How can technological tools make cities more sustainable and participatory? Wallonia and Brussels are leading the way.
Today, more than half of the world population lives in cities. In the coming years, this trend is set to continue. This means that over 70% of the world population will live in urban areas in 2020. By 2050, this figure will rise to two thirds.
But what can be done to square the circle? By rethinking our approach towards the city, which must now be open, smart, sustainable and participatory.
In Wallonia...
Only a few months ago, Liège inaugurated the Smart City Institute, which aims to foster research, training, innovation and entrepreneurship in the context of the "smart city", from a managerial angle and with a multidisciplinary scope. The SCI has taken under its wing the City Lab, an incubator that aims to hatch student projects related to this theme.
In Namur, the Infopôle cluster and the "Namur digital" group are the two bodies working towards a 'smart' city. The "Namur Innovative City Lab" label has been launched to help carve out Namur’s intelligent future image.
Other Walloon cities are also taking out the stops to become "smart" cities: Charleroi and its "Charleroi District Créatif", Mons and the "Resized" project, Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve and the "Ville laboratoire de transition" think tank, or again Tournai with the “SmarTournai", "Smart Lab" and "Smart Living Lab" projects.
... and in Brussels
In Brussels, the Brussels Smart City portal allows regional public bodies, citizens and businesses to participate actively in the digital development of their city. Several projects are being set up, particularly in terms of mobility, the environment and the cross-referencing of these different data. Collaborations between schools thanks to broadband connections are also in the pipeline. Projects in the fields of energy savings are also being rolled out in different districts of Brussels.
An exploratory mission between WBI/AWEX
Over the last two months, WBI and the AWEX have teamed up to organise an exploratory mission on this theme of "Smart Cities". France, Wallonia’s largest market with natural affinities in terms of language and culture, has been chosen to test this type of pilot action. Four cities have been selected: Strasbourg and Issy-les-Moulineaux in the first instance, followed by Nantes and Bordeaux.
This mission pursues a number of goals. The first is to take stock of the urban strategies and projects of the four cities in question but also to exchange good practices and encourage technological, commercial and scientific partnerships in the areas covered.
Finally, the mission is designed to trigger reflection on a sector that will be the priority target market of AWEX in 2016: digital technology.
