Smart Cities in the Mediterranean: Coping with Sustainability Objectives in Small and Medium-sized Cities and Island Communities

412 Pages·2017·10.24 MB·English

by  Anastasia Stratigea

Progress in IS
Anastasia Stratigea
Elias Kyriakides
Chrysses Nicolaides Editors
Smart
Cities in the
Mediterranean
Coping with Sustainability Objectives
in Small and Medium-sized Cities and
Island Communities
Progress in IS
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/10440
Anastasia Stratigea Elias Kyriakides
(cid:129)
Chrysses Nicolaides
Editors
Smart Cities
in the Mediterranean
Coping with Sustainability Objectives
in Small and Medium-sized Cities
and Island Communities
123
Editors
Anastasia Stratigea ChryssesNicolaides
Department ofGeography andRegional SMART-MED Cluster Founder
Planning,Schoolof RuralandSurveying CNEBusiness Development Ltd.
Engineering Limassol
National Technical University of Athens Cyprus
Athens
Greece
Elias Kyriakides
Department ofElectrical andComputer
Engineering, KIOSResearch and
InnovationCenter of Excellence
University of Cyprus
Nicosia
Cyprus
ISSN 2196-8705 ISSN 2196-8713 (electronic)
Progressin IS
ISBN978-3-319-54557-8 ISBN978-3-319-54558-5 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-54558-5
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2017933545
©SpringerInternationalPublishingAG2017
Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsarereservedbythePublisher,whetherthewholeorpart
of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations,
recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission
orinformationstorageandretrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilar
methodologynowknownorhereafterdeveloped.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publicationdoesnotimply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesareexemptfrom
therelevantprotectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this
book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the
authorsortheeditorsgiveawarranty,expressorimplied,withrespecttothematerialcontainedhereinor
for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to
jurisdictionalclaimsinpublishedmapsandinstitutionalaffiliations.
Printedonacid-freepaper
ThisSpringerimprintispublishedbySpringerNature
TheregisteredcompanyisSpringerInternationalPublishingAG
Theregisteredcompanyaddressis:Gewerbestrasse11,6330Cham,Switzerland
Editorial
For several decades now, the overarching goal of sustainable urban development
constitutes a core issue for planning and policy making endeavors in many city
environments around the globe. Such endeavors are nowadays further intensified,
mainly due to the increasing stress placed on urban constellations by the continu-
ouslyescalatingurbanizationtrend.Asmanyresearcherspointout,wearecurrently
livinginacenturycharacterizedasthe“UrbanAge,”withurbanizationconsidered
as its defining feature (Suzuki et al. 2010). Within such an Age, cities are con-
fronted with unprecedented challenges which, coupled with the rapidly evolving
economic, social, technological, and political sceneries, render sustainability a
moving target in the policy agenda; and thus a target lying at the heart of policy
makers and urban planners’ work around the globe (Stratigea et al. 2015).
In such a rapidly changing environment, the concept of smart city arises, per-
ceived as a promising, digitally enabled strategy and a policy path capable of
supporting urban sustainability objectives. The smart city term, although not yet
fully conceptualized, has rapidly gained ground; and, as various studies show, it
seems to present a new paradigm for sustainable urban management, playing a
pivotal role in coping with bewildering sustainability challenges in urban envi-
ronments at a global scale (Walters 2011; Stratigea 2012; Stratigea and
Panagiotopoulou2014).Additionally,itisperceivedasanewforceinthearsenalof
policymakersandurbanplanners,andapromisingpolicyoptiontowardsettingup
sustainable urban strategies for effectively managing various urban functions and
promoting innovation and competitiveness of urban environments in a highly
connected, knowledge- and information-intensive era (Panagiotopoulou et al.
2016); and mitigating the impacts of ascending urbanization rates and consequent
stress exerted on cities by overpopulation (Chourabi et al. 2012).
In such an evolving new urban management paradigm, the challenge is to re-
definethecityasanenvironmentofinnovation,empowerment andparticipationof
citizens, businesses and other stakeholders in shaping their future, through the
choices they have and decisions they make (Stratigea 2016); or the challenge is to
focus on change and transformation resulting in a smarter city, implying a change
toward shaping a better and more participative, inclusive, and empowering city
v
vi Editorial
(Schaffers et al. 2012). Smart cities, in this respect, can be grasped as places that
provide qualitative and innovative services to citizens, economic activities, insti-
tutions,butalsotheirvisitors,whiletheyfocusontheproductionofasafe,healthy,
pleasant, and highly inclusive urban environment (Stratigea 2012). They can also
be perceived as places generating a particular form of spatial intelligence and
innovation, based on sensors, embedded devices, large datasets management, and
real-time information and response (Schaffers et al. 2012).
Along these lines, this book aims at shedding light on the potential of current
smart citydevelopments inpursuingasustainable futureinaspecificregionofthe
world, the Mediterranean region. Within this region, the focus is on small- and
medium-sized cities and communities as well as insular territories. The particular
urban settlements’ network configuration of the Mediterranean region (scattered
small- and medium-sized cities and communities) as well as the presence of terri-
torialislandcomplexesjustifiessuchachoice;whilethisisfurtheradvocatedbythe
large number but also the distinguished attributes, these cities and communities
dispose.Assuchcanbeconsideredtheirhighlyvaluablehistorical/culturalheritage,
the coastal character of numerous Mediterranean cities involved, the globally rec-
ognized tourist attractiveness and repercussions to sustainability, the high vulner-
ability with respect to climate change challenges but also natural disasters (e.g.,
earthquakesandfloods), theperipherality, andlimitedaccessibilitybothwithinthe
Mediterranean area (e.g., insular regions) and at a European level (cities in the
periphery of the European territory).
Apart from the above specified attributes, cities in the Mediterranean are cur-
rently confronting a severe recession state, hitting the southern part of Europe,
which hampers efforts for paving sustainable urban development paths, while it is
marked by high levels of unemployment, brain drain, considerable in- and
out-migration movements, destabilization of production patterns and political
instability. In the chapters incorporated in the current edition, smartening up that
type of cities is placed at its heart, mainly based on adopting a human-centric,
place-based, and problem-solving approach of smartening perspective, in align-
ment with Mediterranean cities’ historical paths and distinct cultural attributes
forged through the centuries. Such an approach is furthermore stressing the rele-
vance of ICT-enabled planning efforts for improving the effectiveness of urban
management and supporting creativity, inclusiveness, accessibility, and paths to
sustainable urban development.
Inlightoftheaforementioneddiscussion,thisbookattemptstogathersmartcity
experiencesaroundthespecificstudyareaandraiseissuesofconcernthatemanate
from studies relating to Mediterranean small- and medium-sized cities and insular
communities; while it also tries to gather experiences from research work that
originates from relevant smart city developments at the European/global level.
Thisbookconstitutesacooperativeeffortofnumerousdistinguishedresearchers
and younger colleagues. It incorporates eighteen chapters that are classified,
according to their focus and the way they approach the topics of interest, into two
parts, namely Part I that isplacing at its heart issues of digitally enabled planning
and participation; and Part II presenting distinct examples of ICT-enabled
Editorial vii
applications capable of coping with a range of sectoral issues, such as energy, but
alsoinfrastructuremanagement,spatialdatamanagementfordealingwithavariety
of decision-making issues, etc. that are falling into smart city concerns.
PartIconsistsoftwelvechapters,whichmostlyelaborateonplanningaswellas
participatory aspects and developments emerging from or driving a smart city
paradigm. In this respect, works presented in these chapters range from
human-centric, mature technology-oriented efforts to more technologically
advancedworks,whiledelineateexperiencesgainedfromMediterraneanandother
countriesoftheEuropeanandtheglobalcontextaswell.Morespecifically,afterthe
introductory section, which sets the context of the Mediterranean geographical
focus of this edited volume and the type of cities concerned, follows a chapter
reviewingcurrentspatialdatamanagementandvisualizationtoolsandtechnologies
insupportofparticipatorye-planning,asanewdigitallyenableddirectionthatcan
flourish in a smart city context. This is followed by seven chapters presenting a
varietyofparticipatoryplanningexercisesgatheredfromtheMediterraneanbutalso
theEuropeanandglobalexperience.Thenexttwochapterspresentthepotentialof
ICTsforcopingwithtwodifferenttypesofproblemsandplanningareasaddressed,
namely climate change and related consequences in urban areas as well as man-
agementandmonitoringofprotectedareas(PAs)thataredevelopedasecotourism
destinations,bothconsideredasimportantcontributionsprovidedtheirrelevanceto
the Mediterranean context. Finally, the last chapter of Part I elaborates on a quite
promisingaspectofthetouristsectorintheMediterranean,themaritimetourism,in
an effort to set up certain guidelines for better linking this type of tourism to the
sustainable marine and land management of related urban settlements. A short
description of these twelve contributions of Part I is provided in the following.
Chapter1ofthefirstpartconstitutesajointeffortbyAnastasiaStratigea,Akrivi
Leka, and Chrysses Nicolaides entitled “Small and Medium-Sized Cities and
Insular Communities in the Mediterranean: Coping with Sustainability Challenges
in the Smart City Context.” As an introductory chapter, it aims at delineating the
geographical ground of the present book by illuminating a very special region
of the world, the Mediterranean region. As such, it first sheds light on the peculiar
attributes of this region, which render it one of the most intriguing but also vul-
nerable regions of the world, and identifies the character of this region as a “hot
spot” in several respects. Next comes the justification of the type of cities con-
sidered within this geographical context, i.e., small and medium-sized cities and
insular communities, which are usually lagging behind in terms of smartening up
efforts,andhavinglittleopportunitytojoinasmartjourney,asthepubliclightsand
relatedfundingopportunitiesareusuallysharedbylarge,verysuccessful,powerful
and market-attractive, smart cities that become examples on theglobal and theEU
scene. The chapter elaborates on the specific attributes and distinguishable rating
of these cities in: economic terms (tourism, culture, sea trade nodes etc.); geo-
graphicalterms(coastalandportcitiesatthecrossroadsofMediterranean);cultural
terms; while their development potential for both the Mediterranean and the EU
territoryisrevealed.Moreover,emergingrisksintheMediterraneanarehighlighted
that can place at stake the sustainable future development of this type of cities;
viii Editorial
while the importance of digitally enabled solutions, in conjunction with sustain-
ability policies as a desirable path and an evolving policy direction for reaching
inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable end states within such challenges in the
new era is stressed. Finally, some concluding remarks are provided, sketching
contemporaryaspectsofplanningapproachesthatarerelevantinordertocopewith
threatsandsustainabilitychallengesinasmartcitycontextwithinthisspecificpart
of the world.
Chapter 2 entitled “Spatial Data Management and Visualization Tools and
TechnologiesforEnhancingParticipatorye-PlanninginSmartCities”iswrittenby
MariaPanagiotopoulouandAnastasiaStratigea.Thefocusofthischapterisonthe
issue of participation as an eminent feature of smart city development, as various
definitions of the smart city concept and their practical applications depict. More
specifically, the chapter stresses the importance of citizens and stakeholders’ par-
ticipation in the evolving smart city paradigm, highlighting their role in collecting
empirical knowledge, identifying and prioritizing urban inefficiencies as well as
selecting and deploying city- and citizen-specific smart applications, and policies
capable of coping with these inefficiencies and steering sustainable, inclusive, and
resilienturbanenvironments.Furthermore,thechapterelaboratesonthepotentialof
Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and their applications in
digitally enhanced environments; and the noteworthy shift these can mark toward
e-planningande-participation,settingthegroundformoreknowledgeabledecision
making in planning and implementing smart city solutions that are mostly citizen-
andcity-orientedratherthanpurelytechnology-pushed.Thefocusofthischapteris
onthedelineationofparticipatorye-planning asadigitally enabledperspectivefor
effectively communicating various planning problems to citizens and stakeholders
and actively involving them in decision-making processes. Along these lines, the
most significant tools and technologies, currently available in planners’ portfolio,
are reviewed in order for participatory planning exercises to be optimally imple-
mented by successfully integrating spatial planning approaches, public participa-
tion,andvisualizationtechniques;whiletheroleofpublicparticipationgeographic
information systems (PPGIS) for citizens and stakeholders’ empowerment in the
spatial planning process is also discussed. Finally, some concluding remarks are
drawn as tothe keycomponents andobstacles planners areconfronted with,while
carrying out participatory e-planning projects in a smart city context.
Chapter 3, entitled “Baakline: Towards a Smart City—Leading Change into
ChoufSouayjaniRegion”iswrittenbyNouhaGhosseini,formermayorofthisarea
and a leader of the whole smartening up exercise. It presents a quite interesting
example of the necessary steps for planning a smart city in Lebanon, considering
such an effort a task implying smart governance, communities’ engagement,
learning and adaptation, as well as investing in the future by reshaping the entire
market and ecosystem. The ground of this specific exercise is set by the argument
that in a smart city context, citizens are turned from passive consumers into active
and concerned citizens; producers of ideas, content, applications, and activities; as
wellaschoosersoftheirsociety.Basedonthisground,innovationandcreativityare
enhanced, seeking social relevance of new/unfamiliar ideas, opportunities for
Editorial ix
start-up firms, and propensity to entrepreneurial risk. The whole participatory
planning exercise is taking place in the Municipality of Baakline (MBAA), setting
participatorydemocracyatitsheartasakeytobothtacklingthechallengesfacedby
Baaklinecityandtakingadvantageoftheevolvingexcitingopportunities.MBAA’s
approach toward a smart city offers an invitation to reflect and act through pilot
projects that are expected to change the mentality of people and integrate this
concept into their future plans, while public/private actors’ cooperation lies at the
heart of MBAA’s successful projects.
Smartening up people in local communities is the focal point of Chapter 4,
entitled “Smartening-Up Communities in Less-Privileged Urban Areas—The
DemoCU Participatory Cultural Planning Experience in Korydallos—Greece
Municipality” and is written by Anastasia Stratigea, Giorgos Somarakis and
Maria Panagiotopoulou. The chapter claims that effectively coping with contem-
porary urban challenges and smart city developments actually implies a conscious
effort to engage a range of actors of local ecosystems and transform ways of
implementing things in a significant, fundamental, and structural rather than
incremental manner, in alignment with the currently prevailing planning paradigm
shift from a top-down to a bottom-up approach. In doing so, more qualitative
outcomes and cooperative, highly inclusive, decision-making processes may
emerge that affect current and future quality of local communities’ living per-
spectives. The focus of this chapter is on smartening up local communities, con-
sidered as the heart of smart cities’ development. Citizens and stakeholders’
empowerment and engagement processes in this respect are exemplified by a
specific cultural planning exercise in a less privileged suburb of Athens
metropolitan area, the Municipality of Korydallos. Moreover, an innovative step-
wise participatory planning framework, effectively combining classical and
Web-basedparticipatorytoolsforestablishingface-to-faceandonlineinteractionat
the different steps of the participatory process, is discussed, which is developed in
order to accomplish engagement of local community and to broaden substantial
participation of various citizens and stakeholders’ groups in this participatory
planning exercise.
In Chapter 5, Efthimios Bakogiannis, Maria Siti, Charalampos Kyriakidis, and
AvgiVassidealwithacrucialaspectofsmartcitydevelopment,namelysustainable
mobility.Intheirworkon“UsingTraditionalandNewDigitalTechnologyToolsto
Promote Sustainable Mobility: Current Trends in the Evolving Transformation
of the Smart City,” they tackle one of the most emerging challenges in the con-
temporary car-oriented city, where congestion and lawlessness grow, while funds
continueto decline. The chapter aimsat showcasing a collectionof practices, both
ICT and non ICT-based, that focus on enabling sustainable mobility policies and
measures as well as hard infrastructure projects, in order to reach the smart city in
mobility terms. The concept of a smart city does not always require the support of
Webtechnologytools,butratherintegratestheiruseintoaholisticapproachtocope
with the growing pressure of traffic and the existing travel behavior patterns. The
studypresentsfive(5)groupedsetsofpolicyinterventionsandmeasuresconsisting
of more than twenty-five (25) indicative actions to be applied in cities and/or