6533b86efe1ef96bd12cbcdc

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Smart Urban Energy Districts and Energy Policies

subject

description

The deployment of smart cities appears a strategic factor for reducing environmental impact and increasing competitivity of economic systems across the world. Although terminology is similar worldwide, the different political assets and social enviroments largely affect the development models. Drivers indeed are quite different, such as the speed at which transformations take place. As a result, implementation of measures is carried out differently and realizations of smart city projects can be strongly different. Europe, China and U.S.A. approaches are compared in this paper to provide the reader with a broader view about different smart city implementations, with a focus on the electricity provision. Energy systems and electrical systems in particular are crucial infrastructures in which a lot of the different smart cities aspects reflect. Europe appears the most advanced in terms of methodology, although bureaucracy undermines the possibility to effectively implement technologies that are developing quite fast. On the other hand, cross-border cooperation, implemented by means of financing frameworks (i.e.: FP and H2020), allows the deployment of ambitious and necessary infrastructural upgrades. China appears largely commercially oriented. The 13th 5-years Development plan proposes a nationwide model for the deployment of smart cities, to be built to create a corridor towards Europe to enhance the exchange of knowledge, energy, data and goods. Finally, U.S.A. where cross-border cooperation seems more difficult and recent political orientations against renewable energy seem disruptive and critical for further deployment of smart cities. The risk, in absence of U.S. or local authorities political guidelines, is that smart cities projects fall into the implementation of purely commercial tendencies.