On the 28th of February I’ll be speaking at the Urban Future Global Conference in Vienna; a global gathering of people making cities more sustainable. The session I am involved with is around how cities are collaborating with each other, businesses and citizens to progress the transition to more smart and sustainable cities. I’m speaking with some amazing people including Mayor Thomas Kastrup-Larsen of the Danish city of Aalborg, Celia Moore a Director at IBM, Gaute Hagerup Head of Smart Cities at Innovation Norway, and chaired by Roland Hunziker a Director at WBCSD. A diverse group and a recipe for a great discussion.
I’ve spent a good part of my career in a team that was driving forward initiatives in the UK’s leading ‘smart’ city (my home city of Bristol), studying US cities as part of my Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Travelling Fellowship, and working on a number projects with Chinese cities; all of which involved city to city collaboration on a number of levels. Before the event I wanted to share three reflections on city collaboration from my these, and other, past experiences.
Common challenges bring people together. The European Innovation Partnership for Smart Cities and Communities is a good example of a partnership that has brought together hundreds of cities, businesses and civil society organisations to tackle some shared common challenges; how do we transition our energy and transport systems to be more sustainable, how do we use digital in this transition, and how do we do it with, rather to, our citizens?
With such large and complex partnerships there are always challenges with being agile, moving with pace and getting common agreement. But there are some good people who are really determined to drive the agenda forward such as Graham CoClough and Nathan Pierce who are both part of the Sharing Cities project, and Sarah Lee, who I worked closely with on this whilst managing the Bristol element of the REPLICATE project.
Building strong relationships takes time, but it’s worth it. At a strategic level, relationships between cities (and their constituent parts) need time to grow, build trust and develop understanding. It is therefore important to recognise the softer (and not really measured) benefits of programmes such as the Horizon 2020 programme and its predecessors. The cities of Bristol, Florence and San Sebastian worked together back in 2012 on the STEEP project around energy efficient planning, and this relationship will continue on at least till 2021 as part of the smart city project REPLICATE which has 36 international partners – from all sectors – working together.
The day after the Brexit vote was an emotional time for many. I was faced with the unenviable prospect of contacting my international partners (and indeed our UK partners) involved with REPLICATE to reassure them that we not turning our backs on them, that we were committed to the projects and the relationships we had already built together. The reaction I got was amazing; so much support, patience and understanding from our European neighbours was touching. I think this just shows how relationships built up over time and based on trust are resilient.
Utilise growing start-ups for quick wins. Cities are complex systems of systems and so relationships between cities are just as complex with different organisations and communities interacting. However, organisations move at different speeds, and although the city leadership relationship is important they tend to be more gradual. You also need quick wins (no matter how small) to build that relationship. One type of organisation that tends to move at the same speed (fast) in most places is the start-up. Bristol has a strong start-up community with incubators and hubs such as SETsquared and Engine Shed. I once helped co-ordinate a Foreign Office smart city project visit of city, business and academics from Bristol to Guangzhou in China. An intriguing part of that trip was being able to tap into these start-ups communities to have that dialogue with counterparts, potential partners and customers.
If anyone is at the event be sure to say hello!
Luke Loveridge is the Co-founder and CEO of YoUrban.