SDG11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
Why it matters
The industry’s contribution
Mobile technology contributes to SDG 11 by improving quality of life, efficiency of urban operation and services, and competitiveness while ensuring smart cities meet the environmental and social needs of current and future generations. Cities both large and small are embracing this view, driven by government policy and pressure from citizens.[50]
For example, mobile operators and their partners are developing intelligent transport system solutions that optimise traffic and reduce CO2 emissions (such as the public-private partnership between the City of Sacramento and Verizon). Over the past few years, there has also been a significant improvement in the availability of affordable air-quality monitoring devices for commercial use. This has enabled large-scale deployments at a reasonable cost, thereby helping public administrations to manage and evaluate the quality of the air.
The mobile industry also contributes to SDG 11 by reducing the number of deaths and number of people affected by disasters. As well as enabling communications and access to information, mobile networks can support drones at emergency response sites that assess damage in the aftermath of sudden onset events. For example, aerial images from drones can help emergency services and humanitarian organisations make decisions on the number of personnel and amount of equipment needed. Drones can also be equipped with thermal cameras and IoT sensors (e.g. gas and temperature sensors) to provide continuous, real-time updates.
No Data Found
Maximising mobile’s impact by 2030
Recent socio-political challenges, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, have raised new questions for cities and communities. The challenge is not just about sustainability and quality of life; it is also about the ability to respond to emergencies and crises. To tackle this, investments in smart cities will need to grow. Innovation is required in terms of public-private funding, governance models, city operations management and co-creation processes for smart city development.
Case Studies
Providing pit emptying services through a GIS-enabled app - KCCA
Delivering water to urban homes through smart metering and mobile payments - CityTaps
Improving electricity grid services through smart metering - Jazz
Telia reduces energy in buildings through IoT
The real estate industry – accounting for 40% of all energy used in cities and 36% of the CO2 emissions in Europe – is affected by high energy prices, inflation and interest rates. In the cold climate of Northern Europe, it is a priority to find new ways to increase energy efficiency and reduce consumption. Research shows that digitalistion is a key enabler of optimising operations and energy consumption. Two housing cooperations in Sweden, together with Telia, looked into how to optimise the district heating for their combined five buildings and nearly 100 apartments during the 2022/2023 winter season.
Telia offers its Heating Optimization solution in Sweden. Buildings are connected through NB-IoT sensors in each apartment to measure temperature and humidity and an installed connected control unit for the building management systems. In this way, buildings are equipped with an automated solution to optimise the energy consumption of their district heating based on real-time indoor temperature data.
The housing cooperations registered energy savings of 5–10% during the first winter months. The solution enables more evenly distributed heat based on a target temperature. Real-time data insights about each apartment’s temperature and humidity also help identify energy leaks, which provide further savings when acted upon. Heating Optimization helped identify faulty balcony doors, poorly working thermostats and hot water flows, which were repaired, eliminating energy wastage. Telia aims to scale up the solution in the Nordic countries.
