City leadership is mission-critical to managing the climate crisis

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Trend Report Panel Discussion (21 May): Operating smarter: using digital twins and AI to reshape urban infrastructure management

Discover how AI-powered digital twins are transforming urban infrastructure and how these innovations can improve efficiency, resilience, and sustainability.

Trend Report Webinar (19 May): How AI and data are transforming transport operations and services

Explore how data and AI are being used in urban transport networks to support planning, day-to-day operations, and improve outcomes for communities and passengers.

AI, spatial intelligence and the Citiverse: why global city leaders must act now

ITU’s Cristina Bueti explains why cities must prioritise interoperability, inclusivity and human oversight now – before fragmented systems and vendor lock-in define the future of urban AI.

More with less: designing lean cities to bolster resilience

Woods Bagot’s Heinz von Eckartsberg and Impact Future’s Pablo Sepulveda discuss designing cities for upstream resilience and downstream benefit.

SmartCitiesWorld City Profile – Sunderland

Find out how Sunderland is repositioning itself as a leading smart city – using digital infrastructure and low-carbon innovation to build a resilient, future-focused economy in the latest SmartCitiesWorld City Profile.

SmartCitiesWorld City Profile – Dublin

Find out how Dublin is innovating to improve experiences and services for its communities in the latest SmartCitiesWorld City Profile, including digital twin projects, traffic reduction, and economic growth.

Podcasts

Cities Thriving on Lighting, Episode 2 – Simplicity by design in smart lightingSponsored by Paradox Engineering

Discover the technology and considerations behind how cities can turn existing streetlight networks into secure, interoperable, and future‑proof infrastructure in the second episode of Cities Thriving on Lighting.

Cities Thriving on Lighting, Episode 1 – Lighting as the backbone of the smart citySponsored by Paradox Engineering

The first episode of Cities Thriving on Lighting, the new podcast mini-series from SmartCitiesWorld and Paradox Engineering, examines the evolution of smart lighting via a journey of LEDs, connectivity and interoperability.

Opinions

Join the UN to discuss responsible geospatial and physical AI

The UN Virtual Worlds Day event will explore how we can turn AI, spatial intelligence, and the Citiverse ecosystem into trusted, people-centred outcomes, explains Paul Wilson, so why not join the conversation?

Transforming indoor public safety with smart sensor networksSponsored by Motorola Solutions

How smart sensor networks can help improve indoor safety by detecting risks early, improving situational awareness and supporting healthier, more secure and sustainable buildings.

Home | Energy & Environment | Cop26 | Cop26 Charter

Most people now live in cities which are the epicentres of human activity. While covering 3 per cent of earth's surface, cities consume 78 per cent of the world's energy and produce more than 60 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions.

With this in mind, SmartCitiesWorld and our Advisory Board (made up of cities, city networks and industry experts) have put forward 10 principles that we believe should be reflected in any COP26 agreement. (You can read our Special Report by our Editor, Luke Antoniou)

These principles will help us all in the move towards net zero carbon emissions and also immeasurably improve the lives of a city's citizens.

Pledge your support and help SmartCitiesWorld spotlight the critical role cities will play in delivering a sustainable future, and how important it is that they are given the full support of national governments in doing so.

Add your name to the SmartCitiesWorld Open letter to COP26 leaders

10 Principles

INCLUSION: Including all citizens in decision making drives the best results. The hallmarks of good city governance are participation, transparency, accountability and open data.

DIVERSITY: Encouraging diversity is a key principle in fostering city-scale resilience and sustainability.

RESILIENCE: Cities with a resilience strategy are better equipped to protect their citizens and environment from the worst effects of climate change.

WELLBEING: City strategies measured by wellbeing indices deliver better long term outcomes than cities driven by economic measure alone.

GREEN SPACES: The cities that create and preserve green spaces for native trees and flora create bigger long-term resilience, wellbeing, and prosperity for their citizens and the bio-sphere.

NATIONAL-LEVEL SUPPORT: Cities committing to net-zero targets and a 'just transition' should be actively encouraged and supported by national government programmes to help nations achieve their ambitions.

INFRA-STRUCTURE: The best cities give citizens access to infrastructure that provides physical safety, clean sanitation, waste disposal, clean air, a renewable energy supply, digital connectivity.

SYSTEMS THINKING: Nations that equip leaders with systems thinking, including the ability to build on system synergies and circular economy principles, are most likely to meet their challenging net zero targets.

DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY: Cities using secure digital technology to measure and manage activity across city-systems are more able to bring about effective local change then those without the data.