SIEMENS

What makes a city worth living in?

Vaggione: Each city has its own way of defining a good quality of life. Some might think it’s reflected in the number of jobs, to others it might mean a shorter commute, a wide range of cultural attractions, widespread public safety, or even cleaner air.

Does that mean that sustainability and quality of life are not necessarily linked?

Vaggione: They’re closely related, but the concepts are not identical. What makes up quality of life is entirely subjective. However, a sustainable city is much more likely to be able to offer its residents a good quality of life over the long term. In such a city, economic and social developments are in balance with a healthy and protected environment. A sustainable city is a complex system of buildings, transportation networks, healthcare and educational facilities, and energy and water supplies. All of these elements must be viewed as an integrated system. An efficient city can actually achieve more while consuming less. For example, compact cities take up less land and face lower infrastructure costs than those that spread across large areas.

Which cities are taking this alternative approach?

Vaggione: There are several of them. London, Helsinki and Copenhagen are noted for taking sustainability into account in their long-term planning. In Colombia, Bogotá was able to solve its huge traffic congestion problem by working with different providers in order to offer a coordinated rapid transit system based on buses. The Brazilian city of Curitiba has effectively linked transport and land use planning. And Porto Alegre is a pioneer in involving citizens in deciding how municipal budgets are used.

In your opinion, which are the best cities to live in today?

Vaggione: Even if the question is on a personal level, it is difficult to pick a “best city to live”. Many cities offer different things that can be attractive to different needs. Vancouver, Portland (Oregon), Copenhagen, Geneva, Zurich and Munich frequently score high in rankings for healthy and prosperous life. The cultural choices in New York and London are endless. The organized energy of Tokyo is contagious. The natural and man-made beauty of Rio and Istanbul are breathtaking. Madrid has an extraordinary number of world class museums per capita. Ho Chi Minh City is a dynamic place with great potential.

What are some of the major challenges faced by urban planners today?

Vaggione: Cities are under tremendous pressure to develop. They have to deal with demographic and climate change, an overburdened infrastructure, and limited financial resources. City administrations need to find a way to utilize their resources more efficiently. The task of an urban planner is to draw up a road map for sustainable growth. This should bring together implementable regulations, investment in viable projects, and technologies that help to optimize city management and delivery methods.

How can information and communication technology contribute to this process?

Vaggione: IMaking informed decisions is vital for a city’s effective planning and management. Information technology systems can help cities to be more efficiently by capturing data from all components, i.e. from power consumption of streetlights to air quality readings, and consolidating it in easy to read dashboards. This allows city managers identify performance issues, supports leaders in decision-making, and enables city planners to improve plans by feeding back information.

How do urban planning strategies differ in industrial nations and developing countries?

Vaggione: You cannot apply a single urban strategy to every city. Even within developed countries, urban strategies can vary, as in the case of Detroit and Portland. The main issues facing Nairobi, for example, are transport, land tenure, and of course the number of people living in slums. The challenge in Shanghai is accommodating rapid increase of population and sustaining economic growth, while addressing increasing air quality concerns.. New York, to cite another example, will have to improve its infrastructure — especially its airports and rail systems — if it wants to remain competitive. It also needs to lower the energy consumption of its buildings.

What would a city with a perfect quality of life look like in the future?

Vaggione: Citizen participation will play a much larger role than it does today. An engaged population would set the right collective climate for sustainable development, and informed and involved citizens can make our cities a better place to live. That means recognizing that we have both rights and responsibilities. Every resident has a voice to be heard and his or her active contribution to sustainability is critical. The decentralization of urban services is an emerging topic aligned with this concept.