Supervisors info:
Λέκκας Ευθύμιος Καθηγητής (Επιβλέπων) , Λόζιος Σ. Επίκ. Καθηγητής, Κίλιας Σ. Καθηγητής, Ιωάννα Κουφάκη Δικηγόρος Δρ. Νομικής (Εξειδικευμένη Επιστημονική Καθοδήγηση)
Summary:
Impact of the quality of the environment on human life and the smart city.
In the last decades urbanization of population has been very intense.
Urban centralization has a few benefits; it offers economy of scale, it
facilitates easier means of providing amenities and other services to the
population and so on.
However the problems it creates are far more significant and are expected to
worsen unless the originating factors are dealt with.
The reasons behind this trend are related to:
Reduction of the availability of the natural resources, inadequate
infrastructure of electrical supply and energy in general, climate change
considerations, health services and of course, higher living standards and
economic opportunities (Washburn και Sindhu 2010).
The concept of the “smart city” tends to be established as the most appropriate
means of dealing with the afore mentioned problems.
The term has been coined recently and covers a wide range of characteristics.
There have been several different approaches in an effort to define the term in
a concise and “visionary” way.
Common denominator in all definitions seems to be the utilization of current
information and communication technology.
Although there is no clear cut definition for “smart city” all cities seem to
aspire to this, since it is perceived as a positive definition of the
operations and services that can be offered to the citizens.
In most relevant publications six main characteristics are being employed to
describe a smart city.
• Smart economy,
• Smart people,
• Smart government,
• Smart transport,
• Smart environment
• Smart living.
The most popular characteristic of smart city in the European Union seems to be
that of the smart environment.
This is usually described in four parameters:
1. Attractive natural habitat
2. Monitoring and control of pollution
3. Protection of the environment
4. Viable natural resource management
In this paper the characteristics of smart city and smart environment are being
presented as well as efforts that have been made to evaluate and classify smart
cities mainly in the European Union.
Specifically, by employing indices for the representation and evaluation of the
smart environment, a pilot evaluation system is developed and it is
implemented in the city of Kozani.
Moreover A compound index for the city’s smart environment is devised.
Finally general strategies, recommendations and directions are presented for
the improvement of the smart city performance based on the methodology
mentioned above.
Government and citizens should become aware of the benefits that can be
harnessed from the smart city and the smart environment, so that there will be
a concise plan and a clear direction to this goal.
In this manner and by following this methodology other greek cities can be led
to a better and more competitive status, enabling them to offer improvement and
protection of the environment and hence a better quality of life for their
citizens
Keywords:
Environment , Quality, Human life, Smart , City.
