The Romanian roadmap to more smart cities
Romania is no stranger to taking action to develop more and more smart communities within its rich geography. A recent edition of the Smart City Radiography in Romania takes a look at cities and their progress in smart cities action.
We know what upgrading from a city to a smart city means - the Alba Iulia project, which I was in charge of for over a decade, was a pioneering stepping stone in Romania and set the tone for the rest of cities to follow. Through a new tech infrastructure, action steps to deploy smart implementations throughout the city, investments and much, much more, it has become the best case study in how a European city can thrive, even in the face of challenges.
Currently, Romania has nine cities that are undergoing their own transformations into smart cities. The fifth edition of Smart City Radiography identified the top Romanian cities with smart city projects - along with Alba Iulia, we have Cluj-Napoca, Iași, Bucharest, Arad, Sibiu, Oradea, Timișoara and Brașov.
The Smart City Radiography identifies a list of the most popular smart city solutions in Romania, as well as worldwide, including smart street lighting, smart parking, charging stations for electric cars, traffic management systems, modern and intelligent stations for public transport, video monitoring and the provision of public wifi services. The list also takes into account the number of smart projects being either proposed or developed, in the areas of smart living, smart economy, smart mobility, smart environment, smart people and smart governance. Each city received a number of points for each of these pillars, based on developments and dedicated projects.
Another key pillar observed in the report is the digitalisation of cities and villages. A number of these already exist in Romania, driven by the growing trend of professionals choosing to move to the countryside, but with a modern standard of living. In the last year alone, the realisation of these projects has come almost exclusively from European funds.
However, at town hall level, there is a major challenge in the classification of costs and revenues on a separate and distinct budget for the development of the smart community; a key factor in securing the funding and execution of these projects.
In addition to this and due to the pandemic, the amount of investment from private companies in public projects has decreased. Despite this, some enterprises have developed smart projects without the involvement of city halls, which we’re likely to see more of in future, and later replicated by city halls.
So, what key takeaway points can we grab from this report?
The Alba Iulia Smart City project was a pioneer, inspiring more cities to follow in its footsteps
Major Romanian cities are taking further steps in developing smart solutions for their cities, be it with city hall projects or private investments.
The need for dedicated Smart City Managers & Data Analysts within city halls persists, and with it comes the need for a dedicated position.
Although more investment options are available, city halls are not sufficiently prepared to make the best use of these funds.
We are looking at a competition for human and financial resources between cities that is only set to continue growing.
Smart Villages are an ongoing developing branch within the Romanian smart city movement, and this will bring more opportunities for a nation-wide development.
