How Europe builds smart cities

Europe implemented the "Electronic Europe" action plan from 2002 to 2005, and completed the third phase of the information society development strategy from 2006 to 2010. On this basis, cities in Europe have begun the practice of smart cities. In 2000, the city of Southampton in the UK launched a smart card project. In 2005, the British government launched the Nomad Project to promote mobile ubiquitous government management and public services. In 2006, Stockholm, Sweden, carried out a representative intelligent transportation construction practice.

And some pioneering cities are increasingly beginning to build smart cities from a people-centered perspective. For example, the European Union has launched the Living Lab (living laboratory) plan for knowledge society innovation 2.0, which is committed to transforming The city is built into an open innovation space, creating an urban ecology that is conducive to the emergence of innovation, and using Living Lab as a carrier to promote the construction of smart cities. Cities such as Helsinki in Finland, Copenhagen in Denmark, Amsterdam in the Netherlands, and Barcelona in Spain have also launched smart city construction.

Europe has carried out many successful practices in the fields of smart city infrastructure construction and related technological innovation, public services, transportation and energy management, and has made achievements in building open innovation and sustainable smart cities. Big progress. Among them, the practices of the Netherlands, France, Italy and other countries are very distinctive.

1. Netherlands: Sustainable Smart City Amsterdam is the capital and economic center of the Netherlands. In the construction of Amsterdam smart city, it focuses on promoting the user experience, design innovation and demonstration promotion of government departments, enterprises, scientific research institutions and users to participate in collaboration through the construction of Living Lab, and implements sustainable energy, energy-saving buildings, smart homes, electric vehicles and other plans. . For example, through the use of technologies such as smart meters and energy feedback, energy consumption status can be “visualized” and experiments and demonstration applications can be conducted to evaluate and improve energy use. Amsterdam is also the largest city and second largest port in the Netherlands. The port's 73 onshore power stations are equipped with 154 power access points to facilitate charging of cruise ships and cargo ships. It uses clean energy power generation facilities to replace fuel engines and reduce environmental pollution.

In 2009, two Dutch companies, Liander and Amsterdam Innovation Motor, proposed urban development strategic concepts to ensure living, working, transportation and public space through technological innovation and other measures. Sustainability of development. What is particularly noteworthy is that the Living Lab in Amsterdam is also an important member of the European Living Lab Organization (ENoLL). Through the Living Lab, citizens, businesses, and governments are encouraged to actively cooperate, allowing residents and visitors to participate in the design of the new technology application experimental zone. , the main body of innovation, emphasizes the 5R principle, namely Reduce waste reduction, Reuse waste reuse, Recycle recycling, Recovery resource regeneration and Repay paid principles, and promote smart grid, district heating, urban design, smart home, The innovation and demonstration application of renewable energy such as solar and wind energy will gradually enable all natural resources to be metered and paid for consumption, and waste will be exchanged through carbon equivalents, while simultaneously creating a sustainable urban environment and promoting the sustainability of Amsterdam. Continuously innovate the construction of cities.

In addition, Amsterdam also attaches great importance to open data strategies in smart city construction. In 2012, Amsterdam won the Smart City Award at the 2nd Smart Cities World Congress in Barcelona, ??Spain. This is due to the cooperation between the three road management entities of the Amsterdam Municipality, the Province of North Holland and the central government. The social media data generated by the government's open data and citizen interactions are provided to data developers, and open data are used to develop intelligent The application realizes the optimization of traffic flow and transportation.

The Amsterdam government cooperates with data application developers to provide solutions to travel problems, and improves travel efficiency by using a variety of methods to provide travelers with real-time travel information to their destinations.

At the same time, the Amsterdam City Department of Facilities and Transport will open traffic and travel data to the public, encourage companies to innovate, provide new products and mobility services, and improve travel efficiency.

2. France: People-oriented smart city In recent years, France has invested a lot of energy in the construction of smart cities. France's smart city construction mainly focuses on three aspects of benefits, the focus of which is to improve people's livelihood benefits through the application of new technologies and continuously improve the quality of life and comfort of urban residents.

People’s livelihood benefits are the most important thing for the French government. Among them, the smart city livelihood projects being carried out by the French government include early warning of potential climate and geological risks, such as floods, fires, landslides, etc., and will provide warnings. Send it to relevant personnel or emergency services to reduce the impact of disasters on the lives of urban residents. Secondly, smart city construction will also promote ecological benefits. According to predictions by French experts, if smart city construction is fully realized, it is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 to 40%. The third is the economic benefits brought by smart city construction.

According to estimates from the smart city construction industry, the overall scale of smart cities worldwide reached US$526.3 billion in 2011. The "smart city concept" launched by Lyon, France's second largest city, mainly considers four aspects: first, it focuses on environmental issues and energy conservation, and encourages the use of transitional and clean energy; second, it emphasizes the network between governments, enterprises and urban residents communication; the third is to invite city residents to participate in the construction of smart cities; the fourth is to fully integrate and use new technologies such as information and communication technology, robotics and intelligent transportation systems to promote the sharing and operation of multi-network information resources.

The integration and use of new technologies is an important feature of building smart cities in France. In 2008, France Telecom tried to use intelligent communication technology to optimize the quality of life of urban residents in the French cities of Cagnes and Grenoble. France Telecom installed sensors in various areas of Cagne to monitor, measure and control the urban environment, including the water supply system of public buildings, street lighting control systems and environmental control systems. At the same time, it uses wireless networks to monitor seaside street lights and The sea surface temperature monitor provides comprehensive coverage, and pollution detectors are used to monitor carbon dioxide, noise, ultraviolet rays, wind speed, air pressure, temperature, etc. in real time, and then provide the data to relevant government departments for reference in municipal construction.

According to calculations by France Telecom, street lighting in Cagne accounts for 40% of the entire city’s energy consumption, and using sensors, urban street lighting and maintenance costs can be reduced by 20 to 30%. French smart cities accurately collect urban data through the application of information technology, then collaboratively manage and analyze the data, and make decisions based on the analysis results to achieve the goal of reducing urban management costs or improving the quality of life of urban residents. Secondly, French smart city construction emphasizes giving full play to the role of enterprises in smart city construction through PPP (public-private partnership) and other methods, focusing on cross-industry collaboration between governments, enterprises, urban residents, and enterprises. Relying on smart city construction, it improves the city's The level of operation and management provides new opportunities for industrial development.

Telecommunications and water network construction are two indispensable and important links in municipal construction. As the "leaders" in the above two fields, France Telecom and Veolia Water have cooperated to carry out Smart water meter project. During the cooperation process, the two companies gave full play to their respective advantages. France Telecom provided data transmission intervention technology, using wired or wireless methods to collect and transmit the information received by the sensors, and used big data technology to analyze the collected data, and then analyzed the results. provided to end consumers. Veolia, on the other hand, focuses on water treatment. They formulate different forms of data based on customer needs and push services to users through text messages and other methods. In addition, France Telecom has established an analysis platform and a certain number of smart water meters for Veolia. Veolia uses this platform to inspect abnormal situations such as water leakage and water theft, and monitor water quality pollution information, thereby saving costs and achieving a win-win situation.

Thirdly, France’s smart city construction attaches great importance to information security in the process of basic information construction.

Based on considerations of data security and security, the French government handed over its cloud computing project and related infrastructure construction to French companies. In 2012, the French government, through the National Trust, established a joint venture with France Telecom and Thales to specialize in secure cloud computing services.

3. Italy: a smart city with humanistic care. Italy is the birthplace of the European Renaissance and has excellent historical and cultural traditions. Milan is the second largest city in Italy and the economic and financial center of Italy. It is home to many cultural institutions and universities. Milan has important museums, theaters and landmarks. Currently, in the construction of smart cities, we are faced with cultural heritage protection and environmental issues.

Milan’s smart city follows the European smart city themes of smart economy, smart public, smart management, smart mobility, smart environment, and smart life, and also adds a smart expo. In order to welcome the 2015 Milan The World Expo held will increase mobility, enhance social innovation, and form a harmonious development of environment, culture, and society based on the digital city. In the construction of smart cities in Italy, more attention is paid to forming appropriate solutions through science and technology, applying science and technology on the basis of protecting existing culture, and through this model, achieving the goal of improving the quality of life of residents.

Italian smart city solutions not only focus on energy conservation and environmental protection, but also have humanistic care, thereby achieving a harmonious coexistence of technology and beauty, tradition and modernity. A people-centered development model means not only treating technology as an advanced means for human society, but also using technology to make human society develop smarter. In the process of building smart cities in Italy, technology is used as a means and tool to achieve the goals of construction and development of human society. In the process of realizing smart city construction, Italy not only relies on technical means, but also involves the participation of citizens. Through the participation of citizens, they jointly formulate and establish management policies, thereby establishing a happy and beautiful life in the city.

We can see from the construction of smart cities in Italy that each city has its own history and culture, so it should also have its own unique smart city construction model. Milan pays attention to the inheritance of historical context in the construction of smart cities. On the streets of Milan, we can still see trams with ancient history.

Green transportation is also an important part of the construction of Smart Milan. Milan's green transportation construction pays special attention to establishing the concept of priority development of public transportation and puts public transportation in the primary position of urban transportation development. Bicycle borrowing points can be found everywhere on the streets of Milan. The borrowing points also provide wireless WIFI access, information inquiry and city guidance services. Milan has also introduced some measures to encourage citizens to travel through public transportation, such as awarding public transportation vouchers to citizens who do not use private cars.

Milan’s government services and urban management also leave a deep impression on people. In addition to all kinds of public transportation in the city, the most common ones are city police cars. City police and their police cars can be seen everywhere on city streets and other public places. The city police are a beautiful sight for the government to provide public services to citizens. They are well-equipped with communications and various equipment and are ready to provide citizens with all kinds of help at any time. Matters involving street order and urban management are all managed by the city police, which is equivalent to the domestic "urban management" plus "traffic management" plus a number of urban management-related law enforcement units. Citizens do not need to be familiar with various complicated professional divisions of urban operation and management. , "If you have a problem, call the police." The city police have become the unified window for providing public services on the streets and can be seen everywhere, while the city's gendarmerie is responsible for matters that actually involve public security and criminal matters.

I feel that the setting and connection of urban management responsibilities are more scientific and reasonable, street management is efficient, services are considerate and convenient for the people, and public order is in order. The provision of user-centered street law enforcement services rather than government regulation based on the government's professional division of labor is also a concrete embodiment of smart cities in urban management services.

We visited the University of Verona and viewed 3D modeling and printing technology.

As a rapid prototyping technology, 3D printing is often used in Fab Labs and maker spaces to support people to design and manufacture the products of their imaginations as they wish. From FabLab (Microfabrication Laboratory) initiated by the MIT Bit and Atom Research Center to Maker, user innovation is the core concept. It is a typical manifestation of the Innovation 2.0 model oriented towards the knowledge society in the field of design and manufacturing. Based on From personal communications to personal computing to personal manufacturing, we try to build a user-centered, application-oriented user innovation environment that integrates creativity, design and manufacturing.

This concept has also been used in the construction of Barcelona’s smart city. Through the exploration of the Fab Lab (Microfabrication Laboratory) in the field of smart cities, we are building a people-oriented and sustainable smart city. This wave of innovation has also promoted the development of the German industrial industry, also known as Industry 4.0, which extends the reach of innovation to the user end, covering the entire process of industry, and integrating virtual information networks, smart research, and smart technology based on modern information technology. Comprehensive organic connection and integration with real-world operations, forming an organic whole, bringing new opportunities for production models, business models, industrial management, industrial efficiency improvement, and the realization of more humane and customized products.

IV. European Smart City Framework and Characteristics

1. European Smart City Construction Framework

Through research and case analysis, we can know that European smart city construction People-oriented, focusing on the city's historical and cultural characteristics and sustainable development, closely integrating urban information systems with economic development, urban management and public services, optimizing urban management decisions, innovating technologies, expanding industrial space, and improving the quality of urban life for all people. Through extensive public participation and a top-down information feedback mechanism, urban construction and society are highly integrated, making economic and social development more intelligent and more sustainable.

The environment is the focus of European smart city construction, focusing on urban development, residents' lives and the sustainable development of the environment. Build pleasant natural conditions (climate, greening, etc.) through energy conservation and emission reduction, green environmental protection, environmental friendliness, and ecologically sustainable development.

For example, the "Smart Cities and Communities Initiative" launched by the European Union in 2011 plans to invest 81 million euros in 2012 to support pilot projects in transportation and energy. This plan supports cities and Communities take steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2020 through the sustainable use and production of energy.

On the social side, it highlights the people-oriented theme, including government participation in all aspects of management and operations that serve citizens, and improves all aspects of the quality of public life, including education, culture, health, safety, housing, and travel. etc. For example, on July 10, 2012, the European Commission launched the "Smart Cities and Communities European Innovation Partnership" to combine technologies in the fields of energy, transportation and information and communication technology with urban needs. Combining it and launching demonstration projects in specific cities, such as high-efficiency heating and cooling systems, smart meters, real-time energy management, zero-emission buildings, smart transportation, etc., to optimize urban living space, improve residents’ quality of life, and use users to Centered service design to improve public satisfaction with public services.

In terms of economy, we promote sustained economic growth, promote economic development through knowledge and technology innovation, increase employment rate through the application of new generation information technology, focus on the improvement of the market system, extensively participate in domestic and foreign competition and cooperation, and through The construction of Innovation 2.0 models and platforms for the knowledge society such as Living Lab and Fab Lab, as well as open data, crowdsourcing and crowdfunding, promote user innovation, open innovation, mass innovation, and collaborative innovation, stimulate market and social vitality, and promote economic sustainability. develop.

2. Characteristics of European smart city construction

European smart city construction focuses on starting from the needs of citizens, building sensing facilities supported by various basic networks, and providing intelligent services through information fusion analysis , improve economic benefits and political efficiency, and promote social, cultural and urban development. The construction of European smart cities pays special attention to the creation of open innovation spaces that are people-oriented, citizen participation, social collaboration, and the creation of public and unique values. Focus on starting from the needs of citizens, and strengthen user participation through new generation information technology and social media, gather public wisdom, continuously promote user innovation, open innovation, mass innovation, collaborative innovation, and achieve sustainable development of the economy, society, and environment with a people-oriented approach .

European smart city construction has the characteristics of people-centered sustainable innovation such as user innovation, open innovation, mass innovation, and collaborative innovation.

Mainly reflected in: user innovation, allowing users to participate in the entire process of urban public service product production through Living Lab and other models, including the design, production, provision and decision-making of public service products Throughout the entire process, through user service DIY, we improve user experience and continuously optimize company products and services.

For example, Amsterdam’s Living Lab sustainable development experimental area and Barcelona’s practice from Fab Lab to Fab City are actively trying to allow users to better participate in the innovation process through new generation information technology applications, becoming a platform for service design and The main body of innovation bridges the gap between demand and technological realization.

Open innovation, realizing the openness of public service data content, data standards and related tools, can provide public query, download and use of government data services, including the openness of data standards, to facilitate the society's access to government data The use and sharing of data, as well as the further development and utilization of data by market and social resources, generate social value. For example, Helsinki, the capital of Finland, has opened more than a thousand data sets and actively promotes cooperation with developers through hackathons.

In 2012, it also hosted the first global Open Knowledge Festival. At the same time, Helsinki also launched the Forum Virium smart city plan to provide citizens with data everywhere in order to improve the quality of life. Mass innovation and the emergence of new technologies such as the Internet have made it easier for the public to obtain, communicate, and update knowledge. Tools such as BBS, blogs, Weibo, and wikis have further promoted new models of knowledge collection, generation, and sharing, and have also changed the In the form of innovation, crowdsourcing has become a prominent phenomenon in the field of knowledge work today. For example, the Amsterdam Municipal Government is trying crowdsourcing on the AmsterdamOpent.nl platform to allow citizens to interactively participate in local decision-making. The platform allows users to submit their opinions through Facebook and uses social media to encourage the community to participate in local decision-making, share opinions, and interact and cooperate with the government.

Collaborative innovation realizes the interaction, communication and collaboration between the government, enterprises and the public, realizes the public value shaping process for public services, and realizes collaborative innovation. For example, Lisbon's smart city construction focuses on improving the quality of urban life and treating citizens' demands as positive expressions of opinions, achieving a full range of cooperation between public institutions, private enterprises, universities, R&D centers, associations and local governments. A dynamic process of collaboration, creativity and decision-making. Participatory Budgeting was adopted in the process to collect users’ opinions and feedback on the evaluation of urban development projects.

5. Conclusions and Policy Suggestions

From the perspective of European smart city construction, it has implications for the construction of smart cities in our country. We must first understand the connotation of smart cities and have a deep understanding of "smart cities" The connotation of people-oriented and focusing on environmental, social, and economic sustainable development is the key to successfully building a "smart city." Secondly, we should see the gap between smart city infrastructure in my country and Europe, make up for the gap while learning from the successful experience of European smart cities, and promote the healthy development of smart cities with Chinese characteristics.

1. Strengthen user-oriented urban design and service provision. The development of a new generation of information technology has shaped the Innovation 2.0 model for a knowledge society that is user-centered, takes social practice as the stage, and features user participation in collaborative innovation and open innovation. Smart city construction needs to fully understand and utilize user-centered, demand-driven innovative service models, strengthen user orientation and cultivate new innovative value chain partnerships.

The transformation of the government itself is very important. The government should be the builder of the platform and the service provider of the innovative ecology. In urban design and service provision, it must shift from a producer perspective to a service provider perspective. Let user-centered service thinking replace the regulatory logic based on government professional division and governance. Correspondingly, urban planning should also change from traditional urban planning decision-makers to public participation in operation-oriented planning to achieve an effective connection between urban planning, construction, and operation. Let the city’s users, citizens, become the center of urban services and the protagonists in the design.

2. Cultivate industrial ecology, focus on collaborative innovation, and promote regional economic development. The industry and various market entities are the main force in smart city construction. Industrial and economic development are the engines that drive urban development, and a good industrial ecology is an important source of a city's vitality. It is necessary to make full use of market forces, through PPP and other methods, and fully draw on collaborative innovation models such as Living Lab to achieve coordinated development of smart city construction, civil society participation and industrial ecological cultivation. Smart city construction must seize new opportunities from new high-tech and new technologies such as high-end software, high-end chips, optical fiber technology, and fourth-generation mobile communication technology. While building smart infrastructure for smart cities, it must also drive the development of emerging industries and cultivate industries. Ecology, promote industrial renewal and upgrading, and achieve innovation-driven and sustainable economic development.

3. Strengthen data awareness and promote the integration, sharing and open data of data resources. Strengthening data awareness and vigorously promoting the integration and sharing of data resources are the key to smart city construction and the prerequisite for realizing user-oriented urban services and design.

On the basis of the integration and sharing of government data resources, we will further promote open data. Through the opening of urban public data content, data standards and related tools, the government can not only provide the public with query, download, and use government data services; it can also strengthen social supervision and promote the construction of a transparent government, a responsible government, and a legal government; and more What is important is that it facilitates all sectors of society to participate in the development and sharing of public data, stimulates market and social vitality, promotes the emergence of innovation, and promotes the shaping of public value through group intelligence and multi-party collaboration. Through open data strategies, developed countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom have greatly promoted society's ability to analyze and develop open data, as well as the ability to innovate various business service models.

4. Seize the opportunities of the new generation of information technology and improve the level of smart city infrastructure construction. We see that the construction of smart cities in Europe focuses on using existing infrastructure to improve smart services in cities, but we also need to see the gap between the infrastructure in China and Europe. We must seize the opportunity of the development of new generation information technology to improve infrastructure, accelerate the construction of broadband ubiquitous networks, and realize that everyone can receive "online" services at any time; we must realize the Internet of Things city, where every "unit" in the city can Connected by sensors and networks; through cloud computing, in-depth analysis of urban status and data is achieved. Therefore, it can be used in many fields such as urban public safety, manufacturing and production, environmental monitoring, intelligent transportation, smart home, public health, health monitoring, financial trade and so on.

5. Achieve green and sustainable development. The construction of smart cities should focus on the sustainable development of economy, society and environment. Through the application of new generation information technology, urban life will be made smarter, resources will be used more efficiently, cost and energy savings will be achieved, services and quality of life will be improved, environmental impact will be reduced, and innovation and a low-carbon economy will be supported.

At the same time, it is also necessary to fully conduct a full life cycle environmental assessment of the new generation of information technology and equipment applications, and make full use of information technology to achieve rational utilization of urban space and resources, emphasize green ecology and sustainable development, achieve smart growth, and build a healthy and livable building. , green, ecological and sustainable smart city.