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U4SSC was formulated as the response to United
Nation’s SDG 11. It will also assist in advancing the
global smart city movement of the New Urban Agenda
that was launched during Habitat III Conference. The
pillars of SSC development under U4SSC are illustrated
in Figure 8.
ICT AS THE ENABLER
FOR SUSTAINABLE
URBAN DEVELOPMENT
Based on the reports from the aforementioned
global processes, it was universally agreed
that the solution to tackle urban challenges
lies in making cities ‘smarter’ and more
sustainable at the same time. Hence, our
national Eleventh Malaysia Plan is in line
with the international direction.
ITU in collaboration with the UNECE
has led to the international agreement of
a definition of smart, sustainable cities
(SSC) shown in Figure 9. Having a formal,
comprehensive definition for the SSC
provides a basis for understanding the
common features of SSC and developing
key indicators. This helps establish an ICT
infrastructure, metrics and policies for SSC.
ICTs
through
their
capacity
to
gather, process, analyse and disseminate
considerable amount of data are a key enabler
for sustainable urban development
14
. ICTs
can provide valuable and efficient solutions in
different sectors of modern cities. Although
the role of ICT has not been completely
framed, the services where ICT can assist are
well recognised.
Real-time data monitoring that utilises ICT can
provide city managers with relevant and up-to-date
intelligence enabling them to make more informed
decisions on the management of city services such as
roads, public transportation systems, electricity, water
management and disaster preparedness. There are also
ICT applications that explore solutions concerning
air quality and electromagnetic fields monitoring,
increasing energy efficiency as well as providing better
education and health services as depicted in Figure 10.
Figure 8: U4SSC Pillars
Source: United for Smart Sustainable Cities (U4SSC), ITU
14 How Information and Communications Technology can Accelerate Action on the Sustainable Development Goals (ICT & SDG Final Report) 2016, The Earth Institute and Ericsson
“A smart sustainable city is an innovative city that
uses 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.”
Figure 9: Definition of Smart
Sustainable City
Source: ITU-T Focus Group on Smart Sustainable City
Figure 10: The city of the future
Source: Delivering Next-Generation Citizen Services, Cisco
9