Smart solutions are increasingly becoming a part of urban development, and Serbia plans to accelerate the transformation of its cities in the next three years with the support of NALED and GIZ. These two organizations are starting the implementation of the project “Towards smart, green and sustainable cities in Serbia”, the goal of which is the application of modern technologies for the improvement of city infrastructure and services.
Illustration (Photo: PIxabay)
Numerous cities in Serbia face environmental and infrastructure problems, such as poor air quality, large water losses and inadequate waste water treatment.
With increasingly frequent droughts and climate changes, reducing water losses from water pipes becomes a priority, and the implementation of smart technologies is recognized as the key to solving these challenges, writes Forbes Serbia.
What does the project mean?
The project, financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and implemented by GIZ in cooperation with NALED and the companies Lanaco and Intracom Telekom, will be implemented in five pilot municipalities.
Local self-governments will be provided with technical support for the implementation of solutions such as smart parking, water consumption measurement systems and solar chargers for electric vehicles.
Stefanos Jokić, project manager at NALED, pointed out that the goals of the project are decarbonization of transport, more efficient management of water resources and improvement of public health.
Pilot projects and future plans
The pilot municipality, with the support of this project, will develop strategies adapted to specific local needs. The focus will be on sectors of transport, energy, communal services, health and securitywhere smart technologies can have the biggest impact. After testing, the implementation models will be able to be applied in other cities of Serbia and the region.
Examples from the world and expectations
According to data for 2024, the most developed smart cities are Zurich, Oslo, Canberra, Geneva and Singapore, while it is predicted that by 2050, even 60% of the world’s population will live in smart citiesaccording to Forbes Serbia.
Serbia, although at an early stage, is laying the foundations for the development of such systems through a series of initiatives and pilot projects.
Jokić stated that the details of the project, including the selected cities and expected results, will be presented at the conference, and the goal is for Serbia to become part of the global trend and improve the quality of life in its urban areas.
Source: www.gradjevinarstvo.rs
