ESADE takes part in the REPLICATE project for developing the infrastructure for Europe's Smart Cities
What can be done to develop: a network of electric buses; a platform for integrating public ICT systems; community heating systems that are both workable and economically sustainable? How can such schemes be easily replicated in any European city? These are the kinds of questions that Europe’s REPLICATE seeks to answer. With ESADE’s help, REPLICATE will work over the next five years to help make the dream of ‘Smart Cities’ come true.
REPLICATE is a project led by the city of Donostia [San Sebastián in Spanish] through its Economic Promotion Council. With a budget of €29 million funded by the European Commission, it will implement pilot projects for sustainable transport, energy efficiency and improvements to ICT infrastructure in three cities — Donostia (The Basque Country), Bristol (England) and Florence (Italy). The aim is to use the pilot projects to replicate results in other cities, the first of which will be Essen (Germany), Lausanne (Switzerland) and Nilüfer [a district of the city of Bursa] (Turkey) together with consortium members. The aim is to come up with systems that can be adapted to any city with a population of between 100,000 and 500,000. Cities of this size are the ones that are most common in Europe.
ESADE is the only business school in the consortium and will take part in the project through the Institute for Public Governance and Management [IGDP], with Mila Gascó as chief researcher. She and her team will oversee and validate the business plans for implementing the various initiatives. At the same time, results will be financially monitored and evaluated to ensure that the schemes yield alluring economic benefits.
The initiatives include: setting up a bus line in Donostia to run only electric and hybrid vehicles; the integration of ICT systems in Florence’s local public administrations; the installation of community heating systems in six buildings in Bristol.
The project launch will take place in Donostia and be attended by the cities involved and by the project’s 36 international partners.
