Twelve percent of Czech project companies have practical experience in designing so-called smart cities, i.e. smart and green cities focused on sustainable development, use of technology and data resources. On the contrary, almost half of them have no experience with this concept. Under the influence of climate change and the need for sustainable development of cities and municipalities, many private Czech and global companies are turning their attention to smart cities. Awareness of smart cities is low in society. This is evident from a study conducted by the analytical company CEEC Research, in which 112 of the largest Czech project companies participated.
The aim of smart cities is to create a more efficient, sustainable and comfortable living environment for city dwellers. It includes various aspects such as energy efficiency, mobility, infrastructure, resource management or citizen services. Smart cities try to achieve this by combining sustainable means and state-of-the-art technologies used to function in a digital environment or data collection.
“Innovations in the smart city concept greatly facilitate people’s daily lives and support the local economy. Increasingly, people can work from home, and companies are setting up satellite offices outside major cities. Mobile surgeries, for example, have proved their worth abroad. Good high-speed internet coverage is a prerequisite and we also support projects that use 5G networks,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Regional Development Ivan Bartoš (Pirates). The Ministry of Regional Development has allocated CZK 610 million from the National Renewal Plan for these projects. The European money will be used for projects in the fields of education and transport, for example.
In smart city design, 39 percent of companies have the most experience in designing smart buildings and urban infrastructure. More than one quarter identified the implementation of smart grids and energy savings in this way. The remaining experience was in the area of the use of so-called smart electronics. Smart mobility and transport solutions were covered by 12 per cent of companies.
Designing smart cities also presents a number of challenges for companies. According to 41 per cent of design companies, the biggest challenge in practice is the complexity and ability to integrate different technologies within such a project. For 35 percent, the lack of expertise and experts tends to be a problem. Another challenge, particularly for investors, is the financial complexity of the project, identified by over a quarter of companies. Another quarter have a problem with correcting the whole project.
Almost 70 percent of the representatives of the surveyed project companies think that public awareness of smart cities is low and that the public is still not well informed. A quarter of respondents think that public awareness of smart cities is zero. Only one percent of companies consider awareness of smart cities to be high and positive.
Source: CEEC Research and CTK
