How technology will shape the cities of tomorrow, implementing an intelligent urban transformation where digitalization and efficiency will play a key role. From smart mobility to smart energy, through intelligent buildings to IoT and AI systems.
Cities play a crucial role in the decarbonization process, being responsible for 70% of gas emissions.
The role of cities in the path towards ecological transition can no longer be neglected. They might seem limited compared to the global surface area, yet half of the nearly 8 billion people living on Earth today reside in cities, and this number is expected to grow exponentially by 2050. Therefore, it is essential to rethink our approach to planning, introducing urban transformation criteria capable of ensuring more livable spaces for citizens, more efficient use of energy resources, resilient to climate change, and adaptable to a transforming future where security and prevention will be crucial.
The tools to accelerate this evolution towards more sustainable cities are numerous and largely already at our disposal. The common thread that connects all interventions is digitalization, the “smart” component capable of optimizing resources, reducing consumption, making services more efficient, improving living quality and mobility, but also anticipating future needs or preventing catastrophic events.
Why should we talk about Smart Cities
According to the European Commission, a smart city is a place where traditional networks and services are made more efficient using digital solutions for the benefit of its inhabitants and businesses. The urban transformation of a city into a smart city impacts various macro areas of intervention:
- Smart energy, from relamping to opportunities offered by self-consumption and shared energy;
- Intelligent and sustainable mobility, aimed at reducing emissions and improving service efficiency, consequently reducing urban traffic;
- Green and smart buildings, capable of autonomously regulating the relationship between demand and consumption;
- Smart Waste or intelligent waste management;
- Security and resilience with predictive systems capable of anticipating problems
A city conceived this way becomes a real “urban organism” where digital technologies, information and communication technologies (ICT), sensors, the Internet of Things (IoT), and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are all key ingredients to accompany this urban transformation.
The Benefits of Smart Urban Transformation
Today, about three-quarters of global energy consumption is attributable to cities, which are also responsible for 70% of gas emissions. In 2023 alone, urban areas were responsible for a record 29 billion tons of CO2, and their contribution is expected to increase. Despite this, only one in five cities has set the goal of achieving “net zero emissions.” Meanwhile, cities are getting bigger, with urban growth by 2050 potentially equaling the combined land area of Germany, Italy, and Japan.
Digital urban transformation thus becomes a matter of primary importance, tasked with increasing the productive capacity of renewable sources, implementing high-energy-efficiency technologies, and electrifying transport and heating.
A smart energy management, for example, allows handling demand and supply peaks, avoiding wasting precious resources and directing them where necessary.
The protagonists of this revolution are Renewable Energy Communities (CER), where self-produced renewable energy is shared among free citizens, public administrations, small and medium-sized enterprises, private individuals, local public entities, and commercial activities, with economic, social, and environmental benefits. These realities will play a key role in the urban future, growing in number and production, making it essential to rely on digital and technological help already offered by Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things.
The Role of AI and IoT in Smart Urban Transformation
The Internet of Things has already proven essential for its ability to maximize data collection and use, turning them into solutions to real problems.
In a smart city, IoT allows connecting everyday objects (such as smart traffic lights or air quality monitoring stations), collecting and exchanging data in real-time to make data-driven decisions.
Applications of IoT to smart cities include:
- Smart lighting, with internet-connected elements for remote control, optimizing energy use based on traffic and weather conditions;
- Urban security, indispensable for a smart city, thanks to cameras and sensors useful for preventing illegal activities and alerting in case of fire or accident;
- Smart parking, effective solutions to speed up vehicle transit in search of parking, also making payment faster;
- Intelligent traffic management, where sensors allow monitoring vehicular and goods traffic, providing real-time information on route, position, and vehicle operation, quickly identifying potential problems.
What applications could Artificial Intelligence have in an already digitized system? The innovation lies in the predictive factor: an AI algorithm uses IoT-collected data to solve problems before they occur. Nothing science fiction, but a “simple” probability calculation based on the software’s ability to virtually test thousands of scenarios, identifying the best one before even implementing it.
Smart Mobility, Electric Cars, and Sharing
Continuing our virtual journey in the smart urban transformation of cities, we talk about sustainable mobility. The higher the number of citizens in a city, the better the transport services offered, whether private or public. Smart mobility has two aspects: a first approach that makes the mobility infrastructure “intelligent” with smart traffic lights, parking apps, and improving the offer of bike lanes and sharing vehicles; and a second intervention proposing new mobility solutions like electric and hybrid cars.
Less emissions, less dependence on fossil sources, but also greater attention to people by reducing travel times and improving the transport experience.
Green and smart buildings
Cities are made of buildings. If these buildings are inefficient, unsafe, expensive, and of poor quality, the entire city will suffer. Urban transformation in favor of ecological transition also includes the real estate sector, relying on digital implementations to manage consumption and needs. Starting from improved construction quality, smart buildings represent a unique revolution in contemporary architecture. These are building organisms equipped with automated systems and integrated technologies to monitor various aspects of the building, from energy to security, lighting to HVAC systems. A chain with incredible potential for the future of smart cities, with a turnover that in 2022 exceeded 174 billion euros in Italy alone.
Smart solutions applied to a building range from smart appliances to integrated renewable energy, including plant innovations, up to real hubs for resource optimization and improving individual occupant experience.
Where to Experience Smart City Solutions
The requalification of the real estate heritage and cities, efficient lighting, renewable energy communities, smart energy, ICT solutions and products, sustainable and electric mobility, IoT and AI predictive solutions: these are all ingredients already shaping cities in a smart way.
To learn about these and many other sector innovations, don’t miss KEY – The Energy Transition Expo 2025, the most important European event dedicated to technologies, services, integrated solutions for energy efficiency and renewable energies in Italy and the Mediterranean basin, where the acceleration of energy and climate policies and the opportunities opening up in the market will be highlighted.
