Ideas to Promote Smart Cities at #SmartCityExpo

Here are the highlights of the welcome speeches to the congress:

Jerry Hultin

Senior Presidential Fellow and President Emeritus – Polytechnic Institute of NYU – New York – USA

He considers himself privileged to have a job that allows him to travel the world and work to generate a better world.

He poses a challenge: in the year 2050, 9 billion people, that is, 70% of the population, will live in cities, so cities around the world must be rebuilt and reorganized. What will happen? Will cities change and will we have a healthy and smart world and environment, in which it is worth living? Or, on the contrary, will we be in a sad environment mired in uncontrolled chaos?

The reality is that citizens depend on politicians and experts to conceive these innovative cities, but he emphasizes that we must create a network of collaborative networks that make a difference to generate a vibrant world. That is the real challenge.

Anibal Gaviria

Mayor – City of Medellin – Medellin – Colombia

He presents the transformation of Medellín, a city in the center of Colombia with 2,400,000 inhabitants, which has grown greatly in recent years and has grown occupying the valley, climbing the mountainside since 1921, when it had 90,000 inhabitants.

What have been the merits of Medellín?
Confronting violence, poverty, and structural inequality. Between the 90s and 2000, 50,000 homicides took place in the city. At the end of the 90s, it had the highest rate of inequality in Colombia, which posed 2 major challenges to overcome.

How was it worked to overcome it?
Through the CITY FOR LIFE MODEL

Based on 5 key words: NON-VIOLENCE, TRANSPARENCY, PARTICIPATION AND RESILIENCE, and EQUITY.

Those 5 key words had to correspond to what they called the 5 cities: a safe, educated, sustainable city that promotes employment and health. In short, a more humane city. The formalization of this model has been done through two milestones, focused on urban development.

Innovation: as a tool to combat inequality, based on an idea as simple as converting a water tank forbidden to the public into a space open to the public, the so-called UVA, the articulating life units. 20 UVAs have been generated throughout the city.

The other axis is education: Children are the center of the metamorphosis, everything will grow through early childhood education. The transformation has been total: there are UVAs that are kindergartens, there is a prison that has been transformed into a university city, an old cable car converted into public transport connected to the metro. The escalators as a means of transport in the poor areas that climb the mountainside or high-risk areas due to landslides converted into a ring road garden with paths, even converting a garbage dump into the so-called “Garden for life”.

Venkaiaha Naidu

Union Minister for Urban Development – Government of India – New Delhi – India

He thanks and is delighted to join the idea of creating smart cities.

He begins his speech by commenting that he perceives an increase in activity in the growth of smart cities, all thanks to the participation of people in democratic countries. He is sure that the congress will achieve its objectives and sees Barcelona as a model that we must follow, and thanks its citizens and its leaders: He expresses the need for SMART LEADERSHIP.

He explains the particular case of India:
In 2050, 50% of the population will live in urban areas, which is a challenge for India and at the same time an opportunity for economic progress. 815 million people will live in urban areas. He raises the need for planned urban planning to make it sustainable. He also expresses the need for management and good comprehensive systems and, above all, the participation of people to offer smart governance. All hierarchical levels of government have to work connected to be successful.

He indicates that the Indian government has a housing program for all, an ambitious and necessary project for 2042. He hopes that the private sector can collaborate with the government. There is much to do in transport and communications, also in terms of reducing pollution. He raises the need to cooperate with other countries. He also expresses his concern about greenhouse gas emissions and considers Barcelona an example to replicate in that sense. INDIA MUST BE TRANSFORMED, a new India must be made, a project for everyone in which the citizen is involved.

Finally, he asks for support for private investment of foreign capital in India, especially to improve infrastructure. He invites all companies to invest and collaborate with India.

Antoni Vives

Deputy Mayor – Barcelona City Council – Barcelona – Spain

He begins by thanking for the active presence of politicians in the event and points out that it is a congress about ideas rather than about technology. The main idea to highlight is that politicians work side by side with citizens to improve cities, and he cites Medellín as an example of this.

On the other hand, he cites India as an example of a country that has a very solid vision to change things and make society evolve.

WE NEED COHESIVE SOCIETIES, this is the mantra that Barcelona assumes and transmits: a society has to start by respecting nature and experiencing democracy in every way. He thus expresses the idea of collaboration of citizens and at the same time of being transparent with society. Those are the foundations of a better society. We must be humble as well as intelligent.

The moderator finally encourages to share ideas to transform the world.