China Academy of Information and Communications Technology’s research while affiliated with China University of Petroleum, Beijing and other places

As smart city projects present a considerable challenge to the cities and their staff, capacity building is crucial to the success. This is especially in the areas of assessment of technology alternatives, the design and management of public-private partnerships and the utilisation of modern management systems and technologies for the increasingly complex systems that modern cities are.

Analysis of the information provided by the EU and China pilot smart cities reveals a number of emerging trends and open challenges in the following areas:

As has been shown in this report, the concept of smart city means very different things to different cities. From the implementation of individual traffic or waste management, solutions to the integration of citywide services through the use of ICT come under the umbrella of ‘smart city’. This is natural, as each pilot city comes from a different starting point, with a different set of social and economic preconditions, natural and geographical settings, economic structures, experience with technological solutions, maturity of infrastructure, etc. Consequently, there cannot be a single set of recommendations on how to ‘get smarter’ that would fit all or just a majority of the pilot smart cities.

The information provided by the EU-China pilot smart cities was analysed to provide an assessment of their level of maturity – basic level or ‘more advanced’ level – with respect to the key characteristics of a smart city. Details of the criteria used to assess the level of maturity are provided in Annex 5. In addition, the key strengths and areas where some further development may be required were noted.

A synopsis of the completed ‘Smart City Assessment Framework’ is provided below, followed by an assessment of the cities’ level of ‘smart city maturity’ in Chap. 6.

There is no standard definition of what constitutes a ‘smart city’. A common denominator is that a smart city is first and foremost a city – one that pushes the quality of resource management and service provision to the limit possible at the time. In such an integrated understanding of the smart city concept, smart city projects are part of a general concept of city modernisation. While the potential contribution and benefits of information and communication technology (ICT) to modernisation can be considerable, smart city projects should never be seen in isolation, but as one element in a city’s (or a region’s) continuous effort to find the next best way of operations.

The EU and China are involved in a number of cooperation projects that have some links to smart city initiatives, for example:

Thirty cities from the EU and China were selected to participate in the study. The criteria for selecting the pilot cities are described below.

This book, examining smart-city trends and developments from global, Chinese and EU perspectives, shows how the concept of the smart city varies from city to city. A detailed analysis is made to present the smart city as an up-to-date model of world city. Thirty pilot cities answer questions designed by the “Smart City Evaluation Framework,” including managerial entities, stakeholders, project description and performance, and whatever else relates to smart cities. By assessing the answers, researchers reveal major trends, best practices and challenges confronting smart city campaigns. Recommendations and solutions are provided. This is a must-read for anyone wishing to understand Chinese and European cities in terms of ideas about city development, plausible practice, natural and geographic conditions, economic structure and infrastructure robustness. Innovation and updates in telecommunication technology is regarded as indicative of city intelligence, and green, low-carbon and sustainable development. This innovative book offers an interdisciplinary perspective and shall be of interest to researchers, policy analysts and technical experts involved in and responsible for the planning, development and design of smart cities.