Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
3.1
What Legal Framework for Smart Cities?
According to some surveys, smart cities spending will reach globally US $20
billion by 2020 (Clancy
2013
) Still, an overview of the law-systems of the many
jurisdictions where smart city projects and investments are in place reveals that
there are no such things as ''smart-city statutes'', i.e. laws governing smart cities as
a single phenomenon in an organic and comprehensive way. One may ask whether
similar statutes are necessary, and the question is, effectively, of a preliminary
importance. More precisely, it appears relevant to discuss in the first instance
whether reasons exist for justifying the intervention of legislators in this sector,
similarly to what one expects to discuss in relation to any other business sector.
A connected question is whether smart-city statutes are possible. This question
requires assessing to what extent legislators may efficiently intervene for gov-
erning smart cities, in case reasons are found to justify their intervention
1
.
Based on the reasons that I will try to summarize below, it appears sensible to
conclude that smart-city statutes (i.e. comprehensive statutes governing all aspects
of smart cities) are neither necessary nor possible, while sound reasons seem to
exist for justifying the intervention of legislators or governmental authorities in
certain fields of law and primarily in connection with the new challenges in
security and privacy raised by smart cities.
3.1.1
Definition of Smart Cities and Central Role of ICTs: Examples
The starting point is the definition of smart cities. What do we exactly mean when
talking about ''smart cities''? To the extent necessary for a legal analysis, I will use
a broad definition and an operational notion of smart cities. A broad definition of
smart cities has been given as follows: ''We believe a city to be smart when
investments in human and social capital and traditional (transport) and modern
(ICT) communication infrastructure fuel sustainable economic growth and a high
quality of life, with a wise management of natural resources, through participatory
governance'' (Caragliu et al.
2009
). This definition is based on an operational
notion, which, relatively to medium-sized European smart cities, has been pro-
posed using six characteristics: Smart Economy, Smart People, Smart Governance,
Smart Mobility, Smart Environment and Smart Living (Giffinger et al.
2007
).
These characteristics are, in turn, the hives of a number of factors, described in the
form of a Fig.
3.1
as follows.
We get from the above definitions that smart cities are actually denoted by a
political vision, and more precisely by a set of aims and objectives, which need to be
factored into coherent programs of urban and service improvements. If we continue
our analysis (Cassa depositi e prestiti
2013
), we also realize that information and
communication technologies (ICTs) are necessary for smart cities, because the
1
Salvatore Orlando is the exclusive author of
Sect. 3.1
.
