Clever Cities

The project

At the heart of the Clever Cities project is the desire to achieve urban regeneration that is both sustainable and socially inclusive.
Funded in the context of Horizon2020, the European Union program aimed at research and innovation, Clever Cities stands out for its highly innovative elements. In fact, the role of naturalistic elements defines the regeneration of urban spaces, which become the instrument of the regeneration itself. In this case we talk about "nature-based solutions", i.e. design solutions borrowed and supported by nature, which lead to benefits on an environmental, social, cultural and economic level. Nature-based solutions can thus make a contribution to achieving sustainability and energy and economic efficiency.
The aims of the project are pursued with a series of targeted interventions and will also be monitored, so as to verify not only the achievement of the intended purpose, but also the replicability of the measures implemented in a different context. The actions are planned over a period of 5 years, starting from 6 June 2018, and specifically will include an initial design phase (1 year), the subsequent implementation of the interventions (2 years) and finally a 2-year period dedicated to monitoring and replicability.

The city of Hamburg is leading the partnership, supported by Milan and London as "front-runner" cities. The partnership is very extensive and includes the following entities:

  • ​​​​​​​Greater London Authority (United Kingdom),
  • Belgrade City Administration (Serbia),
  • Dimos Lariseon (Greece),
  • Ayuntamiento de Madrid (Spain),
  • Malmo Stad (Sweden),
  • Municipiul Sfantu Gheorge (Romania),
  • Secretary of the Environment, Municipality of the Metropolitan District of Quito (Ecuador),
  • ELIANTE onlus social cooperative society (Italy),
  • Polytechnic Foundation of Milan (Italy),
  • Groundwork London (United Kingdom),
  • STEG - Stadterneuerungs und Stadtentwicklungsgesellschaft Hamburg Gmbh (Germany),
  • WWF Oasis (Italy),
  • CEUS - Center for Experiments in Urban Studies (Serbia),
  • Agentia Pentru Protectia Mediului Covasna (Romania),
  • The Young Foundation LBG (UK),
  • Peabody (UK),
  • RFI - Italian Railway Network (Italy),
  • Social Finance Limited (UK),
  • Yepez Salmon Asociados SA (Ecuador),
  • Green4Cities Gmbh (Austria)
  • Hafencity Universitat Hamburg (Germany),
  • Hamburgisches Weltwirtschaftsinstitut Gemeinnutzige Gmbh (Germany),
  • Technische Universitat Hamburg (Germany),
  • Ecological Institut Gemeinnutzige Gmbh (Germany),
  • Fundacion Tecnalia Research & Innovation (Spain),
  • Universitaetsklinikum Essen (Germany),
  • AISBL - European Business and Innovation Center Network (Belgium),
  • ICLEI - European Secretariat Gmbh (Germany),
  • ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability EV (Germany),
  • Ambiente Italia Srl (Italy),
  • UBA - Umweltbundesamt Gesellschaft mit Beschrankter Haftung Gmbh (Austria).

The project also aims to involve one city in South America and up to 5 Chinese cities.

  • Develop an innovative cocreation and implementation approach to promote sustainable and socially inclusive urban regeneration
  • Insert nature-based solutions as a tool in urban planning processes
  • Activate laboratories within which nature-based solutions can be created thanks to a cocreation process
  • Monitor the results of the actions carried out with a view to evaluating the results and the replicability of the intervention and the environmental and social impacts.

The Municipality of Milan has identified three areas which are identified by the so-called "CAL" (Clever Action Lab) on which to concentrate the renovation interventions:

  • CAL 1: Experimentation of innovative green roofs and walls in private and/or public buildings;
  • CAL 2: Shared garden at Giambellino, 129 through innovative naturalistic experiments. Green buffer area, water recovery and automated management using open source sensors and low-cost accessible systems;
  • CAL 3: Active participation of citizens in the maintenance of greenery in areas external but functional to the railway, through agreements between RFI and the Municipality of Milan. 

The project as a whole also includes a final monitoring phase to verify the effectiveness of the actions carried out and to evaluate their replicability.
The element of social inclusion is pursued through the involvement of citizens, who will be able to refer to an open consultancy structure called "Urban Living Lab".
It will be possible to monitor and consult the results of the project, which will be disseminated through an ICT platform.

The results of the project will be evident on multiple levels, primarily in relation to the areas of intervention in the city:

  • San Cristoforo - Giambellino, 129: more green spaces thanks to green roofs and community gardens for biodiversity.
  • Tibaldi: experimentation with vertical greenery and naturalistic mitigation in the new RFI station and anti-noise barriers.

Clever Cities will also contribute to improving urban planning and the related decision-making process: in each front-runner city a connection is created between authorities, communities, businesses and research to implement concrete interventions.

The solutions developed during the project could constitute an important contribution to the creation of a knowledge base and a European reference framework.

Participation in the partnership will allow us to strengthen European leadership in "nature-based solutions" both towards new EU countries and towards non-EU countries.

Updated: 18/11/2021