San Sebastian, Florence and Bristol served as urban laboratories to integrate innovative solutions on a district scale and to develop new business models.
Three lighthouse cities, took part in the REPLICATE, (REnaissance of PLaces with Innovative Citizenship And Technologies) initiative. The aim of this initiative is to implement energy efficiency, mobility and ICT solutions at a district scale in order to improve the sustainability of cities.
These lighthouse cities played the role of urban laboratories to integrate innovative solutions on a district scale, and to develop innovative business models. They served as an example in the region by helping to replicate these solutions and adapt them to different local conditions.
A number of interventions were implemented in these cities in the areas of energy, mobility, information and communication technologies and infrastructure.
Donostia-San Sebastián lighthouse city
In the case of Donostia-San Sebastián, for example, TECNALIA joined forces with Euskaltel to carry out a comprehensive characterisation of urban mobility for better decision-making, based on operational information from mobile telephony and WiFi networks. In the area of managing energy demand, residents were provided with a better understanding of their consumption patterns, which is a first step in identifying efficiency and savings measures.
TECNALIA’s experts also monitored and evaluated the impact of the various interventions, both for the city and at the level of the intervention itself.
A holistic monitoring methodology has been developed, which includes tracking the evolution of city indicators and monitoring interventions at technical, environmental, economic and social levels. It also includes a study on associated business models and an analysis of replicability and success factors.
Active participation
Three follower cities also took part in REPLICATE: Essen (Germany), Nilüfer (Turkey) and Lausanne (Switzerland). These worked on the potential for replicating the interventions in the lighthouse cities.
38 organisations were involved in this ambitious initiative. In addition to the “lighthouse” and “follower” cities, Guangzhou (China) and Bogotá (Colombia) acted as “observer” cities. International networks also collaborated in REPLICATE, focusing on learning and disseminating results.
The industrial companies, universities and research centres involved in the project have driven the deployment of innovative technologies to improve the quality of life of citizens by influencing the replication process through the application of novel technologies and methodologies.
Further information
- REPLICATE project website
- This project has received funding from the Horizon 2020 EU research and innovation program, in accordance with Subsidy Agreement No. 691735.
