City Science Application Framework

Foreword

This publication has been developed within the framework of the United for Smart Sustainable Cities (U4SSC) initiative.

Acknowledgements

The deliverable leader Okan Geray (Smart Dubai Office) would like to thank Cristina Bueti (ITU) for her continuous guidance, mentoring and essential support, Chris Ip (ITU) for critically editing and revising the framework and the case studies, Reyna Ubeda (ITU) for her continuous support and assistance. The deliverable strongly relies on the hard work of U4SSC members who diligently participated in the extensive discussions and provided relentless support and feedback for this deliverable. The framework was constructed with the suggestions and comments received from Ban Al Bakri, Marianna Cavada, Jean Gustave Fedouop, Tony Lee Luen Len, Enric Marti, Andreas Abad Rodriguez, Ashwini Sathnur, Vimal Wakhlu and Nadia Yen.

Okan Geray (Smart Dubai Office) extends his sincere gratitude to all the case authors who devoted substantial efforts and time to draft, revise and finalize their case studies. Their diligence was extremely important to demonstrate the application of city science in real urban contexts. Additionally, Okan Geray would like to thank Tomas Llorente, Chungha Cha and Joelle Chen for their assistance in facilitating various case studies.

Okan Geray would like to express his deep appreciation for the extensive and invaluable inputs provided by Vimal Wakhlu throughout this deliverable and also thank Gamze Hakli Geray for her assistance in drafting and editing the framework and the case studies.

The authors wish to thank the U4SSC management team, Nasser Al Marzouqi (U4SSC Chairman) and Victoria Sukenik, Paolo Gemma, Abdurahman M. Al Hassan and Albert Medrán (U4SSC Vice-chairmen) for their respective assistance and contributions. The authors also wish to extend their gratitude to the contributing organizations along with their representatives: Cristina Bueti, Chris Ip and Reyna Ubeda from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Paola Deda, Amie Figueiredo and Agata Krause from the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), Robert Lewis-Lettington from the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat).

The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of their respective organizations or members.

© ITU, UNECE and UN-Habitat.

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/igo/

Executive Summary

The United for Smart Sustainable Cities (U4SSC) initiative is a leading platform for supporting smart sustainable cities worldwide. The U4SSC is coordinated by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-Habitat) along with the support of 14 United Nations agencies and programmes and has developed strategic guidelines and tools that aim to assist prospective smart sustainable cities in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The City Science Application Framework provides a four-step methodology for cities to solve their pressing urban challenges. By using empirical evidence as the basis for evaluation, the city science application framework offers a reliable and consistent way for cities to assess, prioritize and boost their city applications.

The first section is a brief introduction to urbanization and its high-level challenges. The second section provides an overview of the city science application framework. It defines city science and a list of urban challenges that the framework can be applied to for devising potential solutions. It also defines the scientific techniques and elements behind the framework.

The third section contains a list of city science stakeholders that are involved in city science application. From the public sector, private sector, chamber of commerce, trade associations to non-profit organizations, the academia, civil society, each stakeholder has a unique relationship with city science, and they are important variables to the city science application framework. This section explores the role of city science stakeholders along with a detailed description for each.

The fourth section contains a list of city science enablers that are involved in city science application. City science enablers are policy tools and levers that a city can use to boost city science. They include international standards and guidance, R&D programmes, laws and regulations, awareness raising activities, financial incentives, entrepreneurship and start-up support and more. City science enablers are another set of key variables for the city science application framework.

The fifth section outlines the city science application framework. It describes the four-steps methodology that cities can follow to determine and implement city science solutions and assess their impacts. These four steps consist of; first, assess the current city science applications status; second, prioritize and determine city science applications; third, boost city science applications; and fourth, assess projected city science applications impact.

The last section provides a list of case studies of city science application. Each case study contains the challenge that the city is facing, the vision behind the city science application, the implementation process of the application, and the result of its application. These case studies illustrate the application of the city science framework and are useful in enhancing the readers’ understanding of the framework.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgements

Executive Summary

1. Introduction

2. City Science

2.1. Urban Challenges and Problems

2.2. Data

2.3. Scientific Techniques and Methods

3. City Science Stakeholders

4. City Science Enablers

5. City Science Application Framework – Methodology

5.1. Step 1: Assess the Current City Science Applications Status (Baselining)

5.2. Step 2: Prioritize & Determine City Science Applications

5.3. Step 3: Boost City Science Applications

5.4. Step 4: Assess Projected City Science Applications Impact

6. Case Studies

7. Conclusion

A. Appendix

1. Introduction

Urbanization is progressing at an unprecedented rate with 68% of the world population expected to reside in urban areas by 2050[1]. 90% of the increase in world population is expected to take place in Asia and Africa, putting tremendous pressure on these regions to cope with the new human development challenges associated with this influx of population. It is important to acknowledge that while urban migration brings new economic opportunities and makes social services and cultural activities more accessible to many, it is equally important to address the rising challenges that urban governance has to address including economic inclusiveness, increased resource consumption, environmental deterioration, surging housing needs, new physical infrastructure, etc.

This high degree of urban sprawl demands urban planning to be reinvented in order to improve land and resource allocations. This creates further tension between urban and peri-urban areas (locations of close proximity to cities) in terms of economic and environmental sustainability. Mobility is becoming one of the most significant concerns for city inhabitants all over the world as the associated economic and health costs are ever rising. The lack of affordable housing with basic necessities such as, water, energy, sanitation, waste etc. causes informal settlements, which often without basic planning and regulations compliance, to flourish. The pressure on food, water and energy resources is also steadily mounting.

Urban sprawl also adversely impacts urban environment by diminishing green spaces, intensifying air pollution and increasing waste generation. Furthermore, cities are dense and highly congested places that are prone to the devastating consequences of climate change. More than 80 percent of cities in 2014 were located in areas that are vulnerable to economic losses associated with natural disasters and other environmental catastrophes[2]. Sea-level rise, floods, storms, urban heat wave, earthquakes, etc. are all potential resilience challenges that urban areas have to confront.

In this context, this deliverable has proposed to use a scientific method, the city science method, to analyse and solve these urban problems and challenges. It will demonstrate that by using empirical evidence such as data, the city science method provides the most reliable and consistent way for cities to tackle urban challenges.

2. City Science

City science in this deliverable refers to the use of scientific methods and techniques to solve urban problems and challenges. The scope of problems encompasses a wide range of sectors in cities. The characteristics of city science adopted in this deliverable include the following aspects.

City science:

• Aims to address and solve urban challenges and problems,

• Uses data extensively,

• Applies scientific techniques and methods by using STI (Science, Technology & Innovation).

The following simple steps indicated below describe the city science approach, formulated in this deliverable, to solve a given urban problem.

• Identify the problem – entails identifying and understanding the urban problem.

• Model the problem – includes transforming the identified urban problem into a model (which represents the urban problem)

• Solve the model – entails solving the model to provide a solution to the initially identified urban problem

• Apply the model solution to the urban problem – includes the actual implementation of city science solution in the context of a real city by applying the model solution to the urban problem. It may also entail applying a set of enablers to accelerate and increase the likelihood of its success.

Section 5 will introduce the city science application framework methodology which incorporate these steps among others into the overall framework.

2.1. Urban Challenges and Problems

The following is a list of potential urban problems sorted into different Categories as identified in this deliverable:

a) Environment (air, water, energy, land, waste, biodiversity, green spaces, etc.)

b) Mobility (transportation, movement, traffic, etc.)

c) Economy (economic sectors and industries, etc.)

d) Society (people, education, health, etc.)

e) Governance

f) Safety & Security

g) Resilience

Urban problems in these categories create enormous opportunities for the application of city science.

2.2. Data

Cities today have a large number of data sources. Digital transformation and ICT initiatives in the landscape of emerging technologies have proliferated data creation and consumption in cities. Edge devices, IoT, city information systems, legacy systems, among others, generate a huge amount of data. In this context, data acts as a strategic asset for cities through which they can generate new insights, create new services and resolve various urban challenges.

City science utilizes city data as inputs, or raw material, to solve urban challenges. The potential of data is enormous when transformed into beneficial insight and action by the city.

2.3. Scientific Techniques and Methods

City science uses scientific techniques and other data-driven methods to solve urban challenges. The dynamic and complex nature of cities allows mathematical models and techniques to be applied; that is, urban problems can be modelled and recast as scientific models and problems.

The complex behaviours and relationships within and between different city constituents form various flows and networks. Modelling such phenomena is conducive to application of sophisticated analysis and problem-solving techniques such as optimization, stochastic and deterministic models, simulation, bottom-up evolutionary models, graphs and networks, mathematical programming techniques (e.g. linear programming, dynamic programming, etc.).

3. City Science Stakeholders

There is a broad range of stakeholders for city science. Urban problems and their solutions exist in a rich ecosystem composed of many organizations which directly or indirectly contribute. The consumers, providers and beneficiaries of city science solutions encompass a multitude of entities or organizations in general.

The ecosystem for solving urban problems through the application of city science includes the following stakeholders in Table 1 below, among potential others:

Table 1: List of City Science Stakeholders and Their Brief Relationship to City Science

City Science Stakeholder

Stakeholder Brief Description & Relationship to City Science

Public sector

Public sector is the part of an economy in which goods and services are produced and/or (re)distributed by government[3]. Hence, it includes public services and public enterprises. Public services include public goods and governmental services such as the public infrastructure (public roads, bridges, tunnels, water supply, sewers, electrical grids, telecommunications, etc.), public transit, public education, along with health care, military, police. Public enterprises, or state-owned enterprises, are self-financing commercial enterprises that are under public ownership which provide various private goods and services for sale and usually operate on a commercial basis[4].

Public sector organizations can utilize city science in enhancing public services and increasing their effectiveness and efficiencies (e.g. public services planning, energy and water efficiency, transportation routes optimization, traffic flow enhancement, air quality enhancement, etc.).

Private sector

Private sector is the part of an economy in which goods and services are produced and distributed by individuals and organizations that are not part of the government or state bureaucracy[5]. Private sector is run by private individuals or groups, usually as a means of enterprise for profit, and is not controlled by the State[6]. Private sector can take a producer (supplier) role of city science solutions and services. Urban problems form a viable and potential commercialization opportunity for the private sector.

City managers (administrators)

A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city, in a council–manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are sometimes referred to as the chief executive officer (CEO) or chief administrative officer (CAO) in some municipalities[7].

City managers have a major stake in terms of finding solutions to their urban problems and challenges. City science can be used as a tool by city managers for addressing their urban challenges.

Academia (universities)

Academia refers to the worldwide professionals composed of professors and researchers at institutes of higher learning[8].

Academia plays a major role in enhancing and developing the city science human capital both in terms of number and also in terms of knowledge and expertise.

Chambers of commerce

A chamber of commerce is an association or network of businesspeople designed to promote and protect the interests of its members. A chamber of commerce, also known as a "board of trade," is often made up of a group of business owners that share a locale or interests, but can also be international in scope. They will choose leadership, name representatives and debate which policies to espouse and promote[9].

Hence chambers of commerce can play a federating role for private sector as a focal point for city science solutions.

Trade associations (sector bodies, associations, etc.)

A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association, sector association or industry body, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry. An industry trade association participates in public relations activities such as advertising, education, political donations, lobbying and publishing, but its focus is collaboration between companies.

Associations may offer city science related services, such as producing conferences, networking or charitable events or offering classes or educational materials. They can also represent the interests and viewpoints of city science solution providers.

NGOs

Non-governmental organizations, nongovernmental organizations, or nongovernment organizations, commonly referred to as NGOs, are usually non-profit and sometimes international organizations independent of governments and international governmental organizations (though often funded by governments) that are active in humanitarian, educational, health care, public policy, social, human rights, environmental, and other areas to affect changes according to their objectives[10].

NGOs can promote city science and convey their perspectives and objectives related to city science and its development.

Data scientists

Data scientists are professionals that use scientific methods, processes, algorithms and systems to extract knowledge and insights from data in various forms, both structured and unstructured[11].

Data scientists play a critical role in implementing city science solutions. They can assist in modelling and solving urban challenges.

Main suppliers of utilities, energy, water, etc.

Public or private sector organizations that provide / supply communities with electricity, gas, water, sewerage services.

These suppliers can play the role of demand creators for city science solutions related to utilities, energy, water, etc. City science solutions can enhance among others service quality, availability, and efficiency.

Open data providers

Public and private sector organizations that provide open data, which is data that can be freely used, re-used and redistributed by anyone - subject only, at most, to the requirement to attribute and share alike[12].

Open data providers can supply the data required for city science solutions to address urban challenges.

Other data providers (shared, private data, e.g. data marketplaces, etc.)

Public and private sector organizations that provide data other than open data.

Similar to open data providers, they can supply the data required for city science solutions to address urban challenges.

Labour force related to data processing and management

The members of city labor force with data processing and management skills are potential stakeholders for the application of city science to solve urban problems.

The labor force participates in all the economic activities related to city science solutions, pertinent data processing and management, etc.

Data regulatory agencies

A data regulatory agency (also regulatory authority, regulatory body or regulator) is a public authority or government agency responsible for exercising autonomous authority over data in a regulatory or supervisory capacity. An independent data regulatory agency is a data regulatory agency that is independent from other branches or arms of the government[13].

Data regulations shape and impact city science solutions in terms of how they use, process and manipulate data to ensure compliance with applicable regulations.

Data SDOs (standards developing organizations)

A data standards organization, data standards body, data standards developing organization (SDO), or data standards setting organization (SSO) is an organization whose primary activities are developing, coordinating, promulgating, revising, amending, reissuing, interpreting, or otherwise producing data technical standards that are intended to address the needs of a group of affected adopters[14].

City science solutions can ensure compliance with commonly agreed standards by utilizing them in implementations.

ICT infrastructure / services providers

Encompasses all the providers of infrastructure and services related to Information and Communication Technologies (ICT).

These providers can support and supply data related activities and services. They can provide readily available connectivity, data processing and security solutions, among others, to accelerate the implementation of city solutions.

4. City Science Enablers

Following is a non-exhaustive list of enablers (potential policy tools and levers) that a city can use to assess, implement and boost City Science.

i. Raising awareness - communicating and educating various stakeholders such as public and policy makers as well as the academia: City science is relatively a new field and awareness is to a certain extent relatively limited. Hence, awareness can be considered as an introduction to informed action; while city science awareness focuses on the general knowledge of the city science as a new field as it progresses globally. Targeted awareness activities should inform the stakeholders with relevant information to them about city science. The awareness activities can emphasize stakeholders’ specific role and contribution in enhancing city science. It can also be extended to public awareness which helps selected individuals understand and drive other individuals to participate effectively in activities establishing and developing city science. The benefits can be explained to stakeholders which will increase the likelihood of uptake (adoption) of city science methods and solutions.

ii. Publishing materials for city science (such as articles, reports, publications): As part of creating and boosting expertise in city science, existing knowledge can be disseminated. Articles, papers, on-going researches, reports, and miscellaneous publications can be distributed and shared among the practitioners, willing contributors and volunteers in cities. Such knowledge exchange will catalyse adoption of city science and will also accelerate knowledge creation.

iii. Enhancing skills and competencies: City science entails human capital with a wide variety of skills and competencies with the ability to learn, adapt and retrain. Formal education is one of the primary means to enhance city science. Curricula emphasizing data skills, data science, etc. as well as general skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, innovation, etc. might be helpful. Universities, colleges, vocational training centres play an essential role. Given the incessant advances in city science as a relatively new field, the acquisition of related skills is a lifelong process; hence continuing education and ongoing skills development are of paramount importance. Professional programs, training programs provided by various institutes, online courses, etc. are all part of the lifelong learning for city science.

iv. Stakeholder engagement and participation: It is important for cities to engage a wide range of stakeholders in city science and to ensure their participation and inclusivity throughout the process. Collaboration platforms can be used by cities to encourage public, private and academic engagement. Nurturing a strong and vibrant ecosystem will help boost city science. Entrepreneurs can be encouraged and incentivized to launch start-ups in city science addressing real urban problems. Similarly, NGOs and civil society can bring the perspectives of related organizations and society members to city science implementations. Consequently, it is important to establish stakeholder engagement platforms where stakeholders discuss and engage in city science related activities (e.g. conferences, forums, consultations).

v. Public and private sector policies and strategies: Public and private sector policies and strategies can help drive city science innovation in a mutually supportive manner. They can boost demand and supply of city science applications and solutions significantly. Implementation of policies and strategies such as smart city, digital transformation, etc. entail real life implementations which predominantly rely on data and city science solutions. Consequently, they create actual demand for city science solutions in alignment with the objectives defined in such policies and strategies. The broad range of city science stakeholders defined in this report indicates the need for a wide-reaching approach crossing boundaries of institutions, sectors, organizations, academic disciplines, etc. The differences in maturity level of cities with respect to city science may necessitate a tailored approach for strategies and policies. A unified vision along with supportive coherent strategies and policies can help cities adopt city science while addressing their particular urban issues, improving their economic performance and also addressing their specific social and environmental challenges.

vi. R&D programmes: Other industries’ R&D expenditures have been critical in the emergence of innovation networks. R&D helps in building capabilities, tapping into clusters of new knowledge and bringing in highly talented workers for city development. Therefore, targeted R&D expenditures are important to develop innovative techniques and methods that are required in city science. Different urban challenges and city problems can also be analysed and turned into R&D requirements.

vii. Laws and regulations: City administrations, or in some cases national governments, can issue laws and regulations which directly or indirectly impact city science. They may entail various legislations, regulations, compliance requirements, guidelines, etc. regarding city data, city science methods and algorithms (e.g. data protection, data privacy, data governance legislations, AI ethical guidelines). These laws and regulations are important mechanisms to deal with issues related to city science and constitute an effective lever for enhancing adoption of city science.

viii. City science related entrepreneurships and start-up support: Enhancing city science skills and competencies and investing in R&D programmes create short to long term potentials for boosting city science. However, businesses constitute the main means of converting city science ideas into wealth and jobs. In this context, entrepreneurs and start-ups play a critically important role in turning emerging technological and commercial opportunities into real businesses. Hence, policies that focus on fostering city science start-ups can be used as an enabler to flourish city science.

Additionally, incubators and accelerators can help prepare city science businesses and start-ups for growth by providing guidance and mentorship in slightly different ways and at different stages in their lives.

Additionally, incubators and accelerators can help prepare city science businesses and start-ups for growth by providing guidance and mentorship in slightly different ways and at different stages in their lives.

Incubator programs can assist city science businesses in their start-up phase by offering office space, business skills training, and access to financing and professional networks, among others. Incubator programs can help city science businesses on their feet in their start-up phase and may last variable amount of time depending on business.

Incubators provide management guidance, technical assistance and consulting tailored to growing city science businesses. They also provide clients access to appropriate rental space and flexible leases, shared basic business services and equipment, technology support services and assistance in obtaining the financing necessary for growth[15].

On the other hand, accelerator programs can last for a certain period of time and aim to accelerate growth for city science companies rapidly (hence the name accelerator). They aim to help develop necessary skills for city science entrepreneurs through mentoring, formal training, informal peer learning, and advice, among others. They target existing city science businesses and may potentially take a holistic advisory approach to enable rapid growth.

Table 2: Key Differences between Incubators, Investors, and Accelerators

Incubators

Angel Investors

Accelerators

Duration

1 to 5 years

Ongoing

3 months

Cohorts

No

No

Yes

Business model

Rent; non profit

Investment

Investment, can also be non-profit

Selection

Non-competitive

Competitive, ongoing

Competitive, cyclical

Venture

Early, or late

Early

Early

Stage education

Ad hoc, human resources, legal, etc.

None

Seminars

Mentorship

Minimal, tactical

As needed, by investor

Intense, by self and others

Venture location

On site

Off site

On site

Source: What Do Accelerators Do? Insights from Incubators and Angels – Innovations: Technology, Governance & Globalization MIT Press, Summer-Fall 2013, Vol. 8, No. 3-4, Pages: 19-25.

ix. Financial incentives: Access to finance and various other financial incentives can play a major role for city science start-ups and businesses. Financing city science innovation is inherently risky and may require a longer time horizon. Therefore, financing can be a potential barrier for market entry for entrepreneurs. Proper functioning venture capital markets and securitisation of innovation related assets can be important for city science start-ups. Easing access to debt and equity financing can provide incentives for city science start-ups and small businesses. Similarly, tax incentives can encourage city science entrepreneurs to start up their own businesses (tax exemptions and reductions, tax holidays, tax breaks, etc.).

x. Demand side city challenges: City managers and administrators can create real business opportunities for city science entrepreneurs and businesses by identifying real urban challenges and problems. As discussed in the Introduction section, cities globally are facing significant challenges. These challenges can be recast as city science problems. City science businesses can create solutions for these city challenges by harnessing data, algorithms, etc. Hence, actual demand in the form of real business opportunities has the potential to create a viable market for city science.

xi. Data driven problem identification: In addition to city administrations defining their specific urban problems, city stakeholders can use actual city data (e.g. open data, city data provided by public and / or private sector organizations, citizen data) to identify and define urban challenges and problems. This is an alternative approach to city science innovation and related stakeholders can be engaged in a systematic manner such as participating in a city science hackathon, challenge, etc.

xii. Awards: City science related awards can be used as an incentive to recognize city science related innovative products, services, or outstanding individuals. Awards can encourage creativity and innovation in city science.

xiii. “City as a Lab”: An urban environment can theoretically be thought of as a laboratory, in the context of which city science solutions can be developed and implemented. Cities today create and collect enormous amounts of data while providing various functions and services for their inhabitants and constituents. Hence, the readily available actual city data can be processed and used for innovation; which practically can be considered as turning the city into a lab. City science solutions can be tested in real urban environments (akin to lab testing) and successful ones can be deployed to address real urban problems. Hence, some cities depict themselves as labs or open labs for innovation. Such an approach can incentivize city science solutions and applications.

xiv. Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) for addressing urban problems: Public private partnerships can be utilized to complement city public and private sector’s skills and assets in implementing city science solutions (e.g. Google Sidewalk Labs in Toronto, Smart Dubai Platform[16]). PPP enables partners to align and unify their goals and share risks and rewards for city science implementations. They can also complement each other’s skills and resources for city science. Building a PPP based partnership is a relatively novel capability compared to traditional public procurement. It requires a sound understanding and modelling of risks and rewards. Public and private sector organizations’ missions and raison d’etre tend to differ. Unifying a common city science vision and mission for partners is quite critical. A one size fits all framework does not exist for PPPs since they tend to vary in terms of arrangements based on city science implementation project (e.g. short-to-medium term management contracts, outsourcing arrangements, Build-Operate-Transfer arrangements, joint ventures, etc.). The degree of ownership of assets and expenditures by partners also varies significantly depending on type of PPP. Hence, it is important to agree on a viable PPP model early on by partners and to address issues around it. On the other hand, PPPs provide significant advantages by bringing together the best of two worlds (Public and Private sector) with each contributing significantly to the partnership in city science. Innovative city science ideas can be jointly developed by partners by sharing the investments, revenues, and risks.

xv. Global data standards and data standardization: City science solutions utilize city data extensively. Hence data standards can increase the efficiency of city science implementations, expedite solutions, and enable cost savings by capitalizing on them. City science solutions can leverage existing data standards for data definitions, data processing, data exchanges and data interoperability where deemed feasible and available. Data standards can provide a common language and common framework(s) for data processing and management in city science solutions.

xvi. Open source city science applications: City science practitioners, volunteers and enthusiasts can provide open source city science applications (software and/or algorithms) on a non-commercial basis. These open source applications will be freely available to all interested cities and city science solution providers to solve urban challenges. Open source city science applications can provide advantages in terms of security, quality, customizability, flexibility, and cost among others. They can provide city science entrepreneurs and businesses with an already available solution for implementation; which can incentivize further innovation by enhancing and advancing already available city science applications. Open source also encourages sharing of city science applications among cities (as they are openly accessible).

xvii. Sharing city science solutions across cities and scaling them up: Cities globally share common challenges and problems to a certain extent. Hence, creating platforms whereby city science solutions are shared and even enhanced based on real cities’ needs are very important in boosting city science. Usage (adoption) of city science solutions by several cities will expand the potential market opportunity for entrepreneurs and businesses. It will help in scaling up city science solutions and will also enable further R&D for city science solutions.

xviii. Cross-city collaboration for urban problem solving: Each city on its own may find it both commercially and also operationally challenging to flourish city science due to various restrictions (e.g. human capital, financing, market size). On the other hand, cross-city collaborations may amplify the magnitude of city science potential in terms of resources, market opportunities and portfolio of feasible solutions. This scaling up opportunity may render city science solutions feasible, which otherwise would not. Hence, cities can form multiple city collaborations and partnerships to boost city science while addressing their own challenges and creating real market opportunities for businesses. Bilateral or multilateral agreements and partnerships can be established to help city science develop locally, regionally and globally as well.

5. City Science Application Framework – Methodology

This section describes the four-step city science application framework methodology. The methodology depicted in this section is an action-oriented, pragmatic approach to solving city challenges that emphasize on strategy implementation.

I. Assess the Current City Science Applications Status (Baselining)

II. Prioritize & Determine City Science Applications

III. Boost City Science Applications

IV. Assess Projected City Science Applications Impact

• The following briefly explains the 4-step methodology to determine and implement city science solutions by cities and to assess their projected impacts.

5.1. Step 1: Assess the Current City Science Applications Status (Baselining)

This step involves setting the baseline scenario for the application of city science by determining the city science solutions that are currently being undertaken by the city and the potential enablers that would support in implementing those solutions. Specifically, this step determines a city’s current status (baseline) with respect to:

a. The existing city science solutions and their applications, and

b. The existing enablers that would support the implementation of city science solutions.

Each of the above two components is explained below.

a. Implementation of city science solutions

This component includes determining the city science solutions that are being implemented by a city. They may have been undertaken as part of a city’s overall approach for implementing smart city initiatives (e.g. pilots, trials, strategic projects, etc.) and may reflect its own particular urban needs. In some cases, they may be national level initiatives (e.g. Sustainable Development Goals – SDGs implementation) undertaken at the city level (or local level).

Most likely, there will be multiple city science solutions being implemented by the city.

Following table indicates a simple approach that a city can use to gather its city science solutions being implemented.

City Science Solution Name

Brief Explanation

Implementation Milestones

Owner

Comments

City Science
Solution 1

City Science
Solution 2

…..

City Science
Solution N

b. City Science Enablers in Place

City science enablers were defined earlier in section 4. The presence and utilization of these enablers can potentially aid a city in implementing its city science solutions.

A simple representative table incorporating hitherto discussed enablers is shown in the Appendix. It can be used by a city to assess its current status, or baseline, with respect to its city science enablers. The questions in the table are fairly high-level and, in some cases, may require further clarification and description by the city to determine its current status.

5.2. Step 2: Prioritize & Determine City Science Applications

The city can engage its broad range of stakeholders to not only define its own city science priorities and needs but also determine a list of city science ideas for future implementation. Having assessed its current status in Step 1, the city will be in a better position to formulate additional city science solutions in line with its priorities.

Broad stakeholder engagement can assist in identifying a comprehensive list of potential city science related innovations in the city. Specific city needs and priorities may help emphasize certain city science solutions among the potential ones or conversely deemphasize / eliminate others. Each city may have to go through this exercise based on its own context and specific aspirations and goals.

Another important input to this step is the benchmarking of other cities’ successful city science solutions. The city needs to be careful in assessing the applicability of international benchmarks as the context of cities and their particular aspects may vary significantly.

In this step, a long list of city science solutions can be formulated. In fact, it might be preferable for a city to utilize its collective capital extensively to come up with various ideas contributing to address its own urban challenges.

The city science prioritization mechanism

The city might not be equipped or may lack the requisite resources to implement the list of city science ideas in its entirety. In such cases, a prioritization mechanism will be highly beneficial. A pragmatic prioritization approach is included in this city science application framework with two main criteria. The first criterion is the value which identifies the projected value of the city science idea. The second criterion identifies the projected ease of implementation of the city science idea in the city’s own context. Each criterion is composed of several sub-criteria which are briefly explained below.

i. Value

• Alignment with city science vision & strategy: This sub-criterion refers to city science idea’s overall fit to city’s existing city science vision and strategy (if it exists).

• Social Impact: This sub-criterion assesses the impact of the city science idea on people and communities in the city. It would include issues such as people’s lifestyle, culture, participation and engagement, health and well-being, personal freedom and privacy, concerns and aspirations among others. It is also important to assess whether it impacts the entire city or a subset of the city inhabitants.

• Economic Impact: This sub-criterion assesses the impact of the city science idea in the city’s economy. Economic impact can include issues such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the city, employment, wealth, disposable income, skills of the labor force among others.

• Environmental Impact: This sub-criterion assesses the impact of the city science idea in the city’s overall environment. Environmental impact captures effects of the city science idea on urban natural environment and resources (e.g. city water, energy, emissions, air, land, waste).

ii. Ease of Implementation

• Implementation Cost: This sub-criterion measures the total cost and requisite financial resources for implementing the city science idea.

• Implementation Timeframe: This sub-criterion refers to the total implementation time of the city science idea.

• Implementation Resources Requirement: This sub-criterion refers to the human resources requirements for implementation regarding the city science idea.

• Implementation Risk: This sub-criterion encapsulates various risks which may potentially arise during the implementation of the city science idea. Following factors may help in assessing various risks.

o PESTEL barriers: This factor captures political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal barriers which exist in the city and may hinder the implementation of the city science idea.

o Complexity: This factor reflects the complexity for implementing the city science idea in terms of number of stakeholders involved, various uncertainties involved in implementation, dependencies and connections to other initiatives / action items in the city, among others.

o Competence and knowledge: This factor includes the extent to which the city science idea can be implemented by harnessing the existing knowledge and skills in the city as an overall ecosystem.

o Regulatory and legal concerns: This factor entails various concerns and ramifications related to regulatory and legal aspects (e.g. health, safety, privacy) within the city regarding the city science idea.

o Ethical Issues: This factor captures various ethical concerns which may potentially arise during and after the implementation of the city science idea.

The city can use a simple scoring system for various criteria and their sub-criteria. For example, a simple three level (Low, Medium, High) or a five level scoring system can be adopted by the city. The scores can be determined either quantitatively or qualitatively relying on available data and conducted analyses, if any. Having a well-defined prioritization approach helps cities facilitate their relative scoring among the city science ideas.

The city can apply the prioritization approach described above and can evaluate all formulated ideas.

Figure 1 – Evaluation of City Science Ideas

The figure above shows how the prioritization mechanism can be used to facilitate the selection of a subset of city science ideas by applying the well-defined criteria. The city administrators can subsequently short-list city science ideas for implementation; such as selecting high value and easy to implement city science ideas. Similarly, low value and relatively highly difficult city science ideas may be either eliminated or given low priority during implementation.

Hence, at the end of Step 2, the city will have a concrete list of city science solutions for implementation. The city can then prepare an implementation plan by deciding which city science solutions to kick-off and when certain constraints such as resources availability may determine actual implementation timings. The city science solutions can be phased out depending on constraints, dependencies and their mitigation timeframes. In some cases, cities may opt to reduce implementation risks before commencing implementation.

5.3. Step 3: Boost City Science Applications

Some of the earlier discussed enablers can be utilized during this step to potentially enhance the effectiveness of selected city science solutions. The city can utilize an appropriate mix of the earlier defined enablers to implement its own city science solutions. In other words, combinations of enablers can be used during the implementation. Some examples of potential enablers are given below to illustrate the concept.

Various tools that can be used to overcome awareness gaps such as education and training programs, university programs, vocational programs to enhance skills and competencies; existing published materials in this area such as reports, publications which can be distributed and disseminated to public as well as various related entities in city science.

Lack of skills and expertise in both public and in policy makers can be a potential barrier. Hence, capacity building, peer learning and twinning among cities can be used as potential action items (policy levers).

The city can prioritize its own specific urban challenges to be addressed through city science solutions. Subsequently, the city can utilize an appropriate mix of enablers to boost city science, some of which are indicated below to illustrate the concept.

Strategic planning and city science related policy making in public and private sectors might be beneficial to adopt a holistic high-level approach.

Financial incentives can be used for boosting city science (e.g. tax breaks, reductions, exemptions, holidays, lower loan rates, impact investment, etc.).

Public Private Partnerships and other appropriate financial mechanisms may be used to boost city science.

R&D programmes may be formulated and implemented in collaboration with academia in the city.

Regulations may be used as policy levers and tools to catalyse city science implementations.in some cases.

Awarding schemes may be formulated to incentivize and encourage both the public and the private sectors for city science implementations.

Engaging a broad range of stakeholders may increase the likelihood of success for city science implementations (e.g. public sector, private sector, academia, individuals, NGOs and civil society in general).

Nurturing a rich innovation ecosystem and involving and incentivizing entrepreneurs and SMEs to address city science implementation challenges would help boost city science in a city. Incubators, accelerators, hackathons, etc. might be leveraged for enriching the city innovation ecosystem around city science.

Important Note: Once the city science ideas are prioritized and the pertinent enablers have been decided then the following steps can be used for implementing each city science solution in line with its own implementation plan:

a) Identify the problem,

b) Model the problem,

c) Solve the model,

d) Apply the model solution to the urban problem and utilize enablers during the implementation.

This will allow implementation of city science solutions in the context of a real city. The particular aspects of the real city for which city science solutions are implemented will shape and impact the specific solution characteristics and the enablers selected.

5.4. Step 4: Assess Projected City Science Applications Impact

This step involves either interim or final assessment of the results of implementing city science solutions in a city. Cities are strongly recommended to retrospectively and objectively conduct assessments comparing actual outcomes with respect to intended ones.

Similarly, the city can evaluate various enablers for their effectiveness during the implementation. Gaps in them can be identified to address and correct in due course. Lessons learnt can be derived to understand positive and adverse consequences of the city science solutions. Positive aspects of successful city science solutions may be potentially cross-utilized among other city science solutions; for example, a successful policy in one solution may trigger the use of a similar policy approach in another one. Such examples can be extended to other enablers as well. On the other hand, identification of ineffective enablers would result in their potential relinquishment in due course.

City science solutions are interventions in an urban context and inevitably lead to various transformations. Therefore, it is important to assess their impact retrospectively. An ex-post impact assessment would be highly beneficial to understand various social, economic and environmental changes that occurred in the city and compare them to the intended ones prior to implementation.

The comparison of ex-ante and ex-post impact assessments will indicate deviations in terms of intended and actual outcomes. Such deviations may aid in planning more accurately in due course or fine-tuning city science solutions.

6. Case Studies

To illustrate the application of the city science framework, this deliverable has included the following case studies, which can be explored further by simply clicking on it;

• Air quality management in Southern California – California, USA

Air pollution has been one of the leading environmental concerns of Southern California. In response, the district has implemented a digital platform, the “Envirosuite” platform, which utilizes air quality data, weather data, data on emission rate and others to formulate a baseline scenario on air pollution of the region which allows officials to identify the source of pollution and take actions accordingly.

• Happiness Meter – Dubai, UAE

The vision of Smart Dubai is to become the happiest city on earth. In this context Smart Dubai embraces emerging and frontier technologies to create happy and seamless citywide experiences. To gauge happiness at the city level, Smart Dubai has implemented a simple yet powerful tool, called Happiness Meter, to collect data from thousands of touch points in the city instantly to reflect city residents’ and visitors’ experiences in Dubai.

• Crime prediction for more agile policing in cities – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

As the crime rate of Rio de Janeiro has been steadily climbing, the police forces have been experimenting with using predictive analytics to identify crime hot-spots and thereby allocating resources more efficiently. The mobile phone application developed in this case utilizes data and machine learning to determine crime hotspots. Crime data is also made available to the public to improve transparency and accessibility.

• Data-driven energy savings in the Hyperdome shopping centre – Queensland, Australia

Recognizing the growing concern over increasing energy consumption of buildings, Logan city in Queensland has adopted different measures to improve the city’s sustainability by reducing energy usage. The Logan Hyperdome shopping centre, one of the largest single storey shopping centres in Australia, has implemented a series of intelligent solutions to optimize its energy efficiency and reduce energy consumption.

• Fine Dust Filtration – Stuttgart, Germany

Growing awareness of air pollution among the public in Stuttgart has encouraged local technology firms, the Ministry of Transport of Baden-Württemberg and the other public sector members to collaborate on developing filter cubes that utilize data on temperature, humidity, particular count and other important indicators to reduce fine dust in the air. The collaboration among different local stakeholders in this case provides valuable lessons on successfully implementing city application.

• Rashid, City Concierge – Dubai, UAE

As part of its vision to become the happiest city on earth, Smart Dubai created a city AI enablement layer to utilize AI for city happiness. Rashid (it literally means Guide in Arabic) combines Cognitive Computing and Natural Language Processing to help residents, visitors and businessmen in Dubai to answer their queries about doing business in Dubai, living in Dubai and also visiting Dubai. Hence, Rashid acts as a City Concierge and a virtual assistant to help its users for any inquiries they might have about Dubai, which in turn promotes the happiness of Dubai residents and visitors.

• Identifying the cascading effects on vital objects during flooding – Amsterdam, the Netherlands

More frequent and severe climate events have propelled the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs to formulate new strategy to cope with the consequences of these climate events, especially flooding. The Adaptive Circular Cities project uses 3D modelling to detail the cascading effects of a potential flooding. This 3D model stimulates a flooding scenario using different variable and data, allowing the official to visualize the direct and indirect impact of the flood and take adaptative measures accordingly.

• Unlocking the potential of trust-based AI for city science and smarter cities

Data and information are collected and analysed through various entry points or interfaces in smart cities or any large-scale digital platforms. These platforms process a large amount of data. Without proper safety mechanisms to govern each transaction, personal data are vulnerable to being stolen. A trust-based management system that is powered by artificial intelligence in a distributed network has great potential in securing each transaction, allowing data to be freely traversed to different domains and across different platforms safely.

7. Conclusion

Cities globally face a myriad of urban challenges. City science is posed in this deliverable as a potential to address and resolve various urban challenges. As a novel inter-disciplinary field, city science carries an enormous potential to address urban problems systematically and also scientifically. Some of the conclusions from the framework and the real-life case studies in this deliverable are stated below:

• City science as an inter-disciplinary novel field can be utilized to solve real urban challenges.

• The proliferation of city data available from a wide range of urban sources (e.g. mobile devices, IoT sensors) acts as an input to city science.

• The algorithms and the mathematical models and techniques utilize city data to provide solutions to urban challenges.

• The fusion of cyber and physical systems provides an opportunity to address urban physical challenges through digitization and ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) based techniques.

• Urban challenges and priorities, city administrations’ smart sustainable city strategies, citizens’ urban requirements can act as a viable demand for city science with even concomitant commercial potential in some cases.

• The advent of city science can help entrepreneurs and businesses innovate and also commercialize new city science solutions.

• Cities can engage a broad range of stakeholders for city science reflecting different perspectives, as well as demand and supply issues.

• City administrators have a wide range of tools at their disposal to encourage and incentivize city science defined as enablers in the city science application framework in this document (e.g. regulations, policies, awareness, start-up ecosystem).

• Exchange of knowledge and city science solutions at the local, regional and international levels will help develop city science as a novel field, and will also increase its sustainability while providing solutions to real urban problems across the globe.

• It would be beneficial to assess the impact of city science solutions from social, economic and environmental perspectives. Understanding the predicted and the actual consequences of city science solutions will help assess their effectiveness and will also enable further improvements.

• As a scientific discipline, city science can considerably benefit from research and development (R&D) programs boosting city science solutions. The specific aspects of urban challenges demand particular solutions and modelling techniques to be developed along with their specific data requirements. Hence, focused R&D can generate substantial innovation in city science.

• Cities can capitalize on city science by turning it into a viable economic sub-sector while simultaneously addressing and solving their own urban challenges. With the participation of different scale cities and collaboration among them, city science can prove to be an innovative global field amalgamating data, emerging technologies and city problem solving techniques.

A. Appendix

This Appendix includes a simple table which cities can utilize to assess their current status with respect to city science enablers defined in the city science application framework.

Table A.1: City Science Enablers Assessment through High-Level Questions

Assessment Element

Currently Exists

Brief Description

Comments

Are there awareness programs for city science solutions in the city?

Are there skills boosting programs to enhance and enrich city science applications in the city?

Are there existing open source solutions being utilized to address city challenges?

Are there awards in place to recognize successful city science solutions?

Are there existing skills in place within public and private sectors to implement city science solutions?

Are the city stakeholders currently aware of city science solutions in the city?

Are broad stakeholders defined for city science solutions?

Are there existing collaborations and partnerships in place among city stakeholders for city science solutions?

Are there city science related existing strategies and policies in the city public and private sectors?

Does the city provide its urban challenges to be addressed through city science solutions or provide its urban area as a lab for city science solutions?

Are there existing financial incentives in the city for city science implementations?

Are there existing PPP style partnerships in the city for city science related implementation projects?

Are there existing R&D programs and other targeted academic programs for city science related implementation projects?

Are there regulations and laws (e.g. laws, directives, legislations, standards) supporting or impeding city science related implementation projects in the city?

Are the stakeholders in the city engaged broadly for city science related implementations?

Is there a vibrant and rich innovation ecosystem in the city to address and implement city science related implementations?

Does the city utilize data standards or participate in the formulation of related data standards?

Does the city collaborate with other local, regional and international cities to boost city science solutions?

Endnotes

[1] https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/2018-revision-of-world-urbanization-prospects.html

[2] Global Warming of 1.5C, IPCC October 2018

[3] https://definitions.uslegal.com/p/public-sector/

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_sector

[5] https://definitions.uslegal.com/p/private-sector/

[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_sector

[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_manager

[8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy

[9] https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/chamber-of-commerce.asp

[10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-governmental_organization

[11] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_science

[12] http://opendatahandbook.org/guide/en/what-is-open-data/

[13] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_agency

[14] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standards_organization

[15] Source: NBIA - National Business Incubation Association

[16] https://www.itu.int/en/publications/Documents/tsb/2017-U4SSC-Deliverable-Connecting-Cities/mobile/index.html - Case Study: Smart Dubai Platform and Dubai Data Initiative