For the first time in human history, half the world’s population now lives in large urban areas. According to UN-HABITAT and the C40 Large Cities Climate Leadership Group, cities consume 75 percent of the world’s energy and are responsible for 80 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions that are the chief cause of climate change. Cisco envisions a future where the intelligent use of networking architectures can transform urbanized societies, not only by boosting productivity and spurring economic growth, but also by supporting environmental sustainability and enhancing the quality of life.

 

A Partnership for Urban Development

To reduce the carbon they emit into the atmosphere, businesses and government organizations have generally focused on conserving energy, switching from fossil fuels to alternative energy sources, and, most recently, exploring ways to offset or capture and store carbon emissions. Cisco and select cities are taking a new approach to lessening their carbon footprints as part of a public-private partnership called Connected Urban Development.

The Connected Urban Development initiative focuses on providing solutions that address the many factors contributing to carbon emissions in urban environments, including the use of energy and natural resources and transportation. The initiative demonstrates how to reduce carbon emissions by introducing fundamental improvements in the efficiency of the urban infrastructure using information and communications technology.

Cisco launched the Connected Urban Development initiative in late 2006 as part of our commitment to the Clinton Global Initiative. The program draws on our own expertise, as well as research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The first phase concentrated on building partnerships with three cities: Amsterdam, San Francisco, and Seoul. In February 2008 the program was expanded to include the cities of Birmingham (U.K.), Hamburg, Lisbon, and Madrid. We will continue to engage more cities, partners, and global thought leaders, and to scale our efforts by actively sponsoring and participating with NGOs, governments, and businesses, using collaborative technologies to share best practices.

Solutions the partners are currently working on include:

• Making vehicle traffic flow more efficiently
• Improving public transportation services
• Creating a sustainable model for buildings that incorporates better energy efficiency
• Establishing energy-saving work environments such as shared office space and virtual collaboration
• Finding better ways for cities to deliver services to residents
• Enabling residents to self-manage their carbon footprints

All the solutions in the Connected Urban Development portfolio require a connected IT broadband network. Each solution must involve a practical and operational project, and each must be replicable and able to deliver measurable results. The diagram below shows how initiatives in the areas of work, mobility, energy, and buildings are all built upon a solid network infrastructure.

 

Connected Urban Development Framework

Cisco has committed $15 million to Connected Urban Development over a five-year period. The initiative is presently at the proof-of-concept level, and a number of pilot projects have been established and their effects evaluated.

 

Progress To Date

• Connected Urban Development Global Conference: The first conference was held February 20–21, 2008, with the theme “Connecting Cities: Innovation and Sustainability.” Co-hosted by Cisco and the City and County of San Francisco, the event attracted a group of more than 200 urban, business, research, academic, and civic leaders from 27 countries who share an interest in developing innovative environmental solutions. This was the first conference of its kind to focus on how IT intersects with the issues and challenges cities face when dealing with climate change and other environmental issues. Following the event, the global dialog has continued with online discussions and seminars. The second Connected Urban Development Global Conference will take place in Amsterdam September 23–24, 2008, with the theme “Connectivity for Sustainability.” More than 300 delegates from 86 cities in 32 countries are expected to attend.

• The Connected Bus: Since 2007 the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (Muni) and Cisco have been working together on this pilot project to encourage citizens to use the city’s bus system. Touch screens on the bus provide real-time information about schedules and wait times. Riders enjoy free wireless Internet access, while signs on the exterior of the bus inform motorists and pedestrians of its benefits. The Connected Bus is a hybrid-powered vehicle that is 95-percent emissions free, eliminating 270 tons of carbon from the air per year compared with a standard bus. Future network-enabled enhancements may include smart technology for avoiding collisions, traffic signal priority, onboard entertainment, "Find-It" services for locating points of interest, and security systems.
• Personal Travel Assistant: This prototype service, being considered for pilot testing by Amsterdam, Hamburg, and Seoul, aims to improve the transit experience in urban environments by allowing citizens to make informed decisions about their transportation options through a number of digitally enabled access platforms, including mobile phones, personal digital assistants, public touch screens, and PCs. Personal Travel Assistant will be able to plot the most efficient route between destinations, drawing on up-to-date traffic and public transportation information and taking into account other elements, such as fare prices and environmental impact. The service will also be able to alert users to traffic accidents and delays, and it may eventually be used to pay for transport tickets and tolls.
• Smart Work Centers: This public-private collaboration in Amsterdam plans to encircle the city with e-work facilities, providing workers with an alternative to commuting into the city center or maintaining a home office. The first center, to be launched in September 2008, will be equipped with state-of-the-art networking technology and other amenities, including flexible workstations, conference rooms, lounges, a restaurant/business club, a childcare center, and banking and notary services. Cisco TelePresence technology will offer workers leading-edge virtual collaboration capabilities. The Smart Work Centers program promises to benefit the environment by reducing commuting, which lowers energy use and carbon emissions. It also benefits workers by offering a professional, distraction-free work environment close to home.

• Energy efficiency: Cisco, the City of Lisbon, the Portuguese Ministry of Education, and Electricity of Portugal (EDP) have agreed to launch pilot projects to explore how information and communications technologies can play a major role in improving energy efficiency. The partnership seeks to implement integrated approaches to energy generation and manage a network of public office buildings and schools across the city. The cities of Birmingham and Madrid are also concentrating on bringing IP-enabled energy efficiency to offices, homes, and public buildings.
• Smart Transportation Pricing: This prototype service being piloted in Seoul enables flexible transportation pricing by extending innovative charging schemes across the city based on time and distance. In Seoul the service uses GPS and wireless broadband network architecture. The objectives of Smart Transportation Pricing are to reduce traffic congestion and the carbon impact of vehicles, and to encourage a shift from personal cars to public transportation through incentives linked to reward and loyalty programs. This is expected to provide economic returns for the city by increasing the efficiency of the transportation system and reducing the need to add system capacity.

Reports from these pilot programs are encouraging. Measurement of impact is a core part of the Connected Urban Development program, and these metrics will be made available on the program’s website. In addition, planning methodologies are being formalized and shared globally with a growing network of government and academic practitioners. Our plan for next year is to proceed with operational rollouts and continue to measure the results of key initiatives in the first-phase cities. The campaign is helping to build strong public-private partnerships in the four newest partner cities and is targeting the development of specific solutions for those communities. We also plan to share content and methodologies with cities not currently associated with Connected Urban Development.

To learn more about Connected Urban Development, visit:

http://www.connectedurbandevelopment.org
http://www.cisco.com/go/connectedurbandevelopment