwater management in municipalities Develop methodological guidance on the possibilities of protection against flooding due to torrential rainfall and modify / develop relevant technical standards / regulations

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

Specify the assortment of trees and planting technologies in the streets for the conditions of the Czech Republic To create a legislative regulation laying down requirements for discharge of waste and rainwater during rainfall runoff and to create technical rules for it Create regional time series of rainfall and updated tables of surrogate yield lines and include climate change impacts Commit selected parts of existing water management standards for rainwater management Update the Framework Educational Programs and adapt the curricula of universities Promote the training of public administration

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Digital model of sewerage and wastewater treatment: Data standard A DIGITAL TECHNICAL MAP OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC COULD PROVIDE THIS DATA, WHAT DO YOU THINK?

: Street Databank

: Principles of digital model

Smart City is also about interconnecting and meaningful use of data across disciplines, so the Street Databank concept also works with the water sector infrastructure. An aging sewage infrastructure and growing population require innovations in the operation of this infrastructure, i.e. more efficient sewerage and water/wastewater treatment with minimum environmental harmful impacts, costs and risks, but also the reuse of wastewater resources, including water itself. In order to achieve national goals, it is therefore necessary to create a digital model that enables to manage and share networks data across organizations as well as to measure key parameters in real time and share some data with the public. The data standard is thus a necessary basis for the digital model and here is the first public design. The concept of the Street Databank was presented and commented by the professional public at the URBIS 2019 trade fair in Brno and forms the basis of the appendix to the Smart Cities methodology of Czech Ministry of regional development (update 2019) “Data set for the smart city water infrastructure”.

The digital model requires the following principles: ·

·

· ·

·

·

maximizing the ratio of discharged and treated wastewater (all wastewater discharged is treated, i.e. elimination of CSO chambers); data-driven design of sewerage and disposal (minimizing investment and operating costs) and data-driven design of wastewater treatment technology; optimized operation and recovery planning on the sewerage network; technologically and energy-optimized operation of the water infrastructure, with a sufficient role of automation and risk prevention; centralized data management (increased expertise, security and risk prevention) but decentralized operational solutions (enabling resource recovery, localized solutions tailored to site needs); while reducing emissions to the aquatic ecosystem (compliance with emission limits in accordance with applicable legislation is a basic requirement).

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: Tools and measures to achieve the goal In the field of efficient and environmentally friendly sewerage operation in cities, the following are identified as suitable tools: · · · · ·

use of knowledge (historical data) and prediction (prediction models) when designing the sewerage network; appropriately selected and controlled retention spaces, optimized by hydraulic models, i.e. real-time control; updated GIS, BIM usage, economic recovery management tools and data-driven investment planning; interconnected digital maps of GIS layers with other engineering networks in the city; integration of Smart Metering elements on the sewerage network (online monitoring of wastewater quantity and quality, utilization of data to optimize operation even in real time, especially in relation to the recipient – monitoring of relief chambers).

·

: Data model and use cases Systematic acquisition and processing of operational data in digital format, their use, safe storage and definition of the scope, frequency and form of data publication are crucial for data management and development of sustainable water infrastructure. In the field of wastewater disposal and treatment, several items are defined for individual data levels (a complete list of data items including technical attributes is provided in the Annex of the Smart City Methodology of the Ministry of Regional Development of the Czech Republic “Data items for the smart city water infrastructure”):

Infrastructure level ·

In the field of efficient and ecological wastewater treatment in cities, the following are identified as suitable tools: ·

· ·

·

·

·

·

when designing WWTP technology, use of knowledge (historical data), prediction (population development, industry) and Best Available Techniques (BAT); knowing future needs and possibilities (technological and legislative) of water recycling; digital twin WWTPs, i.e. possibilities of testing virtual operation measures and their simulation, data driven WWTP operation integration of Smart Metering elements into WWTP operation and online process control, i.e. maximum acquisition and purpose processing of analog and sensors data (digital outputs) from WWTP operation, database processing, use of mathematical models for prediction and visualization energy label of WWTP (energy benchmarking), i.e. knowledge of specific energy consumption per unit of treated wastewater (in kWh/PE.year, kWh/m3, kWh/kg of removed pollution) LCA analysis of WWTP (Life Cycle Assessment) operation to ensure measurable KPI‘s (Key Performance Indicators) to minimize greenhouse gas production (CO2, CH4, NO2), minimize chemical consumption, optimize waste disposal from WWTP and reuse of wastewater resources (water, heat, nutrients, chemicals) qualitative measurement campaign (e.g. once a year) of specific socially important indicators in wastewater, i.e. concentration of selected medicine and drugs in wastewater (e.g. ibuprofen, nicotine, pervitin, THC, etc.)

valorization of sewage sludge towards energy and heat production or its transformation (drying technology, hygienisation, etc.) into a source (phosphorus, organic fertilizer, additive to building materials), i.e. application of the circular economy principles

·

GIS layers (sewerage networks, separation chambers, retention facilities) including databases; BIM passport (datasets into BIM utility networks, asset status, repair and investment plan, i.e. digital recovery plans)

Operational and management level · · · ·

measurement of wastewater flow through sewerage network and CSO chambers (actual and balance data) status data of objects on the sewerage network (pumping stations, retention tanks) precipitation data (precipitation totals in the locality) and precipitation forecast operation data from WWTP (complete digitization of WWTP operation based on network of datasets from sensors, flow meters, analyzers, analog outputs and mathematical models) – for creation of a WWTP digital twin

Community level · ·

·

quantity and quality of treated wastewater produced (including, where appropriate, re-used water) amount of recycled water used (e.g. for irrigation or as technological water in a WWTP operation – demonstrative and motivational effect) socially interesting operational data, e.g. quantity of selected medicine and drugs in wastewater – demonstrative and motivational effect

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Data set for the smart city water infrastructure model and its priority (obligatory/recommended/ideal) Parameter of Interest

Potential Data Sources / Data Provider

Units/Data

Data update frequency

Preferred digital format

Data Priority

When status changed or every 5 years

.dwg, .dxf a GIS (.shp)

Obligatory

When status changed or every year

According to the National Technical Digital Map

Recommended

DIGITAL TECHNICAL MAP General plan of water infrastructure networks (sewerage network + drinking water distribution network, storm sewer), digital map of the territory (GIS, cadaster)

CUZK, Water infrastructure owner/ Water infrastructure operator

Availability Yes/No

PASSPORT BIM passport of the water infrastructure (with facility management)

state of property - age, material design, Water infrastructure owner/ technical elements, etc., digital recovery Water infrastructure operator and investment plan

DRINKING WATER Water infrastructure owner/ Water infrastructure operator

Digital augmented reality online tool

When status changed or every 5 years

Online Digital Map with GPS/GIS format

Ideal

Water infrastructure operator, CSO (Czech statistical office)

m3/day, m3/year, number of supply points in the locality

Every year

.CSV or .XLSX (map output with digital technical description)

Recommended

Drinking water quality

Water infrastructure owner/ Water infrastructure operator

According to Czech Legislation

Every year

.CSV or .XLSX

Obligatory

Online drinking water quantity and quality (real-time)

Water infrastructure operator

Network pressure (kPa), flow rate (L/s), turbidity (ZFt), free chlorine (mg/L), temperature (°C)

In real time

.CSV or .XLSX, graphical output (visualization)

Ideal

Fire hydrant network

Drinking water demand and consumption

WASTEWATER Quantity and quality of treated wastewater- outflow from WWTP, including CSO monitoring

Water infrastructure owner/ Water infrastructure operator

m3/day, m3/year, anomaly, (industry yes/no)

Every year

.CSV or .XLSX

Obligatory

Wastewater flow through sewerage network in specific profiles and CSO chambers (in specific profiles)

Water infrastructure operator

m3/hour, (L/s), balance reports m3/day, m3/year

15 min max., (ideal in real time), daily and annual reports

.CSV or .XLSX

Ideal

Online quantityof treated wastewateroutflow from WWTP, including CSO monitoring; in real time

Water infrastructure operator

m3/day, m3/year, selected parameters from Czech Legislation

In real time

.CSV or .XLSX, graphical output (visualization)

Ideal

Status data of sewage network objects (pumping stations, retention tanks) and operational data from WWTP (digital twin)

Water infrastructure operator

Complete Datasets

In real time, dynamic model

Dynamic digital model

Ideal

Sewage water quality (in sewer network) in selected profiles

Water infrastructure operator

Temperature, COD, TSS, pH, Phosphorus, Nitrogen

Every year (purpose-specific measurement campaign)

.CSV or .XLSX

Recommended

Number of selected drugs and drugs in wastewater (specific profile before WWTP)

Water infrastructure owner/ Water infrastructure operator

Medicine and drug residuals

Every year (purpose-specific measurement campaign)

.CSV or .XLSX

Ideal

Rainwater demand for technical purposes

Municipality, Water infrastructure owner/ Water infra- Number of sites in the area = m3 / locality (m2) / year structure operator, Technical services in the area

Every 5 years

Map output with digital technical description, Technical report .doc

Recommended

Municipality

runoff coefficients of the areas, filtration coefficient in selected localities (absorption capacity)

Every 10 years

Map output with digital technical description, Technical report .doc

Recommended

Local building authority, Water infrastructure operator

Number of rain drains in the locality, roof area in m2

Every year

Numbers per street, impleRecommended mentation to / from BIM

SÚS of the regions, municipality, maps, Land use plan

Share of built-up area in%, m2 in the locality

Every year

Online Digital Map with GPS/GIS format, with technical description

Obligatory

Municipality, ČHMI, Water infrastructure operator

mm/day, mm/year, (mm/min)

daily and annual reports, (ideal in real time)

.CSV or .XLSX, graphical output (visualization)

Obligatory

Municipality

Map layer files in GIS, .shp with technical data and report description

Every 10 years

Map output with digital technical description, Technical report .doc

Obligatory

RAINWATER

Subsoil hydrogeology, map of hydrogeology in the area, groundwater level, infiltration maps Roof areas, Rain drains

Impermeable road surfaces Precipitation (current precipitation total and prediction) and rain outflow prediction of sewerage network Flood hazard maps, flood plans, flood outflow parameters

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Model participation or how to transform your city’s main street

MEETING AND TALKING TO EACH OTHER AND OBSERVING THE SURROUNDINGS WAS THE WAY TO TURN VIENNA’S MARIAHILFER STRASSE INTO A VIBRANT SPACE

Smart cities are aiming at a higher quality of life, which is also closely related to calming of traffic. The transformation of Vienna’s Mariahilfer Strasseis the first harbinger. The idea behind this transformation is that in a growing city, more quality space is needed for people living in the city centre. What used to be a busy street full of car traffic is now a lively public space. The Vienna City Council used a participatory process involving thousands of citizens. The pilot project in Vienna serves as a guide for similar changes in other cities.

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: Mariahilfer Strasse in numbers • • • •

1.8 km long boulevard 25–70 thousand pedestrians a day 6–16,000 vehicles a day 1–3 thousand cyclists a day

Because the Vienna City Council wanted to create a free space for all, it included various stakeholder groups in its campaigns: • • • • • •

Residents Employees Local entrepreneurs Minorities present in the public space Customers and visitors Active public

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: Participation process: Openness and communication The city administration did not miss a single opportunity to communicate project information. Since it is a public space, the city tried to involve citizens in all possible ways. They were interested in questions such as: What requirements and expectations do Mariahilfer Strasse users have? What purpose should the new space serve? What should the street look like to make it attractive enough for everyone?

In spring 2011, a first dialogue with citizens took place. There were 1,200 people taking part. This was followed by a round table debate in which all parties concerned could participate.

Involvement of different population groups required different formats of participation: it was necessary to choose those that fit different target groups. The City Council intended to reach as many groups of people as possible and get a wide range of their comments. Citizens participated in the decision-making process both in person and via the Internet or by e-mail. The main means of communication were:

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citizen : one Project website / press site ·

·

all information on the whole process: activation of the population to participate in the survey, proposals for a transport concept, impact of changes on transport, existing results of participatory processes, etc.

10 thousand visitors

Online survey · ·

email addresses where comments could be sent questions and answers, 800 participants

Newsletter · · ·

a regular newsletter sent to all households in the districts concerned digital and printed 53,000 addresses; 10,000 emails

Dialog Box · · ·

information and contact point directly in Mariahilfer Strasse 20,000 copies of the project brochure 1,300 people participated in one month

Design workshop · · · ·

possibility to try new variants on a model discussing ideas with experts and politicians discussion among citizens representing groups with opposing opinions 500 people were actively involved

Trial operation · · · · · ·

a three-day temporary change in traffic in line with the forthcoming changes no entry for cars; experts monitored pedestrian movement and tested traffic options aroused people’s curiosity and increased the number of people who participated Exhibition of results in the Dialog Box design by Franziska Orso and Ulrike Pitro subjected to public criticism basic visualization for further decision-making options

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: First results

: Priorities

All the suggestions and comments showed some tendencies. People often want:

All of the activities described above have resulted in several points or priorities that need to be addressed:

• • •

: Criticism

• • • • • • •

People feared most car traffic diversions and loss of parking spaces. Critics most often demanded that everything should remain as it is. They considered the proposal to be too “green” and unnecessarily expensive. There were also concerns about clashes between pedestrians and cyclists.

But the most important finding is that people want to continue the transformation process and engaging in decision making.

At the end of this process was the implementation of the changes that resulted from citizens’ proposals.In 2014, the City Council received feedback from residents. More than 48,000 people participated in the three-month survey and they submitted more than 33,000 proposals. These proposals served as a basis for the redesign of the new Mariahilfer Strasse project. 53.2% of respondents expressed satisfaction with the new design of this important city boulevard.

Now, after 5 years, 75% are satisfied with the result.

more seating and relaxation areas more trees and green areas, more space for strolling public space for various uses, water features

safe organization of space for all users elimination of conflicts between cyclists and pedestrians opening space by removing barriers clear marking of pedestrian zone vs. road traffic parking facilities for bicycles equipment for different population groups (age, gender…) places for recreation

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Transfer Station: OVER THE TWO YEARS OF ITS EXISTENCE, THE TRANSFER STATION (IN CZECH “PŘESTUPNÍ STANICE”) PROJECT HAS SUCCESSFULLY ESTABLISHED ITSELF IN THE PRAGUE COMMUNITY. THE SHOP, WHICH BEGAN IN 2017 AS A SECOND-HAND STORE WHERE HOMELESS PEOPLE SERVE THE CUSTOMERS, HAS BECOME ONE OF THE CENTRES OF THE ŽIŽKOV COMMUNITY. DURING AN INTERVIEW WITH THE PROJECT’S FOUNDER EVA DUDOVÁ WE WERE INTERRUPTED SEVERAL TIMES BY CUSTOMERS OR SIMPLY NEIGHBOURS WHO ALREADY KNOW EVA WELL. WE FINALLY GOT UP FROM THE COMFORTABLE ARMCHAIRS WHEN A SMILING TOURIST WANTED TO TAKE A PICTURE OF THE COSY NOOK FOR HER INSTAGRAM.

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a cosy urban living room bringing homeless people back to life The story of Eva Dudová and her initial inspiration has been presented several times in the media: as a student, she was giving money and food to the homeless in winter when one of them turned to her with a request for work. Realizing how hard it was for street people to find one, she decided to do something about it.

At the Transfer Station, she provides homeless people not only with jobs, but thanks to the community character of the project, also with indispensable social ties, support of friends and a recovery of the elementary sense of self-confidence.

These are needed to allow people from the street to engage once again in “normal” life—after a six-month internship in the Transfer Station they are able to continue their journey.

However, it was a long journey before the Transfer Station became what it is today. Although Eva Dudová studied social work at the time of its establishment, she quickly realized how crucial marketing will be for her mission. “I got my Master’s degree in management and supervision of social and non-profit organizations. The decisive moment was that I am more of a manager and I enjoy working with a team rather than being a therapist working closely with clients.”

She invited people from different fields to join the new Transfer Station project. “The team around is changing. Nonetheless, in establishing the organization, I received help from people from IT, advertising professionals, craftsmen or manually skilled people,

people who studied economics and one social worker.” The professional background of team members changes as the needs of the organization change. Among the people working at the established centre are a lawyer, an IT developer, people from a creative HUB and social environment, marketing and the non-profit sector.

“There are almost thirty of us,” Eva laughs. Most of them work for the Transfer Station for free in their spare time. “I have a stable team of people around me that are great and I admire them.

Some are paid, but most of them are volunteers who take care of marketing, finance, transporting things…Together we decide what services or things we will offer or how to deal with the community. They do it in their spare time, enjoy it and get nothing for it—it’s still a little miracle for me.”

The establishment of the Transfer Station was preceded by a long period of search for suitable premises. They tried the advertisements of city districts and the city council, acquaintances, real estate agencies—until it finally dawned on them that they didn’t want to wait for months for some municipality-owned premises to become vacant.

“We found from similar businesses that municipality-owned premises are only 14 percent cheaper, which is a ridiculous amount. Although the political situation in Prague has improved after the elections and the current leadership is moving towards social welfare and wants to use empty premises, these things take time.” Eva and her team are now trying to open a second store. They submitted an offer for premises in Prague 1, where they are waiting for the envelope opening stage. The results should be announced by the end of October.

The Transfer Station is currently located in Prague’s Žižkov district, not far from Olšanské náměstí. They pay commercial rent. In order to be able to help meaningfully, they have to come up with a programme in addition to selling used clothes and books. “We support ourselves from what we sell. Workshops and evening events are hosted for voluntary admission.” Events such as an exhibition of homeless people’s pictures, screenings or debates are organized for voluntary admission mainly to allow people who could not afford to pay an expensive admission fee to come.

“In the beginning it was up to a third of our profits. We record admission contributions as donations. Plus we have cash register for continuous voluntary contributions. It covers things that we could not pay from the sales, such as light refreshment.” Even though the budget is tight and the future is uncertain, they have decided not to use municipal, state or European money after their experience with a city grant.

“Fortunately, we are independent. Last year and the year before, we applied for a grant from the Prague 3 district. We received

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citizen : one a one-time grant for an exhibition of homeless artists and then a grant of about ten thousand for the entire summer programme.

We wanted money for running the organization, rent, utilities, salaries…and we got three percent of the amount,” Eva laughs.

In addition, they found that municipal grants influence their decision-making. “We had lectures on paedophilia and drugs—and someone informed on us to Prague 3 that we support pathologies here. Of course this was explained, but the very fact that we have to confess has reinforced our decision. I don’t know if we will manage, but on the other hand we can do what we want.”

Eva is also grateful for non-financial assistance. Right in the initial phase of the project they were approached by the Bez-domova (Home-less) Foundation. “They were wonderful. Over time, they paid us half of the salaries of the shop assistants, and that was tremendous support; we could have them here longer, without having to be stressed if we will be able to pay them. In addition to half the salary, they also bought to our first shop assistant a yearly public transport ticket. He travelled around Prague and was excited about all the places he could visit.”

After this experience, they tried to approach the Public Transport Company directly, but so far without any result. Still, they want to try it again—an allied platform called Locals for Locals (Místní místním) could help them with that. “They bring together businesses that try to help those in need and offer various ser-

vices to homeless people for free. We want to reach out to the Public Transport Company together and negotiate at least a little support with them,” Eva plans. The yearly tickets are a problem because a non-profit organization is not able to pay them—moreover, fines for riding in public transport without a ticket are the cause of one of the largest volumes of distraint that drag people further to the bottom.

Apart from the uncertainty about funding, Eva and her team face other practical challenges. “We embarked on the project thinking that the most difficult thing is to prepare the shop and then it will be fine, but opening starts the second round. And perhaps even a more demanding one: you work with material things, you have to coordinate people—and we underestimated that. I stayed here with my colleague Jana and it was a kind of a competition who will crack up first,” Eva recalls. In the end, her colleague Jana burnt out, which is typical of people from the non-profit sector who sacrifice all their time for the sake of their work in exchange for minimum pay. “We didn‘t expect that much work, but now we know that two people are not enough and a big team is needed to push forward with the project.”

Another insight was the importance of the choice of the shop assistants from amongst the homeless people. “We didn’t find out much about our second shop assistant. We approached her based on a recommendation from one organization, but they did not tell

smart : one us how well they knew her either. It was a mess: she had an active addiction, which we found only when things started to happen. It was a test for all of us,” she recalls. They also had to deal with the idea of openness to everyone. Within the community, they worked with a person who did not share their life values, which they perceived positively as building bridges between people. “But he started bullying and blackmailing us, and he felt he could be like that when he was a member of the community. We had to deal with it through lawyers.” But thanks to this experience, they now know in the Transfer Station how important a careful selection of shop assistants and colleagues is. “We want to be a safe place.”

The enormous amount of work and difficulties encountered in preparing the project triggered anxiety in Eva. Because initially her salary was about eight thousand crowns, she could not afford expensive therapy. “Now I can support myself better than when we started. Before the Transfer Station project started, I was gaining experience in an advertising agency, which provided me with a financial cushion. At the time of opening the shop, I worked as a full-time volunteer, but I lived in a place with a cheap rent, used community kitchen and dumpster diving (picking out expired food and second-rate vegetables for instance from supermarket waste containers).”

Today she would not be able to live on eight thousand. “We are improving and professionalizing, things are more expensive. It

still takes a lot of time, but people know more about us, we are increasing sales volumes, we have regular customers and we’ve built a reputation, so I need to be OK.” She still considers her current salary “absurdly small, ridiculously modest”, but thanks to living with an understanding partner, she can afford it.

The story of Eva Dudová is not exceptional. Why is it that people who engage in similar activities, at the expense of their own time and health, are perceived by the majority society not as a help but as a burden? “Unfortunately, people automatically adopt the strange views of our president and prime minister. People without personal experience like to find culprits in uncertain times. And non-profit organizations began by criticizing human rights, social and gender blunders, thus attracting undesirable attention.”

She herself has experience in the social sector, where there is a severe lack of support. “A lot of money is spent on sports, but very little on the social system, while it actually holds everything.

The state buys from non-profit organizations services that it cannot secure itself, and yet it criticizes them.” Eva thinks that there is a need for a change from both sides: someone in politics who would stand up for the activities of the non-profit sector and say that this kind of work is needed; and more people who gain personal experience with non-profit activities. “Such a person can then say: look, in my free time I do a lot of things without which this and that wouldn’t work. And if the two voices come together, it could help.”

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The Initiative for Invalidovna shows direction THIS SPRING THE PRAGUE CULTURAL SCENE HAS GROWN BY ANOTHER IMPORTANT SPACE. FOLLOWING THE EFFORTS OF SEVERAL INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONS, THE STATE WITHDREW FROM SELLING THE UNIQUE BAROQUE BUILDING TO A PRIVATE INVESTOR. IN 2018, AFTER LONG NEGOTIATIONS, THE BUILDING OF INVALIDOVNA WAS TAKEN OVER

BY THE NATIONAL HERITAGE INSTITUTE (NHI) THAT TOGETHER WITH THE INITIATIVE FOR INVALIDOVNA OPENED IT TO THE PUBLIC. A QUARTER OF THE HERITAGE-LISTED BUILDINGS HAS BECOME A PILOT PROJECT FOR THE CULTURAL AND CREATIVE INDUSTRIES, AND OTHER PARTS OF THE BUILDING ARE ACCESSIBLE THROUGH GUIDED TOURS.

: Civic society support As set out in its statutes, the Initiative for Invalidovna is committed to developing civil society, serving the public and preserving the heritage value of the building. This is to be achieved not only by opening up the impressive premises to the public, but also by creating a free artistic space and providing a creative environment. Moreover, the community mission is based on the original purpose of the building, which since its completion in the 18th century has served poor war veterans.

After the military archive was moved out in 2014, the building remained empty. The Initiative for Invalidovna, which is an association of people of different professions, wants to show, in cooperation with the NHI, the potential of the building not only for

cultural activities, but mainly as a centre for the wider community. “We are trying to draw on the original idea of the existence of Invalidovna and reopen the space for the general public. The building had been empty and unused for a long time, the basic infrastructure is missing, but it is still possible to carry out a wide range of activities here or just spend time in the adjoining garden, ”says Lída Vacková, with whom we met in the garden of the western wing of Invalidovna.

The Initiative is a group of people from different walks of life. It was initiated by the urbanist Nisan Jazairi, who fought against the privatization of the building. His intention to use the space for the creative industries brought together a team of people, including Petr Zeman from the Vacant Houses (Prázdné domy) project, Marie Foltýnová and Zuzana Krumhanslová (Divoké

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The policy of supporting the cultural and creative industries is still to be developed in our country ...

: The way of cooperation setting was a „stumper“

tioning cooperation requires not only setting rules for the use of the building, but also the courage of the authority that owns or manages the building. And that would not have been possible without mutual trust, which helped the superior body overcome their concerns,” Lída explains. “We came across an important thing: it would be ideal for public buildings that do not belong to the city (but to ministries, Czech Railways, etc.) to be transferred to cities free of charge. This makes the situation easier to work with,” adds Nisan Jazairi, who joined us during the interview.

The Invalidovna administrator, the National Heritage Institute, lent the building to the Initiative on the condition that it will be open for community and cultural events. Finding a way to set up cooperation between the non-profit and government sectors was preceded by a long period of search: “It was a challenge. Well-func-

In the end, the Initiative did not acquire the whole building, but a quarter of it: the western wing with a garden that is open both for meeting and for urban gardening. Next to café tables, herbs and vegetables grow in beds. “When the director of the NHI acquired the building to administer it, she also presented the program.

matky), who are part of the Karlín community and know the needs of locals, Lída Vacková and Lucie Kašárová from a multicultural centre called Studio Alta or Aleš Zemene from the visual and musical environment. Creating a cultural program would not be possible without the help of dozens of other volunteers.

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citizen : one It contains a reference to cultural and community use, which is great because it opens the door to the involvement of the cultural and creative industries, and at the same time, allows testing the potential of the building in this temporary use. Personally, I would devote the entire premises to the creative industries. I’m convinced they would be filled,” Nisan ponders.

rested in such an activity. But the policy of supporting the cultural and creative industries has not been established in Prague yet. The city relies on people to manage all by themselves, but it is not considering ensuring a total renovation of the building and infrastructure that only a very small percentage of people can afford,” Nisan adds.

The remaining wings of the baroque monument had been cleared out. In one part, the NHI administration for Invalidovna has its seat.

The whole building is in the phase of preparation for a complete renovation; in the western part of the building there is no functional sewerage and water and electricity availability is limited. The NHI received a guarantee from the state that the whole building will be renovated, however, until then it is not possible to invest in temporary infrastructure. “Our function is to show that the direction and potential for cultural and creative use is self-supporting and that it really fits here. The NHI also has its needs and visions. It wants to place its archives and administrative facilities in the building after the renovation; part of the building is to be used for museum and educational activities. And we are looking for a balance in how much space and to what kind of activities will be devoted in the community-cultural part. ”

As the whole building is in a state of preparation for a complete renovation, the conditions are not suitable for a year-round residential program and cultural activities. Artists who are currently

The statutes of the Initiative, or in fact the history of Invalidovna, point to another, community–social, dimension: “Karlín is a multicultural locality. Stronger and weaker social classes meet here.

We see potential in their coming closer together. Therefore, we do not want the building to serve only those who can pay for it. The building is often occupied by filmmakers, which brings financial benefits, but similar activities should not be the main focus of the building,” Lída thinks. “That’s why we’re now all working to gather arguments for non-commercial use, which does not necessarily mean economic dependence.”

“The city must offer space both for the poor and the rich. This publicly owned building with genius loci offers optimal space for people who have the potential, need to work and do not have the money for expensive rentals, ”Nisan explains. And he uses Amsterdam as an example, where the cultural and creative industries are actively supported: the city has created 300,000 square meters of space where the creative community can create and manage unused space for low rent. When someone finds an unused building, they can rent it providing they will heat the building and take care of it.

The city then provides the person with an operating grant, allowing them to let the premises in the building for affordable rent, and the city will also help find tenants who will sign a five-year contract.

: Missing support “I would like this model to be implemented in Prague too. Invalidovna is one of the pilot projects proving that people are inte-

using the premises of the Initiative for Invalidovna contribute to the organization’s operation and participate in creating its program for the public. They provide the cultural content just by themselves.

The whole project is managed and undertaken by the Initiative members who work here after their working hours—which is not sustainable in the long term.

“Coordination of volunteers requires a lot of work. During the six-month cycle, we are not able to take advantage of subsidy cycles that close one year in advance. We are also limited by the fact that we have just started, we have no continuity behind us and therefore we have only a limited amount of resources from which to draw,” Lída lists the main difficulties. “Plus there is no legislation.

smart : one We work for free, we cannot commercially rent the premises, we pay everything from contributions,” Nisan adds. They both feel the need for a paid team who would work at Invalidovna from morning to evening to take care of promotion, operation and production.

But Czech society is not yet aware that even if someone acquires a building for a similar purpose, they need help. “For the city it is still convenient. The quality of life in the city is signalled, among other things, by the fact that the centre is inhabited by local people living in the city. They also feel a different respon-

in the city, start paying taxes and generate economic profit. With a pilot project we can demonstrate that it is possible, that Prague could attract a lot of people from Eastern Europe. There is a good quality of life and it is relatively cheap. But in our country nothing like that is a priority yet.”

The initiative is also faced with a Czech particularity of traditional distrust of non-profit or alternative cultural spheres. Lída and Nisan agree that it is necessary to exert pressure from below, to slowly build trust of the institutions, but it is equally necessary for a strong political figure to stand up for initiatives like this. “We meet people from non-profit organizations who work deeply below average pay level, but do so from an internal need, because they want to help—and the governing elite tend to exclude and dishonour them.”

A misunderstanding of creative activity as such also plays a role. “We still work on a project basis: you have to accomplish and implement something, but nobody cares about developing ideas. If we want good quality, it is necessary to pay attention to things and not only aim at a certain product as a target. Creativity does not mean creating something to order.” Alternative, sometimes critical culture cannot appeal to everyone, but censorship by the state or superior institutions kills creativity.

Lída adds an unpleasant insight from practical experience: the lack of common decency in Czech society. “We lack the social responsibility of individuals. Every morning I find garbage in the garden that is open and serves people. I wish people would learn how to handle things that are not theirs. To be able to take care of the common space. Everyone wants to have, but few want to care,” she thinks.

: By small steps

sibility to the place where they live than people who visit the city for only three days. Unfortunately, there is no continuous support of people who are willing to devote a lot of their free time to such projects under these conditions,” says Lída.

: Creative people are badly needed Nisan mentions another argument: “The cultural and creative industries in Europe account for up to 30% of a city’s GDP, and when incubators are created for emerging artists, they will stay

After the first six months of hard work, they can afford an assessment: “We managed to defend our position step by step. Hats off to the NHI for finding a way with us. We launched the project to help them, but it also brought them a lot of worries. Suddenly, other people began to enter the space.

But we probably made it, because the NHI offered us to continue,” smiles Lída. Initially, there were concerns, the negotiations took a long time, and the NHI feared public reaction in the event of a legal loophole. Eventually, we managed to maintain mutual trust. The Initiative for Invalidovna is likely to continue to operate for the next two years.

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beacon sensors that are installed at the venue

an online dashboard for the venue manager to control and edit all the information which be audible for the user when visiting

A free app for the end-users

New ramp for the blind RightHear is a mobile app that allows people who are blind or visually impaired as well as other people with orientation challenges to be more independent in public space.

The main features of the app are to allow its users to know where they are, what is happening there as well as what is around them. But it also allows its users to order a taxi or finding the nearest bus stop, thanks to the company collaboration with 3rd party apps like Uber, Lyft, Gett, Moovit and many more.

This Israeli based startup has now over 1,000 locations worldwide (including the Czech Republic) and is working closely with municipalities and city authorities in turning their public spaces into accessible environments. One of their recent collaborations was turning Iben Gabirol Street in Tel Aviv into the first “audible street� in the world. Thanks to this project, RightHear users can walk the street and receive audible descriptions of their surroundings in their language, which made the whole solution even more accessible for a tourist for example, who doesn’t speak Hebrew.

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