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SMART CITY REFERENCE MODEL: AN APPROACH TO ASSIST SMART

PLANNERS TO CONCEPTUALIZE A CITY’S SMART INNOVATION ECOSYSTEM

Article  in  Journal of the Knowledge Economy · January 2012

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 URBAN PLANNING FOR SMART CITIES:
CITIES: POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR
SUSTAINABLE INNOVATION
INNOVATION ECOSYSTEMS ACROSS THE BLACK SEA REGION

Sotiris Zygiaris Ph.D, Smart City Planner

[email protected]
Margarita Angelidou, Architect - Urban Planner (MSc), PhDc on Intelligent Cities
[email protected]

Urban and Regional Innovation Research Unit, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

www.urenio.org

SUMMARY
The challenges of competitiveness, sustainability and productivity are all of substantial
importance to the port cities of the Black Sea region. These cities enjoy a multitude of
advantages, thanks to their maritime character. Smart City disciplines can assist these cities
in achieving their goals through the development of local Innovation Ecosystems.
However, a city needs to be institutionally and physically ready to support Smart City
planning. This paper investigates the opportunities for local innovation that could be raised
across the Black Sea cities due to the implementation of urban policies for smart city
planning.

1. INTRODUCTION
Developed urban agglomerations worldwide are leading the way towards the
creation of local innovation ecosystems, with the emergence of smart cities. This is an
opportunity area for economic growth in the Black Sea region, as well. However, diversity
and attitudinal differences in the various Black Sea member-states make it difficult to
identify answers to the global challenges for the Black Sea region as a whole. Even so, it is
commonly accepted that competitiveness and productivity are substantial to most countries
of the region.
The evolutionary study of smart urban environments revealed different conceptions
of what is often called “smart city”. This paper investigates the opportunities for local
innovation that could be raised across the Black Sea cities due to the implementation of
urban policies for smart city planning. It investigates successful cases of planning for smart
cities, that could be adapted to the geo-economical characteristics of the region. Conclusions
from the examination of these cases will be drawn as policy recommendations for enhancing
Black Sea cities’ readiness for smart city planning implementation.

2. THE BLACK SEA REGION IN A SMART CITIES

CITIES CONTEXT

2.1. SMART CITIES EXPLAINED

Cities are not only the “real” centres of sustainability, but also hubs of economic
growth and perhaps most importantly drivers of innovation, thus fostering continuous
economic growth. Today, more than ever, the traditional drivers of economic growth are
giving way to an economy based on brains and creativity.
 In this direction, following the traditional regional and neoclassical theories of
urban growth and development, the Smart Cities European Union working group1 identified
six main axes of smart cities. These are: smart economy, smart mobility, smart environment,
smart people, smart living and finally, smart governance. Growth theories and the
relationship between a city’s growth and human capital2 add another bit to the smart city
puzzle. The “creative class”, a socioeconomic knowledge intensive structure, was identified
by R. Florida3, as a key constituent of the economic development in post-industrial cities.
Although no unified approach to urban planning for smart cities exists, even in
apparently similar subjects (such as water, energy, environmental degradation), the
conglomeration of diverse notions and interpretations for smart cities is beginning to form a
comprehensive structural framework for their conceptualization. The pathway of infusing
sustainability to conventional urban planning optimally passes from green, inter-connected,
instrumented, intelligent, open and innovating development stages45. The literature review
and empirical evidence revealed certain parameters that comprehensively characterize
smart cities. These parameters provide distinct characteristics to green, interconnected-
instrumented-intelligent, open, and innovating cities. Each one of these parameters could be
conceived as a layer of activities, which in turn upgrades the smart city concept. Figure 1
represents a holistic reference model of a smart city, called Smart City Optima.
The smart city strategy is enriching the urban planning scenarios of the
conventional city (layer 0), sets green city policy actions (layer 1), formulates policies for
interconnected, instrumented, open and intelligent city (layers 2,3,4 and 5) and advances
measures to mobilize the city’s innovation ecosystem, by capitalizing on the generated
opportunities for new business models offered in smart environments6. The Smart City
Optima conceptual reference model follows a layered approach to describe smart urban
environment conceptions along with their structural components.
The 2006 OECD study, Competitive Cities in the Global Economy7, is an important
contribution to our understanding of the urbanisation process taking place alongside
globalisation and the distinct tendency towards “glocalisation”. Global-local inference8 in a
globalized world can provide a stable and integrated place, while it also protects the cultural

1Rudolf Giffinger et al., “Smart cities – Ranking of European medium-sized cities”, Vienna: Centre of
Regional Science, 2007, http://www.smart-cities.eu/
2
Jesse Shapiro, Smart cities: explaining the relationship between city growth and human capital
(Harvard University, 2003).
3Richard Florida, The rise of the creative class and how it's transforming work, leisure, community
and everyday life (Perseus Books Group, 2003).
4
Bill Adams, “The future of sustainability, re-thinking environment and development in the twenty-
first century” (Report of the IUCN Renowned Thinkers Meeting, World Conservation Union, , 29-31
January 2006)
5 John Blewitt, Understanding sustainable development (London: Earthscan, 2008), 21-24.
6
Shapiro, 2003
7
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD territorial reviews: competitive
cities in the global economy, Directorate for Public Governance and Territorial Development, 2006
8
Habibul Haque Khondker, “Glocalization as globalization: evolution of a sociological concept”,
Bangladesh e-Journal of Sociology, Vol. 1. No. 2. 2004.
heritage and social values of local areas. Since cities are facing global challenges at a local
level, they shape the terrain for new glocalisation strategies9.

Figure 1. Smart City Optima conceptual reference model (Source: Sotiris Zygiaris “Smart City
Optima: A Holistic Approach to Conceptual Smart City Planning”, Journal of Knowledge
Economy, Special Issue on Smart Cities, 2011)

2.2. THE BLACK SEA PORT CITIES

The Black Sea Region emerged as a geopolitical hub. Due to the strategic geopolitical
location of the Black Sea, an important agglomeration of port cities developed across the
region, as commerce, transport and tourist centers. Some of these cities are:
− Burgas,
Burgas, the second-largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast, and
an important industrial, transport, cultural and tourist centre, with a population of
197.301 inhabitants. It has the largest and most important Bulgarian port.

9
Ali A. Alraouf, “Dubaization vs. glocalization: Arab cities transformed” (paper presented at the Gulf
First Urban Planning and Development Conference, Kuwait, 12-14, Dec 2005.
−
Constanţa
Constanţa.ţa the oldest extant city in Romania, and the largest city in the region, with
446.595 inhabitants. The Port of Constanţa is the largest port on the Black Sea, and one
of the largest ports in Europe.
− Mangalia,
Mangalia another Romanian city port. The municipality of Mangalia administers
several other summer seaside resorts: Cap Aurora, Jupiter, Neptun, Olimp, Saturn and
Venus.
− Novorossiysk
Novorossiysk , Russia’s main port on the Black Sea and the leading port of the country
for importing grain.
− Odessa,
Odessa a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth
largest city in Ukraine.
− Ordu.
Ordu a port city on the Black Sea coast of Turkey and capital of Ordu Province.
− Poti,
Poti a major port city and industrial centre since the early 20th century. It is also home
to a main naval base and the headquarters of the Georgian navy. The Poti port area is
planned to become a free economic zone within the framework of a Georgian-United
Arab Emirates project inaugurated in April 2008.
− Samsun,
Samsun a city of about half a million people at the north coast of Turkey. It is the
provincial capital of Samsun Province and a major Black Sea port.
− Sochi,
Sochi, which runs for 145 km (90 mi) along the shores of the Black Sea near the
Caucasus Mountains, making for Russia's largest resort city.
− Sukhumi,
Sukhumi located on a wide bay of the eastern coast, serving as a port, rail junction and
a holiday resort.
−
Varna,
Varna, commonly referred to as the marine (or summer) capital of Bulgaria, a major
tourist destination, business and university centre and seaport.
Since there are many different types and sizes of cities in the area (industrial, resorts,
commercial, agricultural), there is a wide set of urban planning options for each city type.
The growth of port cities under globalization10 and the success of urban
development depend on the creation of favorable market opportunities and port cities’
market strategy. Brand11 argues that increased urbanisation and the foregrounding of the
coastal condition make the association between cities and the sea one of the most important
environmental juxtapositions of the 21st century. In her research, “Bluespace: a typological
matrix for port cities”, she defines a matrix with nine instances of how urban space and sea
space combine to produce distinct public space types in port cities. The public realm of the
port city, therefore, needs to make reference to spaces, functions, technologies and activities
from both urban and maritime traditions, to properly encompass the complexity of smart
planning strategies12. The redefinition of “bluespace” conditions in the terms of the optima
reference model13 could stimulate the region’s vision for becoming “smart”.
The Commission on The Black Sea created a new overarching concept and policy,
under the name “2020 Vision – A Black Sea Dimension”, by the actors and countries in the
region, focusing on the year 2020. Urban planning for Smart Cities could provide a context
in tactical terms and relations following the 2020 vision action lines.

10 Yefang Huang, “The growth of port cities under globalization”, International development
planning review, Vol 31. Issue 4 (2009)
11
Diane Brand, “Bluespace: a typological matrix for port cities”, Urban Design International 12
(2007): 69–85
12 Gayle Berens, ed. Remaking the Urban Waterfront (Washington, DC: Urban Land Institute, 2004)
13
Sotiris Zygiaris “Smart City Optima: A Holistic Approach to Conceptual Smart City Planning”,
Journal of Knowledge Economy, Special Issue on Smart Cities (2011)
2.3. SMART CITY EMPIRICAL PARADIGMS COMPATIBLE TO BLACK SEA REGION
The transformation of a conventional port city to a smart city initiates a long term
smart city strategy, that undoubtedly must lead to environmental and social sustainability,
including funding mechanisms, urban growth determinants and attractive investment
returns14.
Several port cities have smart policy actions in their urban planning mix. Barcelona
is a port city, where urban planning for smart cities was applied in an integrated manner,
covering all seven layers of the Optima Reference Model. The Barcelona city council is the
orchestrator for sustainable economic, environmental and social changes, in which urban
planning provides high-quality opportunities for people to live and work. In 2009, the
Barcelona City Council presented its "Smart City" model to improve its residents' quality of
life and ensure a more efficient and sustainable future. The initiative aims to achieve
Barcelona’s 2020 vision of becoming a global reference model for sustainable urban
development. These aims respond to future challenges, since the city is facing a wave of
urbanization and may be beginning to show lag-time between its dazzling, international
image and socio-economic change. Furthermore, development saturation is decreasing
accessibility within the city.
Furthermore, the port city of Manchester implements smart actions to attract new
investment and jobs from high-tech companies, as the city becomes a 'Living Lab' test bed
for new future internet services. Projects like “Smart-IP” are leading the way towards the
layer (2), “interconnection”, and layer (6), “innovation”, only. This type of strategy implies a
partial integration of urban planning for smart cities.
Yokohama, the second largest city in Japan, is another port city, with an economy of
the size of small-sized countries, and diverse geographical features. The recently set in
action Yokohama Smart City Plan (YSCP) includes local city centres, such as Minato Mirai
21, Kannai and Kangai districts, a leading port area in Japan, large-scale development
districts, such as Kohoku New Town, and residential areas rich in water and vegetation in
the suburbs. Yokohama city’s urban planning disciplines are also a paradigm for the
development of the Black Sea port cities. The mixture of “bluespace”, port-based urban
policies, with the smart city optimal reference model composes a development framework
that could be adapted to the cities in the region. While the Black Sea port cities come in all
shapes and sizes, the case of Yokohama provides urban planning orientations, which could
enhance the cities’ readiness to achieve their vision for becoming “smart”.

3. STRENGTHENING THE PORT CITIES READINESS IN THE BLACK SEA REGION IN

INTITUTIONAL TERMS

Belissent15 denotes that smart cities must start with the “city”, not the “smart”,
emphasizing that smart city notions must be grounded to the context of a city. This layer
conveys the traditional components, often present in every city. It is an important

14
Una McGeough, Doug Newman and Jay Wrobel, Model for sustainable urban design with
expanded sections on distributed energy resources, Sustainable Energy Planning Office Gas
Technology Institute for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (2004)
15 Jennifer Belissent, “Getting clever about smart cities: new opportunities require new business
models” Forrester blogs, posted 15 Oct 2010, http://blogs.forrester.com/jennifer_belissent/10-10-15-
taking_lessons_from_smart_cities
denominator of the readiness of cities to absorb smart features. For every port city in the
Black Sea region, in its conventional terms, there are certain operations and processes that
must be synchronized towards obtaining their smart city vision.

3.1. IDENTITY MATTERS – BUILDING A CITY BRANDING

In today’s knowledge economy and culture, image making has become a central
basis for successful competition16. It is essential for a city to have a strong identity to
promote, so as for smart city planning to build upon. In order for a Black Sea port city to
build a good brand, it must possess defining and distinctive characteristics that can be
readily identified. A city brand is its promise of value, a promise that needs to be kept. In
this notion, outstanding identity value needs to be constantly nourished, managed and
promoted in Black Sea port cities. Special requirements should come into force to ensure
that the values of the place will be protected and conserved for future generations.
The characteristics that define a city brand include the city appearance, people’s
experience of the city, people’s belief in the city, what the city stands for, and what kind of
people inhabit the city17. Brands and distinguishing identities can derive from
natural/cultural heritage, a tradition, expertise in a field, lifestyle. Cities lacking prominent
architectural heritage or tradition will face the challenge of creating and customizing their
own points of reference. Several cities have done this successfully, ‘inventing’ their own
brands, traditions or landmarks18.
The 22@bcn district in Barcelona, for example, which has undergone major urban
regeneration, utilized successfully the 22@ brand. 22@ is a symbol of the transition from the
past industrial of 22a Poblenou to the knowledge-based 22@. This brand provides an
effective marketing of the project and stands for a powerful coalition between professionals,
technicians, land promoters, neighborhood associations, councilors of the municipality, and
so forth. The ‘Yokohama Smart City Project’ brand aspires in standing out as an “Eco-Model
City” and as an “Open City”. It is clearly oriented towards tackling climate change and
achieving a low carbon community, while conveying the open and free image of the City of
Yokohama, offering hospitable environment to visitors, new opportunities to residents and
favorable conditions to investors. It also aspires in excelling as a point of reference, as a city
model that can be applied to cities in emerging Asian countries and to cities overseas1920.
Other well-known brands include ¨Amsterdam Smart City¨, ¨Singapore Intelligent Island¨
and ¨Dubai Internet City¨.

16Tan Yigitcanlar, Koray Velibeyoglu and Cristina Martinez-Fernandez, “Rising knowledge cities: the
role of urban knowledge precincts.” Journal of Knowledge Management, 12(5) (2008): 8-20.
17Julia Winfield-Pfefferkorn, “The Branding of Cities; Exploring City Branding and the Importance
of Brand Image” (Master’s diss., Graduate School of Syracuse University, 2005)
18Charles Landry, The Creative City. A Toolkit for urban innovators (London: Earthscan Publications
Ltd, 2000)
19
City of Yokohama, Master Plan of the Yokohama Smart City Project (YSCP), 2010,
http://www.city.yokohama.lg.jp/ondan/english/
20
City of Yokohama, MinatoMirai 21 EcoInformation, 2010,
www.city.yokohama.lg.jp/toshi/mm21/pdf/ecoinfo201009.pdf
3.2. BROADBAND ECONOMIES ADVANCE INTERCONNECTED, INSTRUMENTED
AND INTELLIGENT CITIES
Broadband economies advance interconnected, instrumented and intelligent cities.
The Black Sea broadband economy, as the new global economic engine, could empower
smart cities to face the challenges of digital dividend and augment the activities and
functions taking place within the physical space of the city21 22.
Broadband economies also include smart city service enablement suites for smart
media services, which enables city-wide open access to sensor and actuator services. An
important smart city urban planning issue is the strategic orientation to endorse broadband
coverage and assume policies of “connected life”, along with technological ability to produce
real time data streams, which in turn will provide input to intelligence applications. In a
sense, the forthcomings evangelize the new era of technological breakthroughs that not
only support socioeconomic changes, but in fact they are accountable for new business
models and advanced social cooperative spaces23.

3.3. CITIZEN – DRIVEN AND OPEN INNOVATION ECOSYSTEMS

Smart cities in the Black Sea region could form a dense ecosystem with extensive
social interactions in a bottom-up approach, deriving from a knowledge workforce that
creates economic value through the acquisition, processing and use of information.
The articulation of smart city infrastructure through social networks and
communities, legal and cultural systems, and various forms of social inclusive principles is
endorsed by smart city policies for social sustainability. Traditional “top-down” urban
planning is not responsive to rapidly changing technologies and evolving patterns of living,
working, communication, recreation, and commerce. A bottom-up approach is required for
user – driven and open Innovation Ecosystems creation. Cities with more educated
populations experience more rapid growth24. This might occur because more educated
individuals improve amenities in cities in which they reside, or because they seek out areas
in which quality of life is rising25.
This incremental process can be best illustrated in the formation of Living Labs,
which administer the city as an innovation space for research and development. The
Amsterdam Living Lab (ALL)26 is a joint effort to gather and share knowledge about user
experience in order to develop new products and services. In this Living Lab consumers,
knowledge institutions and companies work in close cooperation to develop new products
and services. The Helsinki Smart City Living Lab is another successful paradigm. It was
created in the context of Fireball, funded by the European Commission. Its objective is to
understand and proactively promote Smart Cities, the Future Internet, the Internet of
Things, and Living Labs, as creative ecosystems. The technologies, the services and the

21Robert Bell, John Jung and Louis Zacharilla, Broadband economies: creating the community of the
21st century (Intelligent Community Forum, 2009)
22
George Ford and Thomas Koutsky, “Broadband and economic development: a municipal case study
from Florida.” Applied Economic Studies (2005)
23
Belisent, 2010
24
Shapiro, 2003
25 Florida, 2003
26 Amsterdam Living Lab, 2011, http://www.amsterdamlivinglab.nl/
policies, as well as co-design and co-creation processes of user-driven innovation will help
Helsinki become a Smart City27. The Yokohama Smart City project aims at producing new
value and attractiveness for the city, through leveraging the unique history and cultural
resources around the port and to give free rein to the creativity of art and culture. This has
led to a new vision for the city that melds tangible and intangible measures to promote the
development of arts, culture, and economy, and the formation of an attractive urban space
that fittingly reflects Yokohama's creative character.

3.4. ORCHESTRATED URBAN GOVERNANCE

The planning agenda for smart environments starts from the city’s readiness to
implement smart policies. Regardless to say a smart city master plan needs an orchestrator
with executive and policy planning authority, such as the city’s council. The city is
consistent with a city’s urban resources, infrastructures, utilities, services, stakeholders and
innovation ecosystems including triple helix complexions. An orchestrated Urban
Governance, with responsibilities, recourses and well trained people, can guarantee
improved service delivery, greater efficiencies and lower costs. Collaborating across
departments and with communities—to become more transparent and accountable, to
manage resources more effectively, and to give citizens access to information about
decisions that affect their lives, can obviously lead to Smarter Governance. A smart city
requires a smart government, in particular one with economic development policies to
attract and retain companies and start new ventures. Such a city needs to provide a rich
variety of services, both physical ones, like transportation and communications that are
absolutely required to do business in a globally integrated world, as well as human services
like healthcare and education, which are essential to a well-functioning community28.
Some cities like Singapore and Barcelona instigate a comprehensive smart city
master plan aiming to ensure sustainability, quality of life and smart growth. The integrated
smart city urban plan of Barcelona is characterized by leadership in strategic decision
making, solid financial planning, new urbanism initiatives for improving quality of life
along with exercise of broadband economies and new business models for growth. Smart
city master plans entail new forms of urban governance to plan, design and monitor the
city’s smart city vision. A master plan is a sense a roadmap to city smart future that must be
result of open debate and participation of all actor involved in urban governance.
The Yokohama smart city plan (YSCP) organizational structure is supported by the
establishment of an organizational structure for the implementation of the YSCP. The plan
includes cooperation with other projects of the city, marketing and development of overseas
markets and the promotion of the Yokohama smart city brand to India and China,
participating in the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation and various other international
events. Moreover, new forms of governance are formulated to conduct overall management
and operation of the project. Throughout the management and operation of the plan, studies
on overseas cases will be conducted, indicators for follow-ups will be established. The
management and operation body will conduct progress management for each activity,
evaluations, coordination work, and monitor the equipment and systems which have been
installed as shared assets for the whole area. The master plan will be updated every fiscal
year.

27 Helsinki Living Lab, 2011, http://vimeo.com/16425674

28 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2006
4. STRENGTHENING THE PORT
PORT CITIES READINESS IN THE BLACK SEA REGION
REGION IN
PHYSICAL TERMS

4.1. STRAIGHTENED OUT AND GREEN HARD INFRASTRUCTURE

Smart Cities promise improved citizen services and more efficient use of scarce
resources, as they integrate technology with critical infrastructure components and services
to make urban development more intelligent, interconnected, and efficient29. The Smart
Cities Initiative of the European Union’s SET-Plan30 proposes a 40% reduction of
greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 through sustainable use and production of energy through
smart city technologies. The moderation of these urban planning challenges of layer 0 into
green city priorities demands new forms of green governance, policy integration and
allocation of recourses, to develop a suitable mix of green urban infrastructures, which could
be applied to Black Sea cities through green city initiatives. Green and straightened out
infrastructure yields indirect benefits through the supply chain, land values, small business
growth, consumer sales, and social benefits of community development and access to
opportunity.
Barcelona has been successful in this direction, as it is the city with the highest
density of solar panels in Europe. During the last decade the entire water supply system in
Barcelona has been adjusted to be powered by solar energy, aiming to provide all residents
with warm water. Since 2000, the city’s regulations require that all new buildings have solar
energy sources installed. The green city concept is integral to the smart city concept
referring not only to “infrastructural green islands” but also to citywide diffusion of green
economies. Barcelona also promotes electric motorcycle use, by planning 15 free electricity
charging stations.
In Yokohama, the railway network and other elements of the public transport
infrastructure are being developed to make stations and surrounding facilities accessible to
all. Plans are being studied to introduce a system of bike sharing as an environmentally-
friendly means of transportation for the Minato Mirai 21 and Kannai districts31. A mobility
management campaign is also underway to encourage people to become less dependent on
their cars and make more use of other forms of transport, particularly walking, cycling, and
public transport32. In the Minato Mirai 21 district area, a 3.600 member community
managed District Heating and Cooling System (DHC) has already been installed. The overall
aim is to develop low-carbon mobility infrastructure and establish a transport system with a
low environmental impact, through promoting the introduction of business-purpose
systems, the installation of charging stations and the introduction of electric buses33.

29
Usman Sindhu, “Intelligent Information and Communications Technology Infrastructure in the
Government, Buildings, Transport, and Utility Domains”,
http://www.forrester.com/rb/Research/securing_smart_city_infrastructure/q/id/56678/t/2 (2009)
30 Strategic Energy Technology Plan 2009, http://ec.europa.eu/energy/index_en.htm
31 City of Yokohama, MinatoMirai 21 EcoInformation, 2010
32 City of Yokohama, Policies of the City of Yokohama, 2011,
http://www.city.yokohama.lg.jp/seisaku/senryaku/en/policies/
33 City of Yokohama, MinatoMirai 21 EcoInformation, 2010
4.2. QUALITATIVE PUBLIC SPACE
Furthermore, a clean and polished city’s public space is an equally important factor
for enhancing attractiveness and thus facilitating smart city development. This is the only
way for the Green, Interconnection, and Instrumentation Layers to overlay the City Layer
smoothly, enabling the subsequent establishment of smart utilities, smart transport, smart
buildings, and smart government. The cities of the Black Sea Region have an abundance of
recourses to work in this direction, since their extended waterfronts can become high-
quality places of recreation, social interaction and tourist attraction.
Public space should be trimmed, clean, well maintained, starting from the micro-
level; no disorderly, hazardous, arbitrary traffic/information/advertisement signs, bins,
parked cars, etc., sufficient public lighting, well maintained pedestrian signs and crossings,
etc. Public and private buildings with historical/architectural value should be restored and
well maintained. Empty properties should present an acceptable and neat image; they
cannot look abandoned or dirty. Walkability is also a significant component of pleasurable
public space and waterfronts in particular; well designed and maintained pedestrian and
bicycle networks and facilities for people with disabilities enhance recreational
opportunities for a city’s residents; additionally they contribute to the reduction of
mechanical vehicle circulation and air pollution and the facilitation of public transport.
The Masdar smart city plan is oriented towards this notion. The streets and squares
invite people to enjoy the outdoors, where they interact and engage with fellow students,
residents, professionals and visitors. It is pedestrian focused, with narrow, shaded streets,
and pleasant shaded walkways and other paths that encourage walking. The integrated
nature of the city means it’s not far to walk to many destinations. In the public space of
Minato Mirai 21 in Yokohama, an extensive pedestrian network is being implemented,
while keeping pedestrians completely separated from road traffic. Many of the buildings in
the same areas are implementing rooftop greenery and similar measures, as a means of
improving air quality and temperature in the public areas34.

4.3. URBAN NATURAL HABITATS MANAGEMENT AND PROTECTION

Likewise, a city that wants to be Smart needs to have a policy and a plan for
developing and managing landscapes, ecosystems and green heritage, whether it be about
small and large parks, beaches, lagoons, streams or woodlands. Again here, the cities of the
Black Sea region have a competitive advantage, due to their waterfronts.
Relative actions introduce ecological management practices, ensure the integrity
and sustainability of natural spaces and provide a legacy for present and future generations.
People living in such cities enjoy recreational, athletic and creative activities, have the
ability to make the most out of their free time, and fulfill their desire for high living
standards, both for themselves and their families. A city’s plan for Urban Natural Habitats
management and protection needs to connect with its land use plan and regional plans,
aiming to establish networks of open space and green belts, crossing boundaries and
continuing for long distances.
Yokohama, while being a big city, has considerable greenery, including areas of
woodland, farmland, and parks near residential areas and people’s places of work. Funded by
a special-purpose tax to preserve and create greenery, woodland and agricultural land are
being preserved and expanded and parks are being developed with the objective of

34 City of Yokohama, MinatoMirai 21 EcoInformation, 2010

maintaining and increasing the already existent 31% of the city’s green areas. Yokohama’s
environmental campaigns feature regular and extensive involvement by ordinary
volunteers35. The Minato Mirai 21district showcases the special features of its waterside
environment with 9 urban parks, existent or under currently under construction. With a
goal or covering 25% of the entire district with parks and greenery, a water and green
network over the whole of Minato Mirai 21 is taking shape36.

4.4. URBAN REGENERATION/RENEWAL/REVITALIZATION

A city that wants to be “smart” should work on restoring its dilapidated areas and
neighborhoods, since, as properly regenerated urban districts, they can become hubs of
sustainability, creativity, entrepreneurship and innovation. Regenerated areas create their
own “image”. They acquire symbolic and design value, thus marking the name of the
emerging SmartCity with a landmark development37. Furthermore, dilapidated areas do not
account for an attractive urban environment, and thus they cannot satisfy the preferences of
their knowledge workers. This applies fully to the cities of the Black Sea region, many of
which are undergoing rapid development.
Urban Regeneration/Renewal/Revitalization plans aim at reinvigorating run-down
urban areas, such as degraded neighborhoods and brownfields of formerly industrial,
commercial and transport facilities. Urban renewal may involve relocation of businesses and
people and the demolition of dilapidated structures. In many cases the government
purchases private properties for city-initiated development projects, provides business and
tax incentives. In other cases, a public-private partnership is formed, in a model that yields
sufficient profitability for developers. In a majority of cases, urban regeneration projects
integrate equally ambitious investments in sewer, water, drainage, transport, roads, as well
as high-end services and amenities. Additional positive effects include replenished and
improved housing stock, increase in density and sprawl reduction, economic benefits and
enhancement of the economic competitiveness of a city's area, cultural and social amenity
improvement, safety and surveillance enhancement.
Some well-known Urban Regeneration projects that were designed and succeed as
“smart” zones are London Docklands, 22@ in Poblenou and Diagonal Mar in Barcelona,
Spain. The Western Harbour area in Malmö38, Sweden, with its 100 % locally produced
renewable energy, compact built environment, green roofs and open storm-water system, is
an international inspiration for climate-smart city planning. It comprises 600 dwellings, as
well as offices, shops and other services. The city of Yokoma, in the context of becoming
“smart”, aims at the regeneration and economic revitalization of three urban areas: the
Kannai and Kangai districts, the Minato Mirai 21 district, and the area around Yokohama
Station39.

35
City of Yokohama, Policies of the City of Yokohama, 2011
36 City of Yokohama, MinatoMirai 21 EcoInformation, 2010
37 Tan Yigitcanlar, Koray Velibeyoglu and Cristina Martinez-Fernandez, 2008
38 Malmö stad, Climate-smart Malmö: Making sustainability reality, 2010,
www.malmo.se/download/18.58f28d93121ca033d5e800091/Klimatbroschyr_090409EN.pdf
39 City of Yokohama, 2011
5. CONCLUSIONS
CONCLUSIONS
This paper argues that Black Sea cities could shape their way into their sustainable
future, as long as certain urban planning disciplines anchor smart investments. Since cities
in the Black Sea region are facing global challenges at a local echelon, they could contribute
towards a sustainable smart planet by advancing policies for progressive urban
environments. To elaborate the case, the paper distinctively examines the implementation
of smart city policies across various port cities worldwide, in relation to the maritime
character agglomeration of Black Sea cities.
While $8.1 billion was spent on smart city technologies in 2010, by 2016 that
number is projected to reach $39.5 billion. There are currently 102 smart city projects
worldwide, with Europe leading the way at 38, North America at 35, Asia Pacific at 21, the
Middle East and Africa at six, and Latin America with two40. The wide spread of smart city
initiatives across the globe is an indication of decentralized development of innovation
ecosystems, besides heavily resourced industrial and research regions. These developments
open an opportunity window to regions with less agglomerated -in research and industrial
terms- resources, such as the Black Sea region, to attract smart city investments and advance
their local innovation ecosystems.
The paper uses the Smart City Optima reference model, in conjunction with
“bluespace” port city urban policies, to provide a common understanding among smart city
stakeholders of investment priorities. The investigation of a city’s critical resources, which
will contribute to its readiness to support the smart city vision, is a crucial preliminary
planning step. The outcomes of this research could be utilized by smart city planners to
prevent unsustainable investments and to build upon the socio-technical complementarities
in the smart city course of action. The exercise, by smart city planners, of the Smart city
Optima model, in the local context of the Black Sea region, includes important fact findings
that could open a responsive public debate to the each of the following, layer-related,
planning issues:
− To what extent a city’s urban status can be enriched with smart city planning
activities and what type of infrastructure interventions are planned to complement
smart city actions?
− What type of governance or change in management measures can be taken to
respond to smart city challenges, and what activities for social inclusion have been
taken to create a common understanding of the smart city vision among citizens and
communities?
− How efficient is the green city infrastructure regarding environmental protection
and CO2 emissions reduction, and how feasible are the financial viability plans for
green infrastructure?
− What is the impact of smart resources in the creation of new business models and in
the advancement of entrepreneurship, and how have local innovation ecosystems
responded to the smart city opportunities for growth?
The responses to these questions can form the mosaic of a smart city master plan,
adaptable to the size, characteristics and needs of each city in the Black Sea region. While
the results of the public debate on these issues could lead to a future city roadmap and
provide a common understanding among city actors and policy makers, there are important
proactive urban planning actions that need to be taken to enhance the readiness of Black Sea

40
GreenBiz, Investments in smart cities, 2011,
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2011/09/09/investment-smart-cities-verge-40b-boom
 cities for a smart policy uptake. The examination of existing smart urban planning priorities
in several port cities, resulted in important findings, which could be utilized by the Black
Sea port cities, in order to assist them in entering the smart urban development global
innovation arena. Investments in green city infrastructures, improvement of public space
and urban regeneration form an important switching of policies towards a sustainable
future. These types of actions prepare the ground for smart energy investments and
document scenarios for the full deployment of all seven layers of the reference model.
This paper can be used by city authorities, policy makers and local development
agencies in the Black Sea region to trigger the opportunity for the development of smart city
initiatives and the interaction among local actors, to position their role into the city’s smart
vision.

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