Z E M C H 2 0 1 2 I n t e r n a t i o n a l C o n f e r e n c e
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and management. At this level decision supporting systems are the most relevant
methodologies of approach. The main issue is monitoring all the different variables of a
city (e. g. energy, environment, transport, nutrition) so that they can result interrelated
into a complex “image”. This image should be able to describe all the phenomena that
can be observed in the city environment, so that possible immediate or future
consequences can be predicted. The advantage of having such an image of the city is
first of all the ability of managing possible emergencies, and supporting future decisions,
too. The concept used for describing such a cluster of sensors and models is “Living
Lab”. The importance of the Living Lab approach is keeping together all the different
aspects that characterise the way a city works, and the ability to monitor, predict and
plan them, by using data and models. The advantage of this approach is that data and
models, summarised in the city “image”, can be used in different thematic fields of a city
at the same time. This possibility can be seen as an advantage since the complexity of
the city can be described only by a systemic perspective, being the different aspects of a
city so connected to each other that they cannot be separated and investigated as if they
were not influenced by each other.
The second level can be defined as “City Operation”; it includes all the aspects for the
management of the urban services in real time. It includes therefore the networks for the
distribution of energy, of water and waste, but also other grids like: the buildings network,
the public lighting network, the communication network, the security network. For each of
these networks, city utilities (actors) operate to ensure the correct management and
functionality of the networks.
The smart city approach implies a complex city infrastructure that control and manages
all the other networks. This smart urban infrastructure is made of sensors networks
(being the sensors integrated into urban furniture elements as well as in buildings or in
vehicles, etc.), data transmission systems, coupled with a system of servers for
collecting, elaborate and distributing (open data, cloud computing) the data and for
sending them towards the vertical application of the different utilities that manage the
networks.
Thanks to this structure the utilities are able to operate directly on the data on the
resource demand (“resource on demand”) by connecting themselves to the adjacent
domains which have an influence on the demand (e. g. public lighting and traffic). This
way the infrastructure costs are shared among the different utilities.
The third level can be defined as “City Life”. It is a set of services that are used by
citizens in the everyday life. This level involves the social life aspects of the city. At this
level the main issue is the smart community. We are talking about information
accessibility, public involvement in the city development, participation, and social
inclusion. The main topics are: public health, education, culture, security, privacy; the
technologies used are the ones that enable evolved systems of communication between
the citizen and the city itself, between the citizen and the structures of the city, between
different citizens. This kind of communication can happen in the urban context (smart
phones, tablets, pc, urban interaction), or in the buildings one (smart homes, smart
appliances, digital school, e-health, etc.).
Final, nutshell remarks
The three levels of the smart city concept above described involve the attention on
different aspects of the urban performance. These can be summarised as the hard
infrastructure of the city, and the availability and quality of knowledge communication
and social infrastructure. These are, respectively, the “physical capital” and the “social
