Smart and Intelligent Cities: Architectures and strategies

The course offers an overview of the emergence, structure, and strategies of smart / intelligent cities. It is based on literature and global initiatives shaping the development of the smart city paradigm, such as the Smart Cities and Communities movement in Europe, the Intelligent Communities Forum in the US, Living Labs, Smart Cities and the Future Internet, the European Digital Cities Challenge, and many other. The course contains 10 subjects areas of the relevant literature:

1. The genesis of intelligent cities: Evolution of innovation systems / ecosystems. Clusters and poles: innovation through proximity. Regional systems: innovation through institutions and policy. Intelligent cities: innovation systems meet with the digital world. Innovation over smart environments: user-driven, global, data-driven innovations and disruptions.

2. Intelligent and smart cities – Concepts and definitions: Definitions of intelligence. Definitions of smart / intelligent cities. Strands in the literature. Cloud of terms and concepts. Cyber, digital, smart, and intelligent cities. Intelligent city proposed definition.

3. Structure of intelligent cities: The standard model. Layers I, II, III. The city layer: social and physical space. The innovation layer: user-driven / digital disruption. The digital space layer: broadband, technologies, and applications. Ontologies of smart / intelligent cities.

4. Knowledge functions of intelligent cities: F1- Information gathering and processing. F2- Learning / technology acquisition. F3- Research and innovation. F4- Information dissemination / promotion. Online platforms sustaining knowledge functions.

5. Architectures of intelligent cities – What makes cities intelligent: Spatial intelligence of cities. Digital disruption, globalisation, and user-driven innovation. Innovation circuits: C1, C2, and C3. Architectures of spatial intelligence. Agglomeration of applications and e-infrastructures; orchestration intelligence; empowerment intelligence; instrumentation intelligence. Architectures of integration among human, organisational, and AI.

6. Planning for intelligent cities: Long-wave planning models. Top-down and bottom-up IC planning. Cases around the Globe. Strategic planning roadmap. Applications learning, re-use, and design. Data models. Business and financing models.

7. Strategies for IC: Intelligent clusters, districts, and sectors. Smart companies and start-ups into smart environments. Applications and solutions all cities should have. Strategies for the innovation economy, living in the city, urban infrastructure and utilities, and transparent governance.

8. Applications for intelligent and smart cities: Applications design and development. ICOS repository. Applications developed by URENIO Research: Smart marketplace, Improve-my-City; City-branding; Crowdfunding; Technology-Valorisation, and other.

9. Governance: The three A governance model. Actors and communities. Architectures of knowledge. Activities and innovation cycles. Five interrelated models for intelligent cities.

10.Measurement and Benchmarking : Impact and optimisation domains. Measurement systems. Indicators. Output indicators and result indicators. Relationships between output and result indicators. Design of monitoring and measurement application.

The course is offered in collaboration with Panagiotis Tsarchopoulos, Electrical and Computer  Engineer, PhD Urban and Regional Planning;  Nancy Martzopoulou, Mechanical Engineer, PhD Urban Development and Planning; and Christina Kakderi, Economist, PhD on Systems of Innovation.

Reference books:

Design and Development of Applications for Smart Cities

The course focuses on the design of software applications and e-services that sustain and improve the functioning of cities. It includes: (i) presentation of case studies about cities that have developed broadband networks and digital services to support their operation and growth, (ii) architectures of digital / smart city solutions and applications, and (iii) working with web technologies for the development of smart city applications.

The course introduces to the following topics:

  • Identification of city routines – urban challenges to address
  • Smart city design process
  • Lessons from stage-gate models of new product development
  • Ontologies of smart city applications
  • Design of user interface
  • Graphic design
  • Application programming tools
  • Content management systems

A series of applications for cities in the areas of economy, living, city networks and utilities and government can be found at the ICOS website and open source applications repository.

The course is offered in collaboration with Panagiotis Tsarchopoulos, Electrical and Computer Engineer, PhD Urban and Regional Planning, and Nancy Martzopoulou, Mechanical Engineer, PhD Urban Development and Planning.

Strategic Planning for Urban Development

The course focuses on the theoretical thinking explaining the development and planning of cities. We discuss a range of subjects related to urbanization, internal structure of cities, role of planning in urban development, models of European cities planning, and contemporary trends of urban development and planning.

The course contains (1) the description of the major theories of urban development and planning and their connection to wider trends in the economy, politics, and technology; (2) the description of strategic planning methods, such as SWOT analysis, scenario building, setting objectives, strategy formulation, action plan elaboration, and impact measurement and assessment, and (3) the description of the major urban planning models that prevailed in Europe during the 20th century, as well as current trends such as planning for green cities, innovation-led development of cities, planning for digital and intelligent cities. It consists of 6 modules:

  • Urbanization and development
  • Explaining the internal structure of the city
  • Strategic planning: concepts, process, and methods
  • Major planning models of European cities during the 20th century
  • Sustainable urban development and planning: Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED-for-Neighborhood Development) model
  • Innovation-led development of cities; intelligent cities development and planning.

The course is offered in collaboration with Nancy Martzopoulou, Mech. Engineer, PhD Urban Development and Planning.

Reference books:

Learning Regions: Innovation and Regional Development in Europe

The course introduces to newer theories of innovation-led regional development, regional policy, and strategic planning. It explores the connection between the processes of regional development, strategic planning, and regional innovation systems and strategies.

Main topics are:

  • Theories of regional development, such as cluster theory, system-areas, learning regions, new growth theories, smart specialisation, focusing on knowledge-based and innovation-led regional development;
  • Innovation-led regional development globally, focusing on strategic planning cases, large-scale projects, mechanisms for selecting and funding projects.
  • European smart growth strategy and deriving regional policies for the development of European regions, such as the new cohesion policy, regions of knowledge, and research and innovation strategies for smart specialisation;
  • Planning for innovation and technological development in European regions, especially methodologies and tools for smart specialisation strategies and current RIS3 initiatives across Europe.

Specific regions whose growth is fueled by knowledge, innovation and technology are studied. Representative knowledge-intensity regions and features of a new European model of regional development based on knowledge and innovation are also presented.

Reference books: