ITU-T L.1602 PDF

This Recommendation forms part of a series of Recommendations and Supplements focusing on the key performance indicators (KPIs) for smart sustainable cities (SSCs). It specifically provides the KPIs related to information and communication technology (ICT) impacts on city sustainability in the context of SSCs. Evaluating these indicators can help cities as well as their stakeholders understand the extent to which they may be perceived as SSC. The Recommendation describes applicability of KPIs, principles and dimensions as well as the definitions of corresponding indicators. To fit into the overall framework of city indicators the present Recommendation re-uses the categorization of UN Habitat´s City Prosperity Index.

The sustainability of a smart city is based on four main aspects:

• Economic: The ability to generate income and employment for the livelihood of the inhabitants.

• Social: The ability to ensure that the welfare (safety, health, education) of the citizens can be equally delivered despite differences in class, race or gender.

• Environmental: The ability to protect future quality and reproducibility of natural resources.

• Governance: The ability to maintain social conditions of stability, democracy, participation, and justice.

This Recommendation can be utilized by:

• Cities and municipal administrations, including the SSC-relevant policy-making organizations, and government sectors, enabling them to develop strategies and understand the progress related to the use of ICT for making cities smarter and more sustainable.

• City residents and their non-profit organizations, enabling them to understand the development and progress of SSCs with respect to the impact of ICT.

• Development and operation organizations of SSC, including planning units, SSC-related producers and service providers, operation and maintenance organizations, helping them to fulfil the tasks of sharing information related to the use of ICT and its impact on the sustainability of cities.

• Evaluation agencies and academia, supporting them in selection of relevant KPIs for assessing the contribution from ICT in the development of SSC.

The intention of identifying the KPIs is to establish the criteria to evaluate ICT´s contributions in making cities smarter and more sustainable, and to provide the cities with the means for self-assessments. It is desirable that cities can quantify their achievement according to their goals.

The ICT solutions include ICT goods, networks and services as well as ICT projects. An ICT project is defined as a set of activities that uses mainly ICT goods, networks and services to implement a specific task. At a city level, ICT projects particularly target the deployment of ICT in different parts of society to improve the sustainability performance in SSC. The KPIs can be used to assess the city sustainability before and after the implementation of ICT solutions.

This Recommendation lists the core indicators that are chosen to be applicable for all cities. The goals for moving towards increased smartness and sustainability differs between cities. Thus, based on their population growth, geographical locations, environmental conditions, demography etc., the cities can also select appropriate indicators among those listed in Appendix I and/or add new ones.

This Recommendation is applicable for both cities and city regions, which could be organized in different ways:

• A single city organized as one or more administrative units, or

• A union of cities in the neighbouring area that can share some services.