Three of the Intelligent Cities Challenge cities featured in the EU Industry Days podcast series. They demonstrated how the local and global are closely connected and discussed how they work to achieve their green and digital transformation, even during Covid times.
Leonie van den Beuken, Programme Director of the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area (MRA)'s Amsterdam Smart City (The Netherlands), introduced Amsterdam’s network that facilitates numerous connections between people and innovation online on a worldwide scale. Director of European Affairs, Euro-Mediterranean Relations and External Funding from Metropolis Nice Côte d'Azur and the City of Nice (France), Sébastien Viano also contributed to the conversation. He expressed how it is “very important to be part of this huge initiative [ICC]” for his city and a “big recognition” to be a mentor city. The “city of knowledge” was represented by its Mayor Mohamed Ridouani Leuven (Belgium) who is “eagerly looking forward to collaborating with other cities around the globe to share with them and learn, to show what we have and scale up” with ICC. The Mayor of Lahti, Pekka Timonen, also joined the conversation since Lathi is the 2021 European Green Leaf Capital.
The conversation kicked off with a question about what captures the essence of a 21st-century city.
In Leonie van den Beuken’s eyes, connectivity was crucial in Amsterdam. Cities have long been a place that people go to to improve their lives, build connections and live in proximity to both others and amenities. However, now “we need to rethink the way we use our space and the way we can use digital innovation for better use of space,” so we can continue welcoming people to “diverse and inclusive cities that are still liveable and green enough”. She made a final point that “No city is by itself. Every city is connected with its immediate surroundings and on a global scale.”
The idea of connectivity is important to Leuven as well. Mohamed Ridouani expressed concern at the lack of a sense of belonging and subsequent polarisation seen across the world. In his view, cities “at a local level, are very well placed to create the sense of belonging.”
According to Sébastien Viano it is safety and smart skills that set apart a 21st-century city , who commented on his city’s bravery in the face of numerous crises. “All of the people in Nice are very brave. We hope to be a resilient and modern city for the rest of Europe”. While Pekka has identified cities as the crucial players for creating sustainable lifestyles, businesses, and economic models.
The cities then provided various examples of some of their effective measures, such as:
- The Metropolitan Region of Amsterdam’s crowd measurement and controls mechanisms.
- Leuven’s collaborative agenda brings together tech, health and creativity to offer space, funds, guidance and strategic actions.
- Nice’s climate action plan connects all the relevant actors in the territory to work together towards shared ambitions.
In light of the ongoing pandemic, the cities then unpacked the statement “Never let a good crisis go to waste”. Mr Viano discussed how this “new crisis is asking us to define new tools, new strategies and new investment plans”.
Ms van den Beuken explained how a pandemic discovery inspired change in the Metropolitan Region of Amsterdam. The city saw behaviours change, with significantly fewer traffic jams despite 90% of the same pre-pandemic traffic. The MRA is working out how this can be retained post-pandemic, with “better use of time post-COVID” as a newly set goal for the city.
Mr Ridouani observed that “the move towards a more sustainable and healthy living, investment in healthcare and new technologies (and adoption of these) goes much faster than before” and described his optimism about a different life post-pandemic. Leuven witnessed this first-hand when making its city centre more accessible to pedestrians and cyclists, a move that took just a couple of months during the pandemic.
“Tomorrow will be better than today, especially in our cities.” - Mohamed Ridouani
Finally, the cities shared some words of wisdom for cities hoping to become smarter and greener:
Leonie van den Beuken
- “Everything still happens on the street” - Don’t forget the physical aspect of activities undertaken in green and smart transformations
- Actions “always need to be adoptable, understandable and affordable.”
Mohamed Ridouani
- Remain optimistic, as “new opportunities will come after the pandemic”
- Leaders should invest in communities and ensure there are enough platforms for inclusive decision-making.
Pekka Timonen
- “If you are not sustainable, you are not smart.”
- Actions matter - “The sooner you start moving, the faster you get there.”
Sébastien Viano
- Be open and ready to share – Get into the mindset of sharing and “commit to a global transformation altogether”.
Listen to the full episode here and stay tuned to see where their ICC journey takes these cities!
-----------------------
Representatives from Leuven and Nice also shared insights during the ICC’s recent City Lab. Read up on their ideas to build back better in this article.