Memorandum TU1204-e

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European Cooperation
in the field of Scientific
and Technical Research
- COST -
Brussels, 21 November 2012
TU1204
MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
Subject : Memorandum of Understanding for the implementation of a European Concerted
Research Action designated as COST Action TU1204: People Friendly Cities in a
Data Rich World
Delegations will find attached the Memorandum of Understanding for COST Action as approved by
the COST Committee of Senior Officials (CSO) at its 186th meeting on 20 - 21 November 2012.
___________________

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MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
For the implementation of a European Concerted Research Action designated as
COST Action TU1204
PEOPLE FRIENDLY CITIES IN A DATA RICH WORLD
The Parties to this Memorandum of Understanding, declaring their common intention to participate
in the concerted Action referred to above and described in the technical Annex to the Memorandum,
have reached the following understanding:
1. The Action will be carried out in accordance with the provisions of document COST 4154/11
“Rules and Procedures for Implementing COST Actions”, or in any new document amending
or replacing it, the contents of which the Parties are fully aware of.
2. The main objective of the Action is to foster a trans-disciplinary network of key stakeholders
that identify new approaches, policies and research priorities for the emerging theme of smart
and liveable cities and so enable people to co-create cities within a people-centred framework.
3. The economic dimension of the activities carried out under the Action has been estimated, on
the basis of information available during the planning of the Action, at EUR 44 million in
2012 prices.
4. The Memorandum of Understanding will take effect on being accepted by at least five Parties.
5. The Memorandum of Understanding will remain in force for a period of 4 years, calculated
from the date of the first meeting of the Management Committee, unless the duration of the
Action is modified according to the provisions of Chapter V of the document referred to in
Point 1 above.
___________________

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TECHNICAL ANNEX
A. ABSTRACT AND KEYWORDS
Cities are the future. In 2008, the percentage of people living in urban areas surpassed those living
rural communities. These trends are expected to continue; the United Nations estimates that over
70% of the world’s population will be living in towns and cities by 2050.
Not surprisingly cities elicit ever greater attention from government, researchers, and industry.
Many of the initiatives focus upon the efficient use of resources and carbon reduction in response to
climate change such as Europe 2020 and the European Covenant of Mayors’ commitment to energy
efficiency. Likewise the "Smart City" concept offers a similar if somewhat broader vision of a more
efficient city. The focus upon smarter and more efficient cities is important, but incomplete. It is
important that cities be sustainable and pleasant to live within.
Against this background, the Action builds on an ESF exploratory workshop on the emerging theme
of “smart and liveable cities”. Supported by a European network of candidate cities, the Action co-
ordinates a trans-disciplinary network of experts and non-experts that investigate the alignment of
the “hardware” and “software” of a city with user needs to promote well being, good health, and a
sustainable use of resources, within an evolving people-centred consultation framework for
economic, cultural, and political development.
A.2 Keywords: Smart and Liveable Cities, Collaborative Urbanism, Trans-disciplinary Network,
Digital Data, City Sounding Board.
B. BACKGROUND
B.1 General Background
The concept of the ‘smart city’ as an emerging new stage of urbanisation has become an important
topic for policy, industry and research. However, the definitions and purposes of ‘smart cities’
are not consistent and the dominant focus on the role of energy, transport, water and ICT
infrastructure, often neglects the ‘social’ and liveable elements that are essential for making cities
attractive, healthy, and vibrant places for people to live in.
Cities are more than infrastructure; they are communities of individuals and families with
different backgrounds, needs and aspirations. In addition to smart infrastructure, smart mobility,
economy vitality and environmental quality, cities need to focus on quality of life and the quality of

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amenities, places, governance, and neighbourhoods they have to offer. ‘Smart and Liveable’ cities
do not therefore simply translate into to larger, faster or more functional cities. It can also mean
providing city residents with more social connectivity, public spaces and buildings with
character and aesthetics built to human scale, access to cultural, sport, recreational, shopping, and
green space amenities, safety from crime, and public policies that meet human needs, for example,
the provision of excellent schools and food markets.
In a data rich world, technology, innovative ICT and data driven solutions while important are
not endpoints in themselves; but are valuable tools to promote environmental sustainability, social
and community participation, human well-being, economic vitality, and a high quality of life.
‘Quality’ in urban design and technology therefore needs to be defined along these factors. The
societal challenges that govern cities and their citizens need to be fully understood in order to plan
and design (or redesign) systems and technologies that support this vision. Urban planners and other
city professionals need to understand who the stakeholders are, and how people interact with each
other and the city. User-focused design (or people friendly design) of smart & liveable cities
requires innovative, intuitive, fun and attractive user interfaces that integrate smart systems into
citizens’ lives in meaningful ways. As there cannot be any good ‘hardware’ without good
‘software’, ways need to be found for ‘pouring humanity’ into buildings and spaces; of making
systems, infrastructure and information relevant and easily accessible to the users.
In a data rich world, “smart and liveable cities” bring communities together and encourage
social inclusion. Systems therefore need to work for ‘odd and even-shaped people’ alike; to allow
people of different backgrounds, ages, abilities, shapes and sizes to engage with their environment
and with each other. To understand their needs, citizens need to be engaged in a dialogue about
their cities. Rather than perceiving inhabitants as the unquantifiable, ‘messy’ element that interferes
with a clear planning process or public policies, their participation needs to be integrated in the
design and implementation processes. Creating ownership means: (a) asking for / listening to
people’s wants & needs; (b) educating them concerning options and innovation; (c) communicating
developments effectively and seeking citizen input and feedback; and (c) finding methods of
incorporating this understanding into solutions.
The COST Action is ideally suited to create a trans-disciplinary collaborative network of key
stakeholders comprising city managers, public policy makers, professionals allied to the built
environment and ICT, general public and researchers to identify new approaches and evolving
frameworks for “smart and liveable cities”.

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B.2 Current state of knowledge
Properly understood, managed and planned, cities have the potential to provide great
benefits. Furthermore a growing body of research suggests that cities can be part of the solution to
many of today’s problems. For example, cities where residents have easy access to convenient
public transport, social gathering places, and shops and cultural amenities within walking distance
tend to be places with a significantly lower carbon footprint per capita, in part because the urban
form does not necessitate daily car usage. There are additional health and economic benefits as well
to such places that can contribute to wellbeing on many levels. Less driving and more walking can
translate into less obesity in cities, and fewer deaths and injuries due to vehicle crashes. And access
to more social activities tends to reduce social isolation and thus improve physical and mental
health. Well-functioning cities may also facilitate creativity, innovation and wealth creation.
If cities have the potential to be part of the solution, it is important to know more about what
makes cities attractive or liveable places. Whilst part of this challenge is about improved
technology, greener buildings, and energy efficiency, it is also about understanding how to make
cities more liveable places for people. Addressing this question has been a concern of academics,
social commentators and professionals for over 100 years, but it is not until now that technology
and data has been available to support the collaborative urbanism approach of this Action. Of
course, cities are not all the same; there are attributes and public policies that make some cities
more attractive to live in than others. Given the importance of cities now and for the foreseeable
future, there is an urgent requirement to understand how urban design, planning, public policy and
management, and other aspects of the city affect or determine whether a city is people friendly. In
other words, there is a need to clarify what makes a city most liveable so researchers can advise
policymakers and others as to the "best practices".
At the same time, the foremost issue for a “smart city” is the lack of coordination across both
the sources of data and the results of any analysis that are carried out across disparate groups of
professionals, researchers, administrators, politicians and citizens. Added to this problem is the
lack of skills and method for timely and appropriate analysis and the application of the analysis in
decision making. Solutions to these issues lie in management of information systems, data analytics,
optimization and visualisation within a human-focussed processes and framework. When these
factors are brought together then the potential gains can be considerable.
The Action would be informed by the recent EC study “Cities of tomorrow - challenges, visions,
ways forward” which highlights the crucial role played by cities as engines of the economy; places
of connectivity, creativity and innovation; and as centres of services for their surrounding areas(EC

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2011). This shared vision for the European city of tomorrow is characterised by a high degree of
social cohesion, cultural dialogue and diversity; supported by a place of green, ecological or
environmental regeneration. This vision is under threat in many places and has never existed in
others.
B.3 Reasons for the Action
The main reason for launching the Action is to create a collaborative network of trans-disciplinary
experts and non-experts to explore the dual concept of “Smart and Liveable Cities” where citizens
are both users and co-creators of cities. However translating the needs of citizens into user-focused
services and interfaces requires new highly collaborative approaches. Designing integrative
systems can only be done if stakeholders from all relevant sectors and fields share and combine
their expertise. Experts from all affected fields therefore need to be supported in finding ways of
sharing insights and knowledge. In this context, the Action aims at building a community of
practitioners, researchers and the general public that can engage in trans-disciplinary dialogue that
connects the economic/societal needs for European cities with technological advances.
The immediate benefit of the Action will be to create a knowledge infrastructure to foster trans-
disciplinary understanding of the “Smart and Liveable Cities” concept from the perspective of
policy makers, society/ citizens, education, finance & industry and ultimately lead to creating a
business model, and public policy. It will specify a common evolving consultation framework for
collaborative urbanism to enable fully citizen engagement. In addition the immediate benefits will
include a co-ordination and pooling of nationally funded research and field pilot studies in
candidate cities.
The future benefits of the Action will be an improve knowledge base for targeted EU or Member
States policy towards the introduction of “Smart and Liveable” City concepts underpinned by
a long term roadmap of research needs. Future benefits will include a collaborative research
framework for greater citizen stakeholder consultation to create a paradigm shift in future
retrofitting and maintenance of cities across Europe where the citizen is both co-creator and user of
city services and infrastructure.
B.4 Complementarity with other research programmes
The Action has relevant links with several smart cities’ initiatives in the EU as follows. A number
of candidate cities are members of Euro Cities and Covenant of Majors. This will avoid duplication

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of activities and create synergies of action with the cluster of cities. Furthermore the Action will
actively participate in the Smart Cities Stakeholder Platform.
• EU Smart Cities Stakeholder Platform www.eu-smartcities.eu
• ESF Smart Cities Initiative www.esf.org/smartcities
• EuroCities www.eurocities.eu
• EU Covenant of Majors www.eumayors.eu
C. OBJECTIVES AND BENEFITS
C.1 Aim
The main objective is to foster a trans-disciplinary network of key stakeholders to identify new
approaches, policies and research priorities for the emerging theme of smart and liveable cities; and
so allow people to co-create cities where infrastructure, technology, innovative ICT and data driven
solutions are aligned with user needs to promote well being, good health, a sustainable use of
resources, within a people-centred form of economic, cultural, and political development.
C.2 Objectives
The Action will act as a focal point for experts and non-experts to specify and evaluate an
evolving framework for collaborative urbanism where citizens’ actions or voice is part of a
participatory consultation process enabled by advances in ICT. The experts would be drawn from
different European countries and different backgrounds (city managers, policymakers, ICT
designers, technology providers, urban designers, engineers, architects, businesses, and
researchers).
The Action will facilitate dialogue about how the software of a city (e.g. governance and data
driven solutions) can be combined with the hardware of a city (e.g. technology sensors,
infrastructures) to promote “smart and liveable cities”. Crucially the dialogue will fully engage
citizens as both users and co-creators of “smart and liveable cities”.
The Action will specify and develop a knowledge platform for both experts and non-experts
(citizens) on the dual aspects of “smart and liveable cities”. The knowledge platform will compile
state-of-the-art information, knowledge and data about how the “software” and “hardware” of

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cities can address societal, economic and political challenges. Importantly the platform will identify
the sources, type, and volume of digital data available and even more important the gaps in data
needed to understand the needs and behaviour of citizens.
Given that “smart and liveable cities” is a new stage in urbanisation, an important goal will be the
up-skilling of researchers and in particular the training of a community of Early Stage
Researchers in interdisciplinary research and practice. The dialogue and up-skilling processes will
lay the foundations for building scientific excellence in this field in Europe. It will create a
common framework of action, which will enhance opportunities of dealing successfully with the
future challenges of “smart and liveable” cities. The foundations will draft a multi-annual road-
map and research strategy around a new participatory framework for collaborative urbanism for
“smart and liveable cities”.
C.3 How networking within the Action will yield the objectives?
In order to achieve these objectives, the Action will undertake several types of activities described
as follows
The network of candidate cities will provide a living laboratory to share and exchange data,
information and experiences about performance and future plans of cities. Letters of Support will be
provided by candidate cities. The network of candidate cities will provide Early Stage Researchers
with tangible experiences and learning opportunities in trans-disciplinary research by means
of workshops and design challenges.
A “City Sounding Board” drawn from the candidate cities will facilitate strong linkages between
researchers in the Working Groups and the candidate cities; along with a route to implement early
findings from the Action through existing or future pilot studies planned by candidate cities. To
provide a strong focus, the activities in candidate cities will be targeted at neighbourhoods.
The Action will provide the impetus for two European conferences on “smart and liveable cities”
and provide a focal point for dissemination of research results via web site and Wiki page and a
European/International lecture series on “smart and liveable cities” streamed live and pod cast.
Reports and research results will be published in hardcopy in edited books (two) and scientific
journals. The resulting knowledge platform and participatory framework for collaborative
urbanism will be synthesised into a comprehensive road map and long term research strategy for
“smart and liveable cities”.

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C.4 Potential impact of the Action
The benefits of the Action are organised at a strategic and operational level.
At a strategic level, the network will:
• develop a multi-annual roadmap and research strategy for “smart and liveable cities”
and lay the foundations for future EU research initiatives (Horizon 2020)
• specify and articulate a new participatory approach/framework for collaborative
urbanism at a neighbourhood or city scale for use by candidate cities and pan –
European city programmes (Euro Cities, Covenant of Mayors)
• constitute trans-disciplinary ‘City Sounding Board” for candidate cities who can give
direct assistance for the implementation of research results
At an operational level, the network will:
• provide learning environment and community of Early Stage Researchers trained in
interdisciplinary research
• create a knowledge platform to support future trans-disciplinary research for “smart and
liveable cities”
• provide a database and catalogue of field pilots to act as exemplars for future research
into collaborative urbanism
• build capacity and an evolving framework for the general public to be pro-actively
involved in a new participatory consultation process
C.5 Target groups/end users
The Action will provide practical information and advice for the following target groups

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• At a European Scale, the Action will provide a knowledge platform and roadmap to
support policy actions by the EU or its Member States.
• At a regional and city scale, the Action will provide strategic and tangible information
for city mangers and lead professionals about the types of pilot studies needed to test
theoretical findings within the political and economical reality of city planning cycles
• At the Institution and researcher scale, the Action provides a valuable living laboratory
of information and data for a trans-disciplinary research amongst key stakeholders.
• At the Early Stage Researcher scale, the Action provides a unique opportunity to train
Early Stage Researchers in trans-disciplinary research whilst facilitating their mobility
between research institutions between COST Action partners.
• At the citizen scale, the Action provides an evolving framework for the general public
to engagement more constructively with public consultation process to create "smart
and liveable cities" with an end-user focus
D. SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMME
D.1 Scientific focus
The scientific programme focuses on developing a knowledge platform and trans-
disciplinary research community that is able to identify and recognise the form and function of a
“smart and liveable cities” and specify an evolving new framework for collaborative urbanism in
partnership with citizens.
In particular the Action will explore the trans-disciplinary connections and disconnections
between user needs and “hardware” of cities (e.g. urban infrastructure) and “software” (e.g. digital
data platforms) using an evolving framework for collaborative urbanism. The long term scientific
goal would be to create and evaluate an evolving framework underpinned by Key Performance
Indicators (KPI’s). This would be covered by the long term roadmap and research strategy.
The key research tasks will be to address the lack of co-ordination across the different aspects of
“smart and liveable cities” from gathering and interpretation of digital data through to assessing
user needs. To facilitate trans-disciplinary research the Action will use a Design Thinking model to
define the nature of the problem (based on user needs and site context) followed by examination of
exemplars and ideation to identify potential solutions and prototypes as part of an iterative design

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process.
In this context the most important research tasks fall into four main categories that will be addressed
by the Working Groups. The research tasks are as follows:
1. Governance. A critical review and documentation of the types of public policies known
to promoted collaborative urbanism and contribute to making cities and towns more
liveable places. The review will assess how user needs have been previously integrated
into decision-making processes about the design and procurement of “hardware” and
“software” of cities
2. User Needs. A critical review about the value and feasibility of integrating Human-
Centred Design approaches with advanced social science research methods in order to
understand what makes cities more people friendly from the user’s perspective; why
design decisions are made from the provider’s perspective and how this approach can be
integrated into the procurement of digital data.
3. Digital Data. A critical review will be undertaken about the type and lack of
coordination across both the sources of data and the results of any analysis that are done
across disparate groups of professionals, researchers, administrators, politicians and
citizens. The task will evaluate how an assessment of user needs and motives can be
integrated into procurement and analysis of data; and where important gaps in data
exist
4. Collaborative Urbanism with KPI’s. Based on preceding scientific tasks, a
specification will drafted for evolving consultation framework for collaborative
urbanism underpinned by KPI’s; which places the citizen at centre stage and so bringing
into play a collective and local interdisciplinary intelligence to help steer and critique
specific research initiatives for the resilient and sustainable development of “smart and
liveable cities.”
The human and technical means employed to achieve the objectives described in Section C will
include the following
1. Candidate Cities. A network of candidate cities will be established to act as living
laboratories and provide access to data and the resources for nationally funded pilot
projects. Letters of Support will be provided by cities from COST countries.

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2. City Sounding Board. Multidisciplinary ‘City Sounding Board will be established to
act as critical facilitators with candidate cities and general public and so enable capacity
building of citizens to engage as city users and creators through the scoping of research
frameworks related to the specific ‘character areas’ of participating cities.
3. Citizens as Co-creators. Citizens will participate as co-researchers on field pilots based
on the proposed research framework for collaborative urbanism. This process taps the
collective and local interdisciplinary intelligence to steer and critique specific research
initiatives.
4. Research and Professional Community. Traditional communities of researchers and
professionals will participate through the active engagement of European universities,
research institutes, professional and commercial organizations.
D.2 Scientific work plan methods and means
The work plan and methods will be structured around a design thinking process. The design
process firstly defines the nature of the problem from a trans-disciplinary perspective before
identifying potential solutions by coupling the user needs of citizens and city mangers with
technology solutions based on ideation and prototyping. This approach is based on an iterative
process that relies on evidence based design for identifying an ideal solution.
The design process will be driven by an integrated set of four trans-disciplinary working groups.
The working groups will be organised to address more than one research task in order to facilitate
trans-disciplinary action and be output focussed.
Work Group 1: Roadmap and Research Strategy. Work Group 1 (WG1) will syntheses the
outcomes of the Action into a multi-annual roadmap and research strategy to promote new
innovative approaches and mechanisms to integrate traditional urbanism with the smart city concept
by focusing on human-centred design processes to create “smart and liveable cities”. WG1 will also
act as organising committee for two European conferences on “smart and liveable cities”.
Work Group 2: Knowledge Platform. Work Group 2 (WG2) will facilitate a new approach to
collaborative urbanism by developing a trans-disciplinary knowledge platform. The WG2 will co-
ordinate a series of critical trans-disciplinary state-of-the-art reviews of how the “hardware” and

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“software” elements of cities influence the form and function of “smart and liveable” cities. The
topics will include Governance, User Needs and Attitudes, Urban Design, Public Health,
Enterprise, and Digital Data Sources/Technology. WG3 will also co-ordinate a pod cast series of
lecture on “smart and liveable” cities with presentations by COST Action participants and invited
speakers.
Work Group 3: Living Laboratory. Work Group 3 (WG3) will co-ordinate prototypes or field
pilots at candidate cities to explore new approaches for “smart and liveable cities”. The field pilot
studies will be based on activities in candidate cities and include Asset Mapping, City X-Rays, 24
Hr Design Challenges as described below. The WG3 would also take responsible for organising
summer schools and design challenges to train Early Stage Researchers in interdisciplinary.
Work Group 4: Framework for Collaborative Urbanism. Work Group 4 (WG4 ) will specify an
evolving consultation frameworks for collaborative urbanism that enables citizens of all ages, sizes
and ability to pro-actively participate in the co-creation and maintenance of cities by creatively
integrating digital data technology with people’s needs and abilities. Where possible, the evolving
framework would be tested using field pilot studies in character areas (neighbourhoods of similar
features) in candidate cities.
The range of pilot studies employed by WG3 and WG4 will use the following techniques.
City X-Ray and Place Making A field based consultation process to measure and identifying the
specifications needed for people friendly cities, neighbourhoods and streets using a range of tools
from experiential observations and citizen surveys to statistical analysis of data .
24 Hr Design Challenge. A 24 hour period when design teams work together with design partners
to identify innovative solutions for their particular needs associated with some form of temporary or
permanent disability to forces the designers to work at extremes whilst looking to mainstream the
solutions
Asset Mapping. Asset Mapping of a neighbourhood or community’s assets using geo-coding to
create an inventory and map all the elements in an area that affect the residents’ well being. It is
typically performed by community members to foster intergenerational solidarity, and encourage
links between community agencies. In the first instance, the information is rapidly available as a
resource to the community.
In addition all Working Groups will test the findings against benchmarks set by the Freiburg
Charter and Europe 2020 Targets. The twelve guiding principles of the Freiburg Charter (2010)

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are as follows.
• Diversity, Safety and Tolerance
• City of Neighbourhoods
• City of Short Distances
• Public Transport and Density
• Education, Science and Culture
• Industry and Jobs
• Nature and Environment
• Design Quality
• Long Term Vision
• Communication and Participation
• Reliability, Obligation and Fairness
• Co-operation and Partnership
E. ORGANISATION
E.1 Coordination and organisation
The Action is carried out by a network of experts (researchers and professionals) and non-experts
(citizens) from different COST countries. Its implementation is coordinated by a Management
Committee supported by “City Sounding Boards” (SCBs) and four Working Groups (WGs).
The Action will hold two meetings per year. Each will allow plenary sessions, Working Groups,
MC meetings, and field trips.
The communication within and outside of the Action will be of crucial importance given that a
core objective is to foster dialogue and exchange of ideas, information and knowledge about how
the “software” and “hardware” of a city can be integrated to promote “smart and liveable
cities”. The communication will be facilitated by means of a dedicated Web Site; Facebook Page,
YouTube Videos, pod casts of lectures series, Linkedin Group and a Wiki site (see also H.3
Dissemination Plan). The Linkedin Group will be established to represent a long-lasting networking
tool.
A Network Manager will be responsible for keeping the flow of communication between partners,
updating the website, providing administrative support and providing a key contact point for all
partners, and also those interested in the Action outcomes but not actively participating in the
network. The Network Manager will report directly to the Management Committee for the Action
and follow the strategic plan derived for the Action.

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E.2 Working Groups
There will be four interacting trans-disciplinary Working Groups (WG’s). The areas of
responsibilities for individual Working Groups has been chosen to foster trans-disciplinary research
and span across the research tasks described in Section D1.
Work Group 1: Roadmap and Research Strategy. A key output from the COST Action will be
publication of a multi-annual roadmap and research strategy to promote new innovative approaches
and mechanisms for the emerging concept of “smart and liveable cities”. This task will be run in
parallel with organising two European conferences with a strong international flavour. Each of these
tasks will be the responsibility of WG1
Work Group 2: Knowledge Platform. A key requirement for the COST Action will be to foster
interdisciplinary exchange of ideas and perspectives on the different element of “smart and liveable
cities”. The composition of WG2 will represent all stakeholder groups and disciplines in order to
compare and contrast different perspectives of “smart and liveable cities”. It will be an important
environment for Early Stage Researchers to play and active role in compiling interdisciplinary
reviews for the form and function of cities. WG2 will co-ordinate a pod cast series of lectures on
“smart and liveable cities”
Work Group 3: Living Laboratory. A key activity of the COST Action will be action based
research in candidate cities. WG3 will co-ordinate nationally funded field pilots to explore and
trial new approaches to create “smart and liveable cities. In additional WG3 will organise Summer
Schools and oversee Short Term Scientific Missions (STSM’s).
Work Group 4: Framework for Collaborative Urbanism. WG4 will take responsibility for
specifying and where possible evaluating of an evolving consultation framework for collaborative
urbanism as a key legacy of the COST Action.
The membership of the four Working Groups and “City Sounding Board” (CSB) will be agreed at
the inaugural meeting of the Management Committee (MC) and comprise the Chair and the Vice-
Chairs of the COST Action, Chair and Vice Chair of the “City Sounding Boards” along with the

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Lead Partners of the four WGs and the Network Manager. The “City Sounding Board” will be
established of leading city managers and professionals to facilitate close links with candidate cities.
The CSB will monitor and evaluating the implementation of the COST Action.
E.3 Liaison and interaction with other research programmes
The Action will liaise closely with several key research programmes and city initiatives underway
across Europe particularly in the sphere of “smart cities” as follows
• EU Smart Cities Stakeholder Platform www.eu-smartcities.eu
• EuroCities. www.eurocities.eu/eurocities
• Council of European Municipalities and Regions
(CEMR) http://www.ccre.org/en/champsactivites/detail_news/1986
• ESF Smart and Liveable Cities Initiativewww.esf.org/smartcities
• EU Covenant of Majors www.eumayors.eu
• Nord-Star http://www.nord-star.info
• IBM Smart Cities http://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/us/en/smarter_cities
E.4 Gender balance and involvement of early-stage researchers
“Smart and Liveable Cities” is a new trans-disciplinary research field that will require the education
and up-skilling of key stakeholders and in particular Early Stage Researchers. Learning and career
development opportunities will be provided for Early Stage Researchers in particular by the
activities of the Living Laboratory (WG3) which will organise Summer Schools to disseminate
the trans-disciplinary research findings and co-ordinate action based research in candidate cities.
Likewise the Knowledge Platform (WG2) will organise a series of pod cast lectures where Early
Stage Researchers can present research findings and be informed of research by other peers. There
will also be opportunities provided by STSM to carry our short term research on other COST
countries for presentation at bi-annual workshops.
The COST Action will pro-actively encourage a balanced gender for all its activities. Where
possible the Chair and Co-Chair of the MC and each WG will have an equal gender balance. The
Management Committee will place gender equality as a standard item on all its MC agendas along
with high level of involvement of early-stage researchers.

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F. TIMETABLE
The total duration of the COST Action is four years (48 months). An outline of the scientific
programme is illustrated in Table F1.
0-6 Months 6-18 Months 18-30 months 30-42 Months 42-48 months
Organisation
MC,
WG,
CSB,
Knowledge
Platform
Reviews,
STSM,
Knowledge
Platform
Reviews,
STSM,
Knowledge
Platform
Reviews,
STSM,
Roadmap
Publication
Living Laboratory
Pilots,
24 Hr Designs,
City X-Ray,
Asset Maps,
Living Laboratory
Pilots,
24 Hr Designs,
City X-Ray,
Asset Maps,
Living Laboratory
Pilots,
24 Hr Designs,
City X-Ray,
Asset Maps,
Consultation
Framework
Specification
Published
Workshops Workshops Workshops
European
Conference
Edited Book,
Papers,
European
Conference
Dissemination
Web site,
Wiki,
Dissemination
Web site,
Wiki,
Lectures,
Pod Cast,
Summer Schools,
Dissemination
Web site,
Wiki,
Lectures,
Pod Cast,
Summer Schools,
Dissemination
Web site,
Wiki,
Lectures,
Pod Cast,
Summer Schools,
Annual Review
CSB
Annual Review
CSB
Annual Review
CSB
Final Review
CSB
Table F1. Scientific Programme for COST Action
G. ECONOMIC DIMENSION
The following COST countries BE, DE, DK, FI, IS, IE, IT, NO, SE, NL, UK have actively
participated in the preparation of the Action or otherwise indicated their interest. On the basis of
national estimates, the economic dimension of the activities to be carried out under the Action has
been estimated at 44 Million € for the total duration of the Action. This estimate is valid under the

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assumption that all the countries mentioned above but no other countries will participate in the
Action. Any departure from this will change the total budget accordingly.
H. DISSEMINATION PLAN
H.1 Who?
There are four main target audiences for the COST Acton at a European, City, Researcher
Community and General Public scale. At a European scale, the Action will aim to inform and
influence regional and EC policy makers and research planners for future initiatives and research
priorities in the field of “smart and liveable cities”. At the city scale, the target audience would
include professionals in city planning, appointed and elected policy makers, and practitioners
revitalising existing cities or planning the cities of the future. The city scale will also include
business community and allied professions. At research community scale, the target audience will
in particular include Early Stage Researchers in the fields of City Planning, Urban Design,
Engineering, Architecture, Computer Science and Systems Architecture, the Social Sciences (e.g.,
political science, public administration, economics, sociology, and geography) who are motivated to
engage in interdisciplinary research. Finally for general public, the citizen and community groups
are one of the most important target audiences of this Action. The citizen is seen as the greatest
economic and social stakeholder in the city and this Action will ensure that the citizen is a key the
target audience for this Action’s results.
H.2 What?
The outputs from Working Groups, candidate cities and “City Sounding Boards” will be
disseminated in the following form.
• Series of critical trans-disciplinary reviews of how the “hardware” and “software”
elements of cities influence the form and function of “smart and liveable” cities. The
topics include Governance, User Needs and Attitudes, Urban Design, Public Health,
Enterprise, and Digital Data Sources/Technology.
• Live streaming and Pod casting a lecture series on “smart and liveable” cities with
presentation by COST Action participants and invited speakers

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• Case studies of pilot studies undertaken at candidate cities including data bases
• YouTube video footage of 24 Hour Design Challenges and City X-ray exercises hosted
at candidate cities and pilot studies
• Edited books from two European conferences on “smart and liveable” cities
• Scientific papers (eight)
• Roadmap and long term research strategy
• Specification for a new participatory consultation framework for collaborative
urbanism at a neighbourhood or city scale that places the citizen at centre stage
H.3 How?
Dissemination will take place in all phases of the Action to provide the foundations for its success.
The process and content will be transparent to develop trust and engagement with the different
targeted audiences.
Website and Wiki: The website and Wiki page will play an important role in the dissemination of
information about the COST Action and the knowledge gained from the process. The website will
function as a platform for communication and information exchange between Action partners and
as a platform for communication with all parties interested in the Action. The website will include
local portals where Action partners can post information in the native language. In addition the
Wiki page will be used to publish information and background knowledge gained about “smart and
liveable “cities to a wide audience of experts and non-experts prior to publication in print. The aim
will be to develop a reputation for high quality information about “smart and liveable” cities. Both
modes of communication will be designed according to Universal Design principles to make it
accessible to all ages, sizes and abilities.
Live streaming and pod casting of a lecture series on “smart and liveable” cities. In addition to
the static modes of communication a live steamed lecture series on “smart and liveable” cities will
be organised by the Action with presentation by Action partners and invited guest speakers. The
lectures will provide in-depth insight into single and interdisciplinary subjects dealing with “smart
and liveable” cities followed by a live discussion forum. The lectures will be aimed at a wide
audience akin to TED lectures.
Summer Schools. Summer Schools will be open to Early Stage Researchers within and outside

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Action partners. In conjunction with the live streaming of lectures it is intended to provide a new
learning environment to train researchers in interdisciplinary work within the emerging field of
“smart and liveable” cities.
24 Hour Design Challenges, City X-ray, Asset Mapping. Action based research will be promoted
via 24 hour design challenges where researchers will work in teams with citizens as design partners
to address a design brief related to key obstacle or challenge presented by the concept “smart and
liveable” cities. The 24Hr design challenges provide Early Stage Researchers with first-hand
experience of addressing user needs and a focus for candidate cities. In addition, City X-ray
exercises will target neighbourhoods and specific characters areas to identify the key elements and
success stories for place making
Roadmap, Research Strategy and Framework for Collaborative Urbanism. Two of the main
milestones for the Action will be the publication of a Roadmap and Long Term Research Strategy
along with the specifications for a new Framework for Collaborative Urbanism. Both deliverables
will inform EU Regional Policy makers and EC Research Managers for Horizon 2020.
European Conferences. Two European conferences will provide an international platform for the
dissemination of ideas, knowledge and people which will be recorded in two edited books. The
conferences will be located in a northern and southern COST country for maximum exposure
respectively

Memorandum TU1204-e

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