Page 23 - Shaping smarter and more sustainable cities - Striving for sustainable development goals

SSCs, and (3) acknowledge, at a general level, the key ICT infrastructure needed to enable SSC
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strategies .
The intended audience of this Technical Report are stakeholders and members of the general public
interested in gaining a better understanding of what constitutes a smart sustainable city, and what
its main attributes are.

This Technical Report is not intended as a recommendation document for best practices, but rather
as a general foundation for further, more in‐depth explorations of specific topics on a smart
sustainable city. It aims to provide the reader with a broad overview of issues that are the forefront
of the notion of a smart sustainable city, while setting the stage for additional detailed technical
reports which are part of the mandate of the ITU‐T Focus Group on Smart Sustainable Cities (FG‐
SSC).

1.2 Smart sustainable city: Concept and goals

In October 2015, ITU‐T's Study Group 5 “Environment and Climate Change“ and UNECE agreed on
the following definition of a smart sustainable city based on the work carried out by ITU‐T Focus
Group on Smart Sustainable Cities:

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

Linked to this definition, the main goal for SSC is to enhance the quality of life of its citizens across
multiple, interrelated dimensions, including (but not limited to) the provision and access to water
resources, energy, transportation and mobility, education, environment, waste management,
housing and livelihoods (e.g. jobs), utilizing ICTs as the key medium.

Despite the enormous potential embedded in the goals of SSC, it is important to acknowledge the
existence of challenges associated to global urbanization, urban migration trends, environmental
degradation, climate change impacts, aging infrastructure, as well as constraints in the resources
and structures needed to respond to a growing demand in settlement areas, among many others.

Within these increasingly complex urban systems, ICTs can act as a platform to help overcome these
challenges and take advantage of emerging opportunities, as cities advance in the process towards
becoming smart and sustainable.

1.3 ITU‐T Focus group on smart sustainable cities

ITU‐T Study Group 5 (ITU‐T SG5) is working on tackling environmental and climate change issues
including the development of a methodology to assess the environmental impact related to ICT in
cities. As part of this effort, a Focus Group on Smart Sustainable Cities (FG‐SSC) was established in
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February 2013 by ITU‐T Study Group 5.
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4 This topic is addressed in detail in the Technical Report on SSC Infrastructure, produced by ITU‐T FG‐SSC
Working Group 2.
5 http://1f8a81b9b0707b63-19211.webchannel-proxy.scarabresearch.com/en/ITU‐T/focusgroups/ssc/Pages/default.aspx

ITU‐T's Technical Reports and Specifications 13