Page 74 - Shaping smarter and more sustainable cities - Striving for sustainable development goals

Key terms to be included

A set of 30 key terms were identified as essential to be included in the standardized definition for a
smart sustainable city. This list is provided in section 5.3.

6.2 Specification

Based on the analysis discussed in this Technical Report, the following can form the basis for a
specification for a "smart sustainable city".
A smart sustainable city is a city that leverages the ICT infrastructure in an adaptable, reliable,
scalable, accessible, secure, safe and resilient manner in order to:

 Improve the quality of life of its citizens.
 Ensure tangible economic growth such as higher standards of living and employment
opportunities for its citizens.
 Improve the well‐being of its citizens including medical care, welfare, physical safety and
education.
 Establish an environmentally responsible and sustainable approach which "meets the needs of
today without sacrificing the needs of future generations".

 Streamline the physical infrastructure based services such as transportation (mobility), water,
utilities (energy), telecommunications, and manufacturing sectors.

 Reinforce prevention and handling functionality for natural and man‐made disasters including
the ability to address the impacts of climate change.
 Provide an effective and well‐balanced regulatory, compliance and governance mechanisms
with appropriate and equitable policies and processes in a standardized manner.

6.3 Agreed definition of SSC

In October 2015, ITU‐T Study Group 5 “Environment and Climate Change” and UNECE, based on the
work of FG‐SSC agreed on the following definition encompassing the major attributes of smart
sustainable cities:

"A smart sustainable city is an innovative city that uses information and
communication technologies (ICTs) and other means to improve quality of life,
efficiency of urban operation and services, and competitiveness, while ensuring that it
meets the needs of present and future generations with respect to economic, social and
environmental as well as cultural aspects".

64 ITU‐T's Technical Reports and Specifications