This phenomenon raises a number of questions, which will be addressed during SBC 2012:

• Is urbanization an unavoidable evil or is it the only sustainable growth model?
• How can we take advantage from the environmental challenges that threaten the planet, to rethink and build better cities?
• How can we guarantee a harmonic development of our cities under the new impressive urbanization wave?
• How can we reconcile the right to economic development of emerging countries (which often implies a massive urbanization trend) with the respect for environment?
• How can we guarantee an equal access to resources (economic, energetic, environmental, infrastructural, social) to the new citizens – in particular to the poor layers of society?

How to reduce energy consumption in the smart city?

Although energy efficiency in the cities is already widely recognized as a key issue, current energy consumption reductions programs are insufficient. Much more ambitious targets are now needed to achieve a Positive City.

• Smart grids: what contribution to the cities’ efficiency and how to implement them?
• Can on-site energy load-shedding be part of the solution?
• Which business model for technology that reduces consumption?

What smart energies for Positive Cities?

Because of the high density of the cities, it is commonly agreed that only a marginal share of energy can be produce in urban areas. Is this really true and how much can we produce in a town?

• Renewable energy for the city: large centralized plants or small decentralized systems?
• Can in-town production meet the demand?
• Is political and financial support needed?

What is the optimal waste management solution, especially between off-site and on-site waste treatment?

Exporting waste for treatment in peripheral areas of the cities is today the most widely spread model. Could we not imagine an innovative town that would be able to treat, recycle and reuse its waste itself?

• Is centralized off-site treatment of waste the only alternative?
• What are the industrial and network developments needed to maximize the circular economy?
• Which stakeholders are expected to engage in order to enable a circular economy?

Our Speakers

How to grant “new citizens” access to quality education?
Although some developing countries have demonstrated continuous improvement of their educational system (e.g. Chile, Ghana), most of them are still lacking access to education. These successful examples have now to be replicated in developing cities.
 

• What are the challenges in creating accessible high-quality education?
• Which educational reforms have to be implemented?
• What are the roles of public and private sectors?

 
Smart water treatment: on-site or off-site?
Water is usually treated by centralized municipal plants in the cities’ suburbs. A new model has to be developed balancing a mix of on-site and off-site treatment.
 

• Is centralized off-site treatment of wastewater the only alternative?
• How to connect slums to municipal water networks?
• How far can water consumption be reduced in a city?

 
How to develop short food cycles?
Agricultural areas are disconnected from their urban consumers, resulting in high level of energy consumption and waste production. Bringing back agriculture to the city will reduce these negative impacts and provide positive ones on biodiversity and health.
 

• Is the adoption of short food cycles possible in the cities?
• What solutions to bring back agriculture in the city?
• Can urban agriculture meet the food demand of a city?

Our Speakers

How to industrialize the Positive City?
When 30 floors buildings are now commissioned in only 15 days in China, eco-neighborhoods projects take years to be achieved. Barriers to industrialize positive cities can be overtaken.
 

• Which infrastructures and urban designs can enable a Positive City?
• What are the barriers preventing successful implementations to generalize across the world?
• Which balance between private and public responsibility?

 
How to generalize smart mobility?
People use to own their vehicle, resulting in high level of pollution, consumptions, emissions and other impacts. A new model that will reduce mobility needs and the number of running vehicles must be developed.

• How to reduce the mobility need in the city?
• Which technologies for a smart mobility?
• Which contribution for electric vehicles?

 
What partnerships between public and private sector to finance smart cities?
Infrastructures are usually financed by the public sector with no return on the investments. This economic model must evolve with shared investments from public and private entities.
 

• How to finance a Positive City?
• What is the business model for private investments?
• How to share the investment risk between public and private entities?

Our Speakers

SBC 2012 from kornacopia on Vimeo.