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Osterreichischer Stadtebund
Smart Cities:
Transformation,
Transition,
Change.
These are very interesting
times for cities. During the
last decades, cities constantly
gained greater attention.
Urbanisation is no longer a
new trend – it is a fact.
Cities like Vienna grow double the amount of
people that have been predicted and to cope
with that, the city is in constant change. In the
US „change“ is associated with a quite positive
meaning: Change is good, change smells like future.
In Europe, it is not that easy when it comes to change.
Nonetheless we all are aware of the need to cope with
it. So for the last years, the cities political and administrative
representatives intensely engaged themselves in
opportunities and threads of the digitalization process
that arose around the „Smart Cities Initiative“.
During the ongoing research on e-mobility services
automotive driving brought another significant twist
into this discussion. And along came once again the
question: When it comes to accidents - shall machines
decide who will be saved and who not? This is the
most serious of all previous „smart-up your life“ discussions.
Local politicians are in the middle of this
process. It has never been an easy job but with a more
complex world, it has grown into a huge challenge. The
Austrian Association of Cities and Towns (AACT) has
been founded to represent the interests of Austria`s
municipalities. It is a platform, where city representatives
exchange their experiences and knowledge and
formulate united efforts. This year the AACT`s General
Assembly concentrates on the topic „To think the city
anew – To master digitalisation“ 1 .
Looking back, when it comes to mobility, things
seem quite clear today: Our cities suffer from congestion
and particulates and digitalisation is providing
the much-needed intelligent solution. In Vienna congestion
causes a damage of Euros 300.000,- per day,
but digitalisation clearly proofed to be a helpful tool to
shift people`s mobility behaviour.
Another relevant topic for European cities is online
trade: We`ve already undermined our historical city
structure by car-concentrated outskirt shopping malls.
Nowadays, e-commerce is most popular, 56% of the
consumers confirm to already buy online 2 .
Last but not least, a recent study says that during the
next 30 years, 43 percent of all EU-Jobs will be automatized.
3 In Austria, only 12 percent of working people
expect more jobs through digitalization, sceptics are
1 www.staedtetag.at
2 www.pressebox.de/inaktiv/kpmg-ag-wirtschaftspruefungsgesellschaft/KPMG-Umfrage-Digitalisierung-und-Vernetzung-verschaerfen-Wettbewerb/boxid/627648 ->
3 Presse am Sonntag, 20.11.2016, Seite 4, Ausland
72 iconannual The European Business and Investment Magazine