1. SMART URBAN REVOLUTION: The 21st Century Global Cities Challenge
Dr Azamat Abdoullaev, SEC “X” Consortium; smartcity@cytanet.com.cy
The first signs of urban communities date back to the Neolithic period when humans started forming permanent
settlements. As agricultural villages and semi-permanent towns of peasant farmers transformed into civilized
urban centers, the first urban revolution had occurred, in Mesopotamia, followed with cities in ancient Egypt,
India, China, Persia, Greece and Rome.
The driving factors of urban revolutions had always been innovations, social or political, cultural and religious, with
technological changes acting as a prime cause.
Most urban population explosion happened for the last three centuries, the age of new science and technology. In
1800 only 3% of the world’s population was living in cities of 20,000 and more, while by the mid-1960s, it
increased to 25%, to 40% by 1980, exceeding 50% by now.
Cities attract rural populations by promising an easier access to the main services: roads, water, energy, housing,
sanitation, transport, culture, education, health, green and urban spaces, etc...
But the high density of citizens produces high pressure on the quality of life, on the provisions of utilities, social
services, housing, sanitation, health care, education, employment, safety and security, and clean urban
environment.
Occupying only 2% of the Earth’s land mass, cities waste most planet’s natural capital, consuming 75 per cent of
global resources and generating 80 % of global GHG emissions.
Smart Eco City Model and Global Cities of Tomorrow
Nowadays, new technologies, as ICT and eco-engineering solutions and social technologies, are offering new
opportunities for cities to meet the social, economic and environmental challenges of the 21st
century.
Digital technologies give a momentum to Smart Cities, Digital Cities, or Connected Cities, eco-engineering
technologies to Green, Eco-Sustainable Cities, innovation and knowledge management to Intelligent, Knowledge,
or Social Cities.
However, a majority of would-be smart cities fails to pursue a comprehensive city development strategy and
planning for all urban systems integrating a holistic policy, eco solutions, smart technologies and social innovations
to secure smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.
As a result, most cities follow such a “what-not-smart city” approach and “there are no examples to date of cities
launching fully integrated, strategically designed Smart City development programs”, as the Climate Group’s
research revealed, seemingly except the recently launched Smart Eco Polis Program.
To advance an entire sustainable development in cities, Global Smart Eco City Initiative is set forward, with a
holistic Smart Global City model, as unifying all the key dimensions of future cities, digitally smart (smartness),
environmentally green (eco-sustainability) and socially inclusive (liveability and workability).
Global Smart Eco City Concept, with its strategies and policies, principles and standards, solutions and
technologies, implementation plan and global market, is promising to initiate the New Urban Revolution, with all
the radical changes for the emerging and developed world-system economies.
The 600 largest global cities will contribute 65 percent of global GDP growth from 2010–2025, regardless a large
part of the urban population live in small or medium-sized cities.
In sum, megalopolises should be committed to an overall urban sustainability, environmental, economic, social,
geopolitical and technological, guided by the Smart Eco Life Philosophy.
Their smart growth and sustainable development might enable the most balanced and prosperous urban system in
the world; for the future of global cities is to shape the future of our world, its prospective smart superpowers and
sustainable nations, eco intelligent mega regions, metropolises, cities and communites.

2. Smart Eco Cities of the Future
An ideal model of urban development is one in which all dimensions of sustainable development are taken into
account in an integrated way, economic, social, technological, and ecological. Such a holistic approach is
conceptualized as Smart and Green Cities, or Sustainable Smart Cities, or Smart Eco Cities.
The Smart Green Cities of tomorrow are the places of advanced social progress, democracy, cultural dialogue and
diversity; green, ecological or environmental regeneration; attraction, creativity and innovation, and the key
generators of economic, social, cultural, and technological growth.
Few technology vendors and academic studies properly address future cities from a holistic position or systemic
viewpoint. Accordingly, the general public still sees “smart cities” as a social techno-utopian ideal promoted by
‘self-congratulatory’ technology companies, marketing their stock products under a new attractive branding.
The smart city market is currently characterized by a wide range of technology suppliers spanning many sectors,
ecology, energy, transport, utilities, buildings, and government sectors. Would-be eco smart cities and
communities are looking to select partners and technology providers to deliver on their future city strategies and
policies.
Due to focusing on narrow definitions and corporate strategies and specific technologies, no technology vendor
has a proper capacity to supply overall smart sustainable cities development strategies. As an example, the
Navigant Research Leaderboard Report “examined the strategy and execution of 16 leading smart city suppliers
with the capacity to provide leadership on large-scale smart city projects”: IBM, Cisco, Schneider Electric, Siemens,
Microsoft, Hitachi, Huawei, Ericsson, Toshiba, Oracle, SAP, ABB, GE, Itron, AGT, and Silver. They have being rated
on 10 criteria: vision, go-to-market strategy, partners, product strategy, geographic reach, market share, sales &
marketing, product performance & features, product integration, and staying power.
Confusing the fundamental concepts and strategies with the urban innovative technologies is risking the whole
enterprise; for it makes a critical distinction, consider the future cities as a vision, ultimate goal, and end, or as the
mechanisms and instruments of smart technologies and eco-engineering solutions, just as a means to the end.
It is too simple to see future cities as just dealing with the management of complex physical and information flows
and data communications, such as traffic, machine and human, flows of energy (electrical power, gas), water,
mobility, emergency events, waste streams, flows of materials, services and financing, etc., all as reflected by big
data. This is also suggested in its Policy on Smart Cities and Communities by ORGALIME, the European Engineering
Industries Association, speaking for 40 trade federations representing some 130,000 companies in the mechanical,
electrical, electronic, metalworking & metal articles industries of 23 European countries.
As a result, most global cities stand in need of integrated strategy and development policy which shape a
sustainable, healthy, inclusive and prosperous growth by incorporating intelligent digital infrastructure, the
Internet of Things, urban sensing, big data and analytics, green infrastructure and intelligent transport systems,
multi-modal low carbon urban mobility, anywhere-anytime communication via smartphones or smart mobile
networks, etc.
In all, the scale of smart city development is increasingly taking the character of the Smart City Revolution,
promising cardinal changes for the urban and rural areas of such world-system economies as China, India, and
Europe.
For example, under the ‘100 Smart Cities’ program, India plans to invest $1.2 trillion over the next 20 years.
During the “Twelfth Five-year Plan” period, the plan investment in Chinese smart and green cities is expected to be
more than 1.6 trillion Yuan. See Report on Study of the Progress and Problems of Smart City Development in China, CATR, 2013.
To start transforming European cities and communities, the European Innovation Partnership on Smart Cities and
Communities has been established, with the following 6 Action Clusters: Policy & Regulations /Integrated planning,
as well as Business models, Citizen Focus, Integrated infrastructure & processes, Sustainable Districts and Built
Environment, and Sustainable Urban Transport. Next year, the EC is to introduce the Standards and KPI Action
Cluster.
Critical importance should be given to world’s cities, as far as largest global cites are to shape the future world’s
economic growth. Hereby we also favor starting the Global Cities Action Cluster, with visions and strategies,
challenges and opportunities, problems and solutions briefed below.

3. Chinese Smart and Green Cities
At present, the relevant government departments and various cities in China are promoting smart and green city
development. Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, National Development and Reform Commission,
Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the National
Administration of Surveying, Mapping and Geoinformation, the National Tourism Administration and other
departments, are working on “Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Healthy Development of Smart Cities”.
It proposes to start smart transport, smart grids, smart water supplies, smart environmental protection, smart
medical care, smart old age security, smart communities, smart homes, smart education, smart land
administration, smart logistics and smart credit systems in order to provide enterprises and residents with more
convenient, efficient and low-cost social services.
It also proposes to select 100 cities of different sizes at different stages of development in the eastern, central and
western regions as pilot and demonstrative cities for smart city development. After some experience has been
acquired from the pilot and demonstrative cities, China will gradually encourage and support eligible regions to
promote smart city development according to local conditions.
As of September 2013, a total of 311 cities in China have proposed or are embarking on smart city development,
including all cities above the sub-provincial-level, 89% cities at the prefectural-level and above, and 47% cities at
the county-level and above (see “Comparative Study of Smart Cities in Europe and China” at http://www.eu-
chinapdsf.org/ ).
In 10-year prospects, China is to see an unprecedented urban growth of 13 Mega-cities, 4 Mega-regions, and 7
Mega-corridors. In 2025, the Mega Cities are to become the major economic hubs, contributing nearly US$6.24
trillion to projected China's GDP value of US$38 trillion (see Frost & Sullivan, Mega Trends in China: Macro to Micro
Implications of Mega Trends to 2025).
The SEC “X” Consortium is advancing the “Smart Silk Road” project as combining the EU-China Smart and Green
Cities activities with the Chinese President’s plans for the “New Silk Road Economic Belt” and “the 21st Century
Maritime Silk Road” (supported by the $40 bn Silk Road Fund).
European Smart and Green Cities
The shared vision of the European Community of tomorrow is reflected in the EU 2020 Strategy for smart,
sustainable and inclusive growth, aiming to achieve five targets: R&D&I, climate change and environmental
sustainability, education, employment, fighting poverty and social exclusion.
In 2011, most European population, 64.7% of 484m, was living outside urban agglomerations, in suburbs, small or
very small communities and rural areas. Adding the new phenomenon of fast shrinking cities due to low birth
rates, migration caused by economic decline, moving from the core city to surrounding municipalities and suburbs,
this figure might approach to 70% by 2015.
Twenty three cities are populated by more than one million citizens, of which 7% of the EU population live in cities
of over 5 million, 345 cities have more than 100,000 citizens each, 392 cities - more than 50,000 each, while the
majority makes rural population, suburbs, small town communities.
The European model of urban development is marked by forming the ‘Cities of tomorrow’, future urban
agglomerations, cities and towns in a mixed territorial context, large complex urban-rural systems, as is the case in
Northern England, the Benelux or the Ruhr area (see Cities of tomorrow).
To keep its global leadership, Smart Europe of Future Cities needs a competitive financing, like as from its new
Investment Plan, the European Fund for Strategic Investments, aimed to “support strategic investments of
European significance in infrastructure, notably broadband and energy networks, as well as transport
infrastructure, particularly in industrial centres; education, research and innovation; and renewable energy and
energy efficiency” (see “an Investment Plan for Europe”).
Europe has a competitive advantage of setting up the European Innovation Partnership for Smart Cities and
Communities, where all the major intellectual resources have been concentrated.
Basing on the High-Level Group definition, EIP is realizing the most sustainable concept of future cities: “ territorial
cyber-physical ecosystems of people interacting with the circular flows of information, energy, materials, services,
traffic, financing and other economic flow to secure overall sustainable development, resilience, and high quality
of life; becoming eco intelligent through strategic use of disruptive innovations in a process of integrated policy,

4. regulations, planning and management as responsive to the ecological, technological, cultural, social and economic
needs of society.”
All key dimensions of sustainable urban and rural development should be taken into account in an
integrated way to implement economic, social, political and territorial unity.
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To secure the EU leadership on the global smart cities market, the “Smart Cities and Communities solutions
integrating energy, transport, ICT sectors through lighthouse (large scale demonstration - first of the kind)
projects” are proposed under the Horizon 2020 Program.
The SEC “X” Consortium is to initiate the “Smart Europe Pilot: Lighthouse Cities, Communities and Property
Developments” project, taking as an experimental field the Med island of Cyprus, integrating its cities and
communities and rural areas, with following geographically distributed European cities and requested public and
private partners, all coordinated by Smart Eco Polis Region.
A Case of Global City of Tomorrow, or What’s Wrong with “Smart London”
As an example of “what-not-smart-city”, it might serve one of the largest European cities, London, expecting 9.8
million population by 2030. Currently, the administrative city of London, the de jure city, has a population
of 7.4 million, whereas its de facto city, making a complex urban system of nearby towns and
communities, is already expending far beyond. Its so-called monocentric Morphological Urban Area,
depicting the continuity of the built-up space, holds 8.3 million and its Functional Urban Area, described
by the labor market basin and the mobility patterns of commuters, has 13.7 million residents (see
European Union Regional Policy 2011 “Cities of Tomorrow: challenges, visions, ways forward”).
To meet the present urban problems, as diseconomies of high agglomeration, and future challenges, in March
2013, its Mayor set up the Smart London Board to …ensure London maintains its position as “the best big city in
the world” by using digital technology.
Recently, the “Smart London Plan” of the Smart London Board and the Greater London Authority has been
published, “welcoming your feedback, your ideas and your collaboration - whether you are a business, investor,
university, resident or global city”.
Following the request, we present our feedback as below, inviting the Londoners wishing for a real best global city
to share it with key stakeholders, as requested, on Twitter (@SmarterLondon/#SmartLondon), through the website
(http://www.london.gov.uk/smartlondon) or by email (smart@london.gov.uk).
First of all, the Board is guided by too narrow Smart City concept: “…how cities across the globe are sharing
information and making use of technology to work more efficiently”, while “Smart London” is foreseen as “how
the capital as a whole functions as a result of the interplay between its ‘systems’- from local labour markets to
financial markets, from local government to education, healthcare, transportation and utilities”.
The Plan is certainly in need of reworking to meet its promises: “for the first time London is leading with a
coherent, holistic and highly ambitious plan that will put London in pole position… maintain our position as a
world-class city into the future”.
We believe Londoners deserves all-sustainable growth strategy, as far as London positioned as “one of the greatest
cities on earth”: a world centre of commerce and culture; diverse, connected, international and cosmopolitan;
with strengths in creativity and design, science and technology, banking and finance, and competitive and
productive business environment; a centre of knowledge production, invention and entrepreneurship,… a world
leader in healthcare delivery, a global technology hub, etc. (Smart London Plan, Smart London Board, 2014).
The London riots demonstrated that London is a socially exclusive global city, with massive youth unemployment,
marked by deep political and social instability and economic inequality. It is running major cities instabilities:
economic, environmental, geopolitical, societal or technological, including the risks of extreme weather events,
failure/shortfall of critical infrastructure, massive incident of data fraud/theft, or large-scale terrorist attacks, as in
New York, Moscow and recently Paris.
It all means that the scope of global city planning and urban renewal should be defined by the Future City Concept,
integrating social, political, economic, technological, territorial and ecological sustainability.

5. If it’s framed in terms of the smart technologies and digital platforms, then one has merely “information-rich and
interconnected city”, where “the smart city is a means to achieve a vision rather than the vision itself”(see
“DELIVERING THE SMART CITY: Governing Cities in the Digital Age”; Arup, Liveable Cities, UCL, Smart City Expo, 2014)
If its framed in terms of holistic urban innovation based around smart ecological intelligent cities, then one reaches
the true city of the future incorporating philosophical, political and technological ideals about a sustainable way of
urban life, as a future urban civilization of smart eco living and socially prosperous society.
“The Smart London Plan will be a live document” if only London government (City Hall and 33 boroughs)is to adopt
an integrated Smart Eco Capital vision, strategy and policy to intelligently guide the London’s future growth,
synergizing different policy areas sitting in ‘silos’, across the GLA Group, boroughs and wider service providers.
It is critical to stress that if London government is to adopt a proposed holistic model of future growth, it can play a
leading role in the well-being not only of their own inhabitants, but also of the surrounding small and medium-
sized cities and rural populations to avoid harmful rural depopulation and urban drift, and thus forming a balanced
national development as Smart Britain.
We have to mention that City Hall has been invited to take part in the Smart Cities Global Initiative. In response, its
clerk inquired if the “Smart Sustainable London” is to receive any grant for this...
Meantime, 98% of its procurement budget is given to large businesses instead of tapping smart startups and
innovative companies of its total 28,000 technology companies.
It goes without mentioning that most issues are relevant to any other world city looking for a status of a “global
city of tomorrow”.
There is no alternative for global cities but to become green and healthy, inclusive and fair, integrated and
interconnected, digital and innovative, safe and secure, or smart and intelligent, resilient and all-sustainable,
where the natural ecosystem is optimally interwoven with the social, economic, cultural, political and
technological urban systems.
Global Smart Eco Cities Initiative
The future of the world will be decided by the quality of its global cities, and it is expected that by 2020 over 40
mega urban regions will turn into Global Eco Smart Mega Regions, including emerging megalopolises. Here could
be included an urban agglomeration expanding from Boston to Washington in the USA, London-the Middle cities in
the UK, the Netherlands-central Belgium area in the EU, the Moscow agglomeration in Russia, and the Asian urban
agglomerations of China, India, and Japan, as the Tokyo-Osaka-Kyoto complex.
The Smart Cities Global Initiative was aimed to propose a Smart and Sustainable Global City Framework
confronting all sorts of narrow technical visions, models and approaches in which “the push towards smart cities is
being led by the wrong people–technology companies with naïve visions and short term commercial goals, while
the architects, planners and scientists often struggle to share their specific knowledge”.
The Global Smart Green Cities Initiative is mostly addressing the C40 network, a network of the world’s megacities.
To implement the Smart Eco Life Philosophy, with the Assessment Framework and Value Propositions as below,
the global cities’ mayors are invited to adhere to the Smart Eco Life Global City Model, which Development
Strategy and Strategic Implementation Plan to be delivered by the SEC “X” Consortium (inquiry number: + 357 99
649835)
In sum, the ultimate goal of the Global Smart Cities Initiative is to spread the New Urban Revolution,
contextualizing megalopolises and global cities within the Smart Eco City “X” Framework as:
Smart Eco London; Smart Eco Paris; Smart Eco Rome; Smart Eco Geneva; Smart Eco Moscow; Smart Eco New
York; Smart Eco Dubai; Smart Eco Tokyo - スマートエコ東京; Smart Eco Shanghai 上海; Smart Eco Taipei 臺北;
Smart Eco Singapore 新加坡; Smart Eco Hong Kong 香港; Smart Eco Shenzhen 深圳, etc.
SMART ECO COMMUNITIES ASSESMENT FRAMEWORK AND VALUE
PROPOSITIONS
The SEC Assessment Framework comprises of 10 characteristics:
I. Concept, Vision, Strategy and Framework
II. Legal and Regulatory Policies
III. Integrated Planning and Management
IV. Stakeholders, Authorities and Citizen Engagement

6. V. Governance, iCITY Governance Platform
VI. Innovative Funding and Procurement
VII. Value Propositions and Assessment
VIII. Innovative Business Models and Investment Strategies
IX. Integrated Intelligent Infrastructure (Land and Environment, ICT, Transportation, Energy, Water, Waste,
Building and Facilities)
X. Smart Eco City Services
Smart Eco City: Value Propositions
• Eco-Intelligent Infrastructure
• Sustainable Living, Well Being and Quality of Life
• Ecopolis (smart environment/natural capital and resources, eco-health, safety and security, engineering and
sanitation, conservation and protection, landscape integrity, and awareness; re-use, reduce, recycle and recover of
resources, materials and energy);
• Smart People, Communities, and Society, Social and Human Capital;
• Future Proof Urban/Smart Technologies;
• Network Integrated Township (Smart Connected Communities, Ubiquitous Eco City);
• City Intelligence (Knowledge and Health Triangles, Intelligent Management Urban Platform);
• Environmental Infrastructure, Smart Utilities and Alternative Energy Networks;
• Smart Mobility (innovative transportation, FO ICT networks);
• Intelligent Green Lifestyle and QoL Facilities (cultural, health, safety, housing quality, education, touristic, and
entertainment);
• Smart Governance (i-services, social, cultural and political cohesion);
• Innovation Economy and Knowledge Industry;
• Sustainability Standards;
• Private, Public and People (Civil Society) Partnership (4P); financing schemes: BOT, BOOT, BOO, BLT, DBFO, or
DCMF (Design, Build/Construct, Own, Operate, Transfer, Manage, Finance, Lease);
• Intelligent Investment Projects (Impact/Socially Responsible Investment)
Thus the key characteristics of truly smart city is intelligent/knowledge communities of smart people and territorial
institutions enabled with the eco-innovative urban infrastructure, network-integrated and controlled by a Single
Intelligent City Management Platform, the foundation of the Urban Internet of Systems, Services, Knowledge and
Citizens.
The Eco-Smart Urban Network is to integrate:
 Environmental Infrastructure: eco-smart water supply systems, waste disposal facilities/treatment
systems, pollution control systems and services, green landscape and urban environment
 Sustainable Mobility, Intelligent Transportation Infrastructure, Networks, Facilities, Systems and Services
 Future-proof (40-100 GB) Intelligent Optical ICT Infrastructure, Networks, Systems and Services
 Social Infrastructure (Knowledge Triangle Networks, Health Triangle Networks)
 Energy Networks of Renewable Resources built in global city urban fabrics, structures and built
environment.
Conclusion
1. The core fundament of any sustainable future community is the smart and green city strategies and
policies and integrated planning and management.
2. The Smart Sustainability City Framework consistently defines the integrated urban planning, development
and investment strategy, becoming a shared commitment of citizens, businesses and governments.
3. Megacities need to adopt a comprehensive smart and green and social development strategy to unify all
the city systems, services, operations, activities, governments, departments and agencies, businesses,
citizens and communities, into a sustainable urban-rural ecosystem.
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7. http://eu-smartcities.eu/
http://eu-smartcities.eu/policy-regulations-integrated-planning
http://eu-smartcities.eu/commitment/3089