Page 786 - Shaping smarter and more sustainable cities - Striving for sustainable development goals

1 Scope

These technical specifications form part of a series of Technical Reports and Technical Specifications
focusing on the key performance indicators (KPIs) for smart sustainable cities (SSCs). It specifically
provides the KPIs related to ICT adoption and use in the context of SSC. Evaluating these indicators
can help cities as well as their stakeholders understand the extent to which they may be perceived
as SSC. These Technical Specifications describe 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 Technical Specifications re‐use the categorization of UN Habitat´s City Prosperity Index.

These Technical Specifications 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 inhabitants and their non‐profit organizations, enabling them to understand the
development and progress of SSC.
 Development and operation organizations of SSC, including planning unit, SSC‐related producers
and service providers, operation and maintenance organizations, helping them to fulfill the tasks
of sharing information related to the use of ICT in the city.
 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.

These Technical Specifications list 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 economic power or/and population growth etc, the cities can also select appropriate
indicators among those listed in Appendix I and/or add new ones.

These Technical Specifications are 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 neighboring area that can share some services.

2 References

[ITU‐T L.KPIs‐overview] Technical Specifications on overview of key performance indicators in
smart sustainable cities (2014)
[ITU‐T L.KPIs‐impact] Technical Specifications on key performance indicators related to the
sustainability impacts of information and communication technology in
smart sustainable cities

[ITU‐T L.KPIs‐Supp] Technical Report on key performance indicators definitions for smart
sustainable cities

776 ITU‐T's Technical Reports and Specifications