COP26: 10 guiding principles to be reflected in the final agreement

Ahead of COP26, SmartCitiesWorld has written an open letter to international political leaders consisting of 10 major guiding principles that we believe should be reflected in any final agreement at the conference in Glasgow in November. Here, we break down those principles, addressing the challenges within each and the importance of cities receiving full backing from central governments as they look to a greener future.

Smart Cities Reports

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.

SmartCitiesWorld City Profile 2024 – City of Madrid

Discover how the city of Madrid is innovating to become a smarter, more sustainable city that’s able to deliver improved services to residents and visitors alike.

Podcasts

Opinions

Rebuilding green: Analysing the Biden infrastructure plan

John Fitzgerald, Project Director, Linesight, explains why major reskilling, outreach work by government and the right messaging will be key to realising benefits.

22 - 26 June 2026: Find out more

Latest City Profile

SmartCitiesWorld City Profile – Dublin

Smart Cities Reports

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.

Latest Trend Report

Trend Report 2025: Planning and operating thriving cities – innovation for smarter urban living

Trend Series

Download our latest report to uncover how artificial intelligence is being used to support cities in how they plan and operate city services to ensure they are vibrant, sustainable and economically thriving modern spaces.

Latest Webinar

OnDemand Panel Discussion (20 Jan): Digital twins and AI as the intelligent operating layer for cities

Webinars

Join us for insights from real-world case studies on the use of digital twins and AI as the present and future of urban management.

Latest Podcast

How cities can own their data and their future with sovereign AI

Podcasts

Tune into the SmartCitiesWorld podcast to understand the world of sovereign AI for cities, featuring PNY Technologies’ Youssef Nadiri as our expert guest.

Latest Urban Exchange Podcast

Urban Exchange Podcast Episode 32 – Flood and energy resilience in Quezon City

Urban Exchange Podcast

Tune in for the latest Urban Exchange where we get a first-hand account of city resilience measures from Quezon City following unexpected extreme rainfall.

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Most Popular

Edinburgh introduces hybrid solar lighting to parks

Boston to build first hotel under new Net Zero Carbon Zoning

Brownfield regeneration is crucial to solving Europe housing crisis

Vancouver approves zoning updates for Villages initiative

Tallinn master plan focuses on human-centred environment

SmartCitiesWorld Newsletters (Daily/Weekly)

Our editorial newsletter pulls together our latest news items into one email, direct to your inbox. We also feature our latest city interviews, Special Reports and Guest Opinions.

Home | Energy & Environment | Solar power

Solar power

The latest news in solar power on smart city projects and initiatives across the world.

Detroit breaks ground on solar neighbourhoods

Detroit breaks ground on solar neighbourhoods

Solar power19 Nov 2025

Ten neighbourhoods vied for the opportunity to transform blighted vacant land into landscaped solar arrays with the first to be activated in mid-2026.

City of London and Square Mile on track to be net zero by 2040

City of London and Square Mile on track to be net zero by 2040

Climate action21 Oct 2025

Figures in the Climate Action Strategy progress report reveal that carbon emissions across the Square Mile have fallen by 24 per cent between 2017 and 2022.

Ann Arbor home to zero-carbon master-planned community

Ann Arbor home to zero-carbon master-planned community

Residential buildings22 Aug 2025

Thrive Collaborative and Sonnen are launching Veridian at the County Farm, 170 homes designed to operate as a resilient, self-balancing energy ecosystem.

Countdown to Cities Climate Action Summit 2025

Countdown to Cities Climate Action Summit 2025

Climate action22 May 2025

SmartCitiesWorld’s third Summit takes place on 24-25 June. Here’s a taste of what you can expect and how you can register to be part of this seminal event.

UK’s largest ‘Zero Bills’ housing development unveiled

UK’s largest ‘Zero Bills’ housing development unveiled

Climate action20 Feb 2025

Octopus Energy and gs8 have announced the UK’s largest Zero Bills housing development, a scheme of 113 new homes in Essex, for which construction is underway.

Will this be the world’s greenest highway?

Will this be the world’s greenest highway?

Planning and redevelopment09 Jul 2024

The Dubai Green Spine aims to transform Sheikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Road in the emirate into a 64km-long sustainable, green corridor with solar-powered trams.

How Melbourne is realising its ambitious climate action plan

How Melbourne is realising its ambitious climate action plan

Climate action30 Mar 2023

Having declared a climate and biodiversity emergency in 2019, Lord Mayor Sally Capp believes the city is on the doorstep of achieving some of its bold aims.

Major London sites to be powered by Dorset solar farm

Major London sites to be powered by Dorset solar farm

Solar power22 Dec 2022

The power purchase agreement is, reportedly, the first of its kind in the UK to be signed directly between a renewables energy producer and a governing authority.

Princeton installs smart solar street lighting

Princeton installs smart solar street lighting

Lighting27 Oct 2022

Texas city has installed 37 smart off-grid solar streetlights from EnGoPlanet in the Princeton Municipal Park to improve energy resilience and sustainability.

Innovators help create new visions for Melbourne precinct

Innovators help create new visions for Melbourne precinct

Planning and redevelopment26 Jul 2022

A dating-style app for buildings and a high-yield urban farm are among the bold ideas aiming to transform Fishermans Bend into Australia’s premier innovation hub.

Most Popular

Sidewalk Labs shuts down Toronto smart city project

Google affiliate blames coronavirus and economic uncertainty for closing controversial and delayed smart city project

What is ‘Smart City’ and why do we need them?

Smart city is the framework based on Information and Communication technologies that enable the development of sustainable practices to address the urbanisation challenges. Leveraging the technology is one of the foremost pillars of ‘smart cities’ in order to increase efficiencies and improve the quality of resident’s life and the city’s services.

AI used to monitor and optimise Swedish road infrastructure

Computer vision and machine learning specialist, Univrses, will work with the Swedish Transport Administration to digitise and manage roadside infrastructure.

Huawei seals smart city deal with Barcelona

They will collaborate on projects relating to 5G, smart city applications and digital transformation.

AI tools for city management launched at Bloomberg CityLab

City AI Connect will be a single destination for local government leaders to ideate, develop, and test new uses for generative AI with peers across cities.

SmartCitiesWorld Newsletters (Daily/Weekly)

Our editorial newsletter pulls together our latest news items into one email, direct to your inbox. We also feature our latest city interviews, Special Reports and Guest Opinions.

Guest Opinioins

Watch: Cloudera and IBM Storage discuss how cities can unlock the true value of their dataSponsored by Cloudera & IBM

SCW talks to Cloudera and IBM Storage on the power of big data and machine learning

Latest City Profile

SmartCitiesWorld City Profile – Dublin

Smart Cities Reports

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.

Latest Trend Report

Trend Report 2025: Planning and operating thriving cities – innovation for smarter urban living

Trend Series

Download our latest report to uncover how artificial intelligence is being used to support cities in how they plan and operate city services to ensure they are vibrant, sustainable and economically thriving modern spaces.

Latest Webinar

OnDemand Panel Discussion (20 Jan): Digital twins and AI as the intelligent operating layer for cities

Webinars

Join us for insights from real-world case studies on the use of digital twins and AI as the present and future of urban management.

Latest Podcast

How cities can own their data and their future with sovereign AI

Podcasts

Tune into the SmartCitiesWorld podcast to understand the world of sovereign AI for cities, featuring PNY Technologies’ Youssef Nadiri as our expert guest.

Latest Urban Exchange Podcast

Urban Exchange Podcast Episode 32 – Flood and energy resilience in Quezon City

Urban Exchange Podcast

Tune in for the latest Urban Exchange where we get a first-hand account of city resilience measures from Quezon City following unexpected extreme rainfall.

BECOME A MEMBER

Build your own Industry Resource Library
Gain access to all SmartCitiesWorld content
Make the most of Industry Webinar Events

Register Login

SmartCitiesWorld Newsletters (Daily/Weekly)

Our editorial newsletter pulls together our latest news items into one email, direct to your inbox. We also feature our latest city interviews, Special Reports and Guest Opinions.