Cities are a complex system, characterised by a critically important role because of their demographic. In fact, more than half of the world's population currently lives in cities and it is predicted that by 2050 cities will contain about 70 per cent of the world's population and will produce 85 per cent of global economic output. For this reason, cities are the site of many unsustainable problems and processes, but, at the same time, also a place that stimulates culture and innovations and where almost all economic and political activities take place. Hence, the need for cities to become 'smart'. Hence, the concept of the Smart City was born and is increasingly widespread and used. It becomes essential to analyse and understand the numerous definitions of this concept in the literature, in order to determine the characteristics of a Smart City. Subsequently, in order to improve the quality of these cities, aspects closely related to the Smart City will be explored, such as (1) ranking of Smart Cities, (2) sustainability in Smart Cities, (3) financing for Smart Cities and (4) non-financial reporting in Smart Cities. In order to do so, four research questions will be answered, each related to one of the aspects analysed in the paper "RQ1: Are the indicators used to determine the smartness rankings of cities in line with the cities' projects and policies?"; "RQ2: Is there really a strong relationship between the concept of sustainability and the Smart City concept?"; "RQ3: How can a local government go beyond traditional funding sources to implement smart projects?"; "RQ4: How can ICT be exploited to report non-financial information?". To answer these questions, the research conducted focuses on the analysis of these issues in the Japanese context of the Greater Tokyo area and, more specifically, in the small Tsunashima Sustainable Smart Town, created by Panasonic. The methodology used consists of reviewing academic literature, conducting interviews, site visits and studying various documents related to the issues analysed. Consequently, the aim of the research is to demonstrate the feasibility of innovative processes inherent in the aspects discussed that favour the emergence of increasingly smart cities. However, Tsunashima Sustainable Smart Town represents a simple case study due to its small size and the purpose for which it was created. Future research could demonstrate the applicability of these innovative processes to more complex cases.
Le città sono un sistema complesso, caratterizzate da un ruolo di fondamentale importanza a causa della loro portata demografica. Infatti, più della metà della popolazione mondiale vive attualmente in città ed è previsto che entro il 2050 le città conterranno circa il 70% della popolazione mondiale e produrranno l'85% della produzione economica globale. Per questo motivo, le città sono il luogo di numerosi problemi e processi insostenibili, ma, allo stesso tempo, anche un luogo che stimola la cultura e le innovazioni e dove si svolgono quasi tutte le attività economiche e politiche. Da qui, l’esigenza delle città di diventare “intelligenti”. Nasce, quindi, il concetto di Smart City, il quale risulta essere sempre più diffuso ed utilizzato. Diventa fondamentale analizzare e comprendere le numerose definizioni di tale concetto in letteratura, al fine di determinare le caratteristiche di una Smart City. Successivamente, al fine di migliorare la qualità di queste città, verranno approfonditi aspetti strettamente correlati alla Smart City, quali (1) ranking delle Smart Cities, (2) sostenibilità nelle Smart Cities, (3) finanziamenti per le Smart Cities e (4) rendicontazione non-finanziaria nelle Smart Cities. Per fare ciò, si risponderà a quattro domande di ricerca, ciascuna collegata ad uno degli aspetti analizzati nell’elaborato: “RQ1: Gli indicatori utilizzati per determinare la classifica di smartness delle città sono in linea con i progetti e le politiche delle città?”; "RQ2: Esiste davvero una forte relazione tra il concetto di sostenibilità e quello di Smart City?"; "RQ3: Come può un'amministrazione locale andare oltre le fonti di finanziamento tradizionali per implementare progetti smart?"; RQ4: Come si possono sfruttare le ICT per la rendicontazione delle informazioni non finanziarie?". Per rispondere a queste domande, la ricerca condotta si concentra sull’analisi di questi temi nel contesto giapponese della Greater Tokyo area e, più in particolare, nella piccola Tsunashima Sustainable Smart Town, creata da Panasonic. La metodologia utilizzata consiste nella revisione della letteratura accademica, nella realizzazione di interviste, in visite sul posto e nello studio di vari documenti relativi alle questioni analizzate. Di conseguenza, l’obiettivo della ricerca è quello dimostrare la possibilità di realizzare processi innovativi inerenti agli aspetti trattati che favoriscano la nascita di città sempre più intelligenti. Tuttavia, Tsunashima Sustainable Smart Town rappresenta un caso di studio semplice a causa delle ridotte dimensioni e dello scopo per la quale è stata creata. Future ricerche potrebbero dimostrare l’applicabilità di questi processi innovativi anche a casi più complessi.
Sustainability and Reporting of a Smart City: a case study from Japan
ARIOLA, GABRIELE
2022/2023
Abstract
Cities are a complex system, characterised by a critically important role because of their demographic. In fact, more than half of the world's population currently lives in cities and it is predicted that by 2050 cities will contain about 70 per cent of the world's population and will produce 85 per cent of global economic output. For this reason, cities are the site of many unsustainable problems and processes, but, at the same time, also a place that stimulates culture and innovations and where almost all economic and political activities take place. Hence, the need for cities to become 'smart'. Hence, the concept of the Smart City was born and is increasingly widespread and used. It becomes essential to analyse and understand the numerous definitions of this concept in the literature, in order to determine the characteristics of a Smart City. Subsequently, in order to improve the quality of these cities, aspects closely related to the Smart City will be explored, such as (1) ranking of Smart Cities, (2) sustainability in Smart Cities, (3) financing for Smart Cities and (4) non-financial reporting in Smart Cities. In order to do so, four research questions will be answered, each related to one of the aspects analysed in the paper "RQ1: Are the indicators used to determine the smartness rankings of cities in line with the cities' projects and policies?"; "RQ2: Is there really a strong relationship between the concept of sustainability and the Smart City concept?"; "RQ3: How can a local government go beyond traditional funding sources to implement smart projects?"; "RQ4: How can ICT be exploited to report non-financial information?". To answer these questions, the research conducted focuses on the analysis of these issues in the Japanese context of the Greater Tokyo area and, more specifically, in the small Tsunashima Sustainable Smart Town, created by Panasonic. The methodology used consists of reviewing academic literature, conducting interviews, site visits and studying various documents related to the issues analysed. Consequently, the aim of the research is to demonstrate the feasibility of innovative processes inherent in the aspects discussed that favour the emergence of increasingly smart cities. However, Tsunashima Sustainable Smart Town represents a simple case study due to its small size and the purpose for which it was created. Future research could demonstrate the applicability of these innovative processes to more complex cases.È consentito all'utente scaricare e condividere i documenti disponibili a testo pieno in UNITESI UNIPV nel rispetto della licenza Creative Commons del tipo CC BY NC ND.
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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14239/3123