From Gray to Green: It Is Up to Cities to Decide Whether They Will Prosper or Slowly Disappear

Smart and green cities, along with quality strategic planning of their development, represent an important step not only in the development of local urban environments but also serve as a tool for addressing the challenges of climate change and urban overcrowding on a global scale. Initiatives such as green urban renewal or the digitization of processes in cities significantly contribute not only to the protection of the environment but also to a higher quality, resource-efficient, and transparent operation of cities, as well as increasing security and resilience to crises.

However, to realize the processes necessary for cities to become smarter and greener and to change the current development paradigm, it is essential to involve all stakeholders, possess adequate expertise, and secure funding for project implementation, given that all these processes require significant investments. How can cities in Croatia approach this and what are the possibilities?

What are smart cities…

When we talk about smart cities, we primarily think of cities that integrate digital solutions into their processes and services, thereby achieving greater resource and time efficiency for the benefit of citizens and businesses. Specifically, this refers to smart urban mobility and transportation networks, more efficient water supply facilities, more effective waste disposal, and more efficient use of public lighting and building heating systems. The emphasis is on interaction, meaning that the focus is on the relationship between citizens and city administration, the safety of public spaces, and facilitating access to infrastructure and services for citizens of all age groups.

Considering that digitizing systems creates a digital copy of the city, services, or individual processes, establishing smart solutions in cities requires expertise in various fields, from IT and legislation to public policies and processes. Operationally, this means that at the level of each segment that is to be digitized, the current state must be taken into account, and all steps involved must be adapted to the digital environment (modified as necessary) and tested before being put into operation.

… and what about green?

Unlike digital, i.e., smart cities, where the emphasis is on more efficient operations and better management, the development of green cities primarily involves activities aimed at achieving better infrastructure conditions in cities to mitigate the impacts of climate change. Such activities relate to landscape solutions, reducing the impact of heat islands, ensuring the availability of green public spaces to establish green oases, facades, and roofs, as well as revitalizing neglected urban infrastructure through the application of green and blue solutions.

However, these solutions do not only pertain to the visual aspect of urban renewal. The main focus of city authorities, state agencies, and urban planning experts must be narrowed down to smart management of energy systems and the use of renewable energy sources, effective management of water resources (water supply and sewage), infrastructure management – primarily buildings and public lighting, as well as effective environmental management and creating preconditions for resilience to crises. All these activities serve the main goal: reducing the impact of cities, i.e., their contribution to climate change and environmental pollution.

The combination of these two concepts is possible in almost every aspect. For example, irrigation systems for green areas can be automated and controlled from a single central point, making them smart and digital, which allows for timely responses to irrigation needs and quality-distributed resources such as water and electricity directed to areas more susceptible to drought periods. Additionally, monitoring and protection systems against threats such as fires, floods, and other aspects of citizen safety are also successfully digitized, making processes faster, safer, simpler, more efficient, and more resilient to threats.

Both the good and bad sides of urbanization

According to World Bank data, in 2023, nearly 56 percent of the global population (about 4.4 billion people) lives in cities. The percentage of the population that will live in cities by 2050 will double, and seven out of ten inhabitants on the planet will live in cities. This data is important in the context of climate change, but also in the context of resource use, as the functioning of cities largely depends on available resources such as food, energy, and other resources like clean air and quality public open space accessible to all residents of urban areas.

The process of urbanization contributes to sustainable growth and development of societies and states by increasing productivity, innovative potential, and security, provided it is adequately planned and managed responsibly and qualitatively. Namely, more than 80 percent of global GDP is generated in cities, confirming the dominant influence of cities on global economic movements, social development, social security, etc. On the other hand, excessive urbanization can lead to a range of challenges, such as overcrowding and lack of living space, increased resource use to maintain living conditions, increased demand for energy use, and consequently, increased greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, there are other challenges that contribute to either maintaining the status quo or, in some cases, worsening living conditions in urban areas.

For this reason, the United Nations has dedicated special attention to urban development in one of its sustainable development goals (SDGs), specifically in goal 11. One of the key determinants guiding the UN’s focus on cities is that cities are responsible for more than 70 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, climate change has revealed the vulnerability of urban areas to new challenges such as changing weather conditions, but it has also highlighted the importance of strategic planning and approaches to urban development and the expansion of urban areas. All these challenges can threaten the normal functioning of urban areas and the availability of resources such as drinking water, air and soil quality, cause increased noise pollution and waste generation, as well as crime rates, and worsen housing conditions, urban mobility, and other city processes and infrastructure.

European initiatives

The European Union has embraced the UN initiative and has incorporated sustainable development goals into its policies. The themes of sustainability, green, and digital are encompassed in initiatives such as the European Green Deal, the New European Bauhaus, URBACT, the Green Cities Agreement, as well as the inclusion of urban development themes in funding programs. For example, the ‘Horizon Europe’ program is focused on creating climate-neutral and smart cities by 2030, and the goal of this mission is to connect and coordinate national bodies, local authorities, businesses, investors, and citizens to achieve the goal of one hundred smart cities at the EU level by 2030.

These cities will become platforms for introducing technological and process innovations, from which examples of good practices will be disseminated to all European cities that will implement these solutions in their environments by 2050. The city of Zagreb is the only Croatian city included in this process. Looking at neighboring countries, Ljubljana, Kranj, and Velenje in Slovenia, as well as Budapest, Miskolc, and Pecs in Hungary, will become climate-neutral and smart cities, providing an opportunity for other Croatian cities to use examples of good practices from the nearby environment.

Croatian plan

Given that it is in the Mediterranean region, characterized as a hotspot regarding climate change, Croatia is particularly vulnerable and needs to take significant and innovative steps to neutralize their impact. The impact of climate change is not only reflected in rising temperatures but is also negative for the environment, the economy, human health, and national security. Therefore, Croatia, as an EU member, has also accepted and defined its priorities and funding opportunities for several key areas such as the development of smart cities and the development of green infrastructure.

Strategic planning is the first step towards initiating the development process, and in line with this, Croatia has adopted several key documents, one of which is the National Development Strategy of the Republic of Croatia until 2030. It defines investment priorities, which include improving urban and suburban transport, mobility, and healthy forms of movement, circular management of buildings and public spaces, revitalization of brownfield areas, development of green spaces, restoration and sustainable use of cultural and historical heritage, and improving urban infrastructure through the development of smart and sustainable cities.

On the other hand, the Green Infrastructure Development Program in Urban Areas for the period 2021 to 2030 focuses on sustainable spatial, social, and economic development of urban areas by establishing resilient, sustainable, safe, and pleasant living and organized cities and municipalities. The program defines goals and measures for their achievement, and one of the larger identified challenges faced by cities is the lack of strategic documents that would guide the development of cities in the context of green infrastructure. Accordingly, the Ministry of Physical Planning, Construction, and State Property previously announced a call for cities to develop green urban renewal strategies, thanks to which cities like Ploče or Slavonski Brod have already begun developing strategies with the help of allocated funds.

Financial support

Strategies for the development of smart cities and green urban renewal will enable cities to access EU funds necessary for co-financing development projects to be ready to respond to local, regional, and global challenges. Funds for each step, from strategic planning to project implementation of digital and green cities, are available for local government units under the National Recovery and Resilience Program, the Operational Program ‘Competitiveness and Cohesion 2021 – 2027,’ and the Integrated Territorial Program (ITP).

The process of adapting cities to climate change using new digital technologies and nature-based solutions, although challenging, provides significant opportunities for further development of urban areas and improving the quality of life for citizens in the long term. Delaying processes that lead to increased smartness and greenness in cities leaves cities exposed to the impacts of climate change and other threats, increasing the burden on city budgets. Namely, avoiding the processes of digitization and green urban renewal will, in the long run, increase expenditures for remediation of the consequences of climate change, as well as the growing needs of cities to respond to the challenges of increasing population. Ultimately, in the processes of developing smart and green cities, as well as attracting EU funds, specialized knowledge is often required, which depends on the specific case and project, so it is certainly the safest and most cost-effective option in the long term to seek expert assistance.