Smart cities discussed at Fair

Shanghai - Smart cities focused on people were the subject of a round table at the launch of the China (Shanghai) International Technology Fair, which has AGI as a media partner. Undersecretary of the Environment ministry Barbara Degani, introducing, said Italy's participation in the fair as a guest of honour "marks a starting point for future partnerships" in science and technology. "The issue of sustainable urbanisation and smart cities enters into the collaboration between Italy and China and is of reciprocal interest," she said. Director-general of the promotional body for the Italian System, Vincenzo De Luca, said: "The smart cities issue brings Italy and China together in the search for a balance between mankind and the land and for tackling the challenges of the future, and has its roots in the past." He cited the examples of the Italian Renaissance cities and those built during China's contemporary Ming and Qing dynasties. The smart city issue had been tackled at the last two Expos, Shanghai's Better City, Better Life in 2010, and in Milan last year.

The concept of sustainability had been explored in several very different fields in Italy, from construction, with the development of sustainable materials, to health and welfare. "Italy and China can start a new chapter in bilateral relations in the field of sustainability," he said, as long as they can come up with "policies that tackle clearly sustainable objectives". Andrea Matta, President of the Association of Italian Professors in Eastern China and Professor of Industrial Engineering at Shanghai's Jiao Tong University, described common smart city characteristics, which included the automation of procedures for the lives of citizens to leave more space for their personal lives. "For this to succeed, however, it will need technology and research" and the interconnection of technology in smart cities would require "a range of different link-ups to make it all work". Director of the Department of Molecular Planning at the National Research Council, Luigi Ambrosio, said it was important to correctly apply the smart city concept to "develop systems in which both the companies and the research bodies or universities can enter into a system in which research procedures could be applied more swiftly, in all areas, from automation to health". (AGI). .