Editor’s Note:

World Cities Day is observed on October 31 each year. It was established through a proposal by the Chinese government and adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2013. It aims to address the challenges and opportunities of urbanization and promote international cooperation and sustainable urban development. 

This year’s theme for World Cities Day, “People-Centred Smart Cities,” reflects a growing global consensus: the transformative power of digital technology is reshaping urban life, bringing profound opportunities to the design, planning, management, and governance of cities and human settlements.

In an era of dual transitions in urbanization and digitalization, cities are increasingly adopting digital technologies and data-driven approaches to deliver better services to residents and address key development challenges. “People-Centred Smart Cities” emphasizes leveraging digital innovation while centering on the needs of people and communities, taking into account social and environmental impacts. This concept is critical for accelerating the implementation of the New Urban Agenda and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

This edition of In Focus features initiatives from the Guangzhou Award, highlighting outstanding practices that leverage digital technology to empower smart city development. These initiatives integrate technological innovation with humanistic care, utilizing digital solutions to enhance public service efficiency and strengthen community resilience and participation. They offer valuable references for cities worldwide in advancing people-oriented digital transformation.

eThekwini, South Africa

eThekwini Strat Hub

(2023 Deserving Initiative)

For a long time, the Durban municipal government relied on intuition and political judgment for decision-making, which led to operational inefficiencies, poor planning, and imbalanced resource allocation, hindering public service quality. To address this issue, the municipality innovatively established the Strat Hub, integrating city-wide data resources to support scientific decision-making in urban operations, planning, and resource allocation.

The Strat Hub is a three-tiered innovative project: 1) data visualization, 2) digitalization and automation, and 3) cloud data warehousing. Its strategic goal is to enhance the city’s operational efficiency and improve services through data and digital tools.

The public, policymakers, business professionals, and municipal officials can all access decision-relevant information from the Hub, covering daily life solutions, policy, and strategic decisions. Key tools include data dashboards, an open data platform, a geographic information system, and a "Livability Index," providing robust data support for municipal operations and public engagement.

Read more: guangzhouaward.org/a/3397.html

BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA

“BOTI” The WhatsApp Chatbot of Buenos Aires City

(2020 Deserving Initiative)

To expand communication channels with citizens, Buenos Aires has been continuously developing various digital products since 2013 to promote e-government. In 2018, the city government integrated multiple chatbots into a unified platform, giving rise to BOTI—a municipal virtual assistant based on WhatsApp, reaching over 95% of mobile phone users in Argentina.

BOTI operates 24/7, providing instant responses to a wide range of citizen inquiries, including application procedures, transportation information, and even weather updates. By simply adding BOTI as a contact, citizens can access government information through everyday conversations, making it user-friendly and responsive. For the government, BOTI incurs minimal operational costs, with monthly maintenance expenses of approximately $30,000.

During the pandemic in 2020, BOTI underwent system updates to address challenges posed by COVID-19. It assisted citizens in conducting health self-assessments, screening symptoms, and, when necessary, promptly connecting them to online doctors—responding five times faster than emergency hotlines. Meanwhile, the city government leveraged BOTI to efficiently disseminate pandemic-related information, providing crucial digital support for the city’s fight against COVID-19.

Read more: guangzhouaward.org/a/1418.html

São José dos Pinhais, Brazil

Digital technology and social participation in surveillance and definition of priority areas and act

(2020 Shortlisted Initiative)

Since 2017, Brazil has experienced its worst Yellow Fever outbreak in 80 years. Originally a zoonotic disease, Yellow Fever has posed an increased risk to humans due to environmental changes caused by human activities and urbanization encroaching into forested areas. With low vaccination coverage, the government needed to identify priority areas for prevention and control.

Research indicates that in Yellow Fever outbreaks, non-human primates (NHPs) are infected and die before humans, making the monitoring of animal behavior an effective early warning system for virus spread.

The experience of the São José dos Pinhais municipal government, using the SISS-Geo (Wildlife Health Geographic Information System) platform for real-time monitoring of non-human primates, demonstrates that strategic data generated by the platform can help disease control organizations and experts identify priority vaccination areas up to two months in advance, potentially saving millions of lives.

Read more：guangzhouaward.org/a/1331.html

Catalonia, Spain

SmartCATALONIA: Scaling the Smart City Concept to a Regional Initiative

(2018 Deserving Initiative)

“smartCATALONIA” is a pioneering regional innovation initiative designed to integrate urban challenges and solutions, driving urban innovation across the region through economies of scale and new business models. Launched in 2014, the program aims to enhance urban governance and foster open collaboration through digital means.

By July 2018, the initiative had implemented 95 innovative solutions across 52 cities in collaboration with 73 companies. Key achievements include: 1) Catalonia smartLab: Drawing on the traditional laboratory model, it develops innovative urban infrastructure to promote open innovation. 2) Aparcar App: A geolocation-based application that enables users to easily pay for parking without meters, offering seamless cross-city interoperability.

The project facilitates the integration of citizen collaboration and digital governance, providing a replicable model of regional smart city development for other cities. It also contributes to advancing the Sustainable Development Goals and global progress.

Read more：guangzhouaward.org/a/884.html