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Smart City News
More local power and funding needed to reach climate targets
A report by C40 Cities shows more powers and funding will need to be devolved if national governments are serious about reaching climate targets.
The report Powering inclusive climate action in cities showcases ways cities are meeting the climate challenges in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, an ongoing pandemic and persistent inequality. It focuses on ways mayors and city officials can use their powers innovatively and across sectors to provide an equitable response to the climate crisis.
C40’s analysis shows significant power gaps remain at the local level, preventing change at the necessary scale and pace. However, the report demonstrates that having limited formal powers does not necessarily mean limited action. Soft powers of convening, coalition building, political actions and leveraging the mayor offer vast opportunities for effective
DIGITAL TWINS
Connected Places Catapult takes on Digital Twins hub
Connected Places Catapult’s new chair Dr Alison Vincent has announced 15 new Board members who will steer the Digital Twin (DT) Hub and help build its community.
The DT Hub was created by the Centre for Digital Britain at the University of Cambridge as part of the UK government’s National Digital Twin programme. The move to a new home at Connected Places Catapult aims to improve access to expertise across Innovate UK’s Catapult Network
Digital twins and interoperable, connected digital twins, are significant tools for fighting global systemic challenges like pandemics, climate change and resilience. The Hub, funded by CPC and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy via Innovate UK, identifies good practice, produces guidance and shapes standards on data sharing as well as showcasing the benefits of collaborative, connected digital twins.
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What can cities do to achieve a just transition? leadership and delivery of inclusive climate action. The report recommends that cities should advocate for a seat at the table and control over key policy areas and budgets, but notes that in some cases, it can be more impactful for national governments to create an enabling policy environment for local level implementation, rather than deferring responsibility.
Chair of C40 Cities Sadiq Khan said: “As leaders representing over 700 million people and a quarter of the global economy, we must convince national governments to unleash our potential."
Mayor of Barcelona and C40 vice chair Ada Colau said: “Cities are leading the way in tackling the climate emergency and as mayors, we need to push national governments to catch up with the bold and ambitious plans cities are overseeing.”
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URBAN MOBILITY
AMU-LED project tests the feasibility of drones in smart cities
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Demo Day at Cranfield University
The first demonstration of a large-scale project to test out future visions of urban air mobility has taken place in Cranfield.
AMU-LED will allow stakeholders to specify various use cases applicable to logistics and urban transport of passengers to assess safety, security, sustainability and public acceptance of drone use, with the ultimate goal of realising increasingly sustainable smart cities. In a series of demonstrations, the project will use large electrical Vertical Take-off and Landing (eVTOL) platforms for passenger and cargo transport, combined with smaller Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) performing delivery of goods and medical supplies, surveillance or support for emergency services.
Gokhan Inalhan, professor of autonomous systems and artificial intelligence, is leading Cranfield University’s involvement in the project. He said: “The flight demonstrations will put into practice scenarios, concepts and systems developed throughout the project to test how drones and manned aircraft can operate safely in the same airspace.”
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Strong, lasting partnerships are key to delivering smart city progress, says techUK report
In collaboration with its Smart City Working Group, techUK has launched a new report which outlines how cities and technology businesses are rethinking the approach to planning and delivering smart cities.
The report Demystifying the Smart City – working towards better implementation looks at fundamental steps councils must go through in the smart city value chain. It examines the multiple barriers faced by councils and their technology partners which impact on the ability to deliver smart city projects quickly. Case studies from the UK and the US demonstrate how these complexities can be overcome.
Divided into three core chapters – Prepare, Access and Engage and Deliver – it comes as at a time when cities are dealing with systemic challenges including a rapidly transforming economy, the need to reach net zero and social pressures including an aging society and urban decline.
In its introduction, the report makes the point that smart cities are no longer simply ‘nice-tohave’ projects but are fundamental to achieving economic, social and environmental ambitions. Healthcare, policing, energy, water and mobility are rapidly innovating and digitising, embracing a new era led by data and analytics. However, cities are faced with challenges on multiple fronts which both accentuate the need for smart city initiatives and jeopardise the ability to effectively implement them.
The report lists five pillars of a successful smart city and makes five recommendations to improve implementation, which include establishing a regional Chief Digital Officer forum to improve local collaboration and knowledge sharing with smaller towns and cities. This builds on techUK’s Local Digital Capital, a cross-sector methodology for measuring the strength of local digital ecosystems.
Ashley Feldman, programme manager for transport and smart cities at techUK, said: “Across the country, technology businesses and local authorities are forging strong partnerships so they can rise to the major challenges we are facing. We hope this report will encourage more businesses, stakeholder and citizens to be aprt of the journey.”
Five pillars of a successful smart city
Technology
Smart cities should be built upon placing an emphasis on data, emerging technologies and connectivity infrastructures within service provision
Integration
Smart cities should look laterally across multiple aspects of their infrastructure, neighbouring surroundings and service provision and examine how they might exchange data to drive inward and outward facing opportunities
Citizen-centric
Smart cities should find ways to engage citizens and examine how new technologies and data make a stepchange to the way citizen needs are served
Cross-sector collaboration
Smart cities should work across business, government, academic and third sector communities in genuine collaboration.
Strong commercial models
Smart cities should embed dynamic commercial models which are delivery and outcomes focussed
DOWNLOAD THE REPORT
SMART ENERGY
Smart tech monitors moisture in 400 homes
Sovereign Housing Association has installed smart home sensors and thermostats in 400 of its less energy-efficient homes. Connected heating and hot water thermostats have been installed in 200 homes on an estate in Christchurch, Dorset. Each device includes five sensors and a smart thermostat, which gives residents easy control of their heating and hot water. Sensors have been fitted in 200 homes on a second large estate in Basingstoke, Hampshire, which record and analyse moisture readings every 30 minutes as well as CO2 and air quality. Both devices gather real-time data to help Sovereign identify issues such as condensation, damp and mould) and could help the organisation prioritise improvements. Sovereign’s head of product management Gareth King said: “Within the first few weeks we’ve already spotted where simple changes could improve efficiency and reduce the risk of condensation.”
SPOTLIGHT ON DAMP AND MOULD
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How would the cities of the future be built if Elon Musk utilises the resources of companies such as Tesla, Starlink, and SpaceX? Imagination runs wild in this TheTeslaSpace report
Charging forward in Oxford
Now online, Energy Superhub Oxford will provide a blueprint for cities around the world to simultaneously scale up green transport, power and heating, pushing new frontiers in the race to keep global warming below 1.5°C
Oxford is the proud location for what is reported to be Europe’s most powerful EV charging hub. Officially launched as part of Energy Superhub Oxford (ESO), the hub will initially offer fast and ultra-rapid charging for 42 vehicles simultaneously at Oxford’s Redbridge Park and Ride. This will be powered entirely by renewable energy, and with 10MW of installed capacity on site, the hub can scale up with EV adoption to provide charging for 400 vehicles.
A study of Oxford City Council’s fleet examined the challenges of migrating its 340 vehicles, managed by Oxford Direct Services, to electric, from cars and vans through to tipper trucks and refuse collection vehicles. The project has helped fund the electrification of 40 of these, and is exploring the value to be gained by ‘smart’ charging, using variable time-of-day tariffs to pick the cheapest times to charge. ESO is one of three demonstrator projects part-funded by the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, delivered by Innovate UK. The collaboration between Oxford City Council, Oxford University, Pivot Power, Habitat Energy,
Invinity and Kensa, aims to showcase rapid EV charging, hybrid battery E
