Urban Smartness Vs Urban Competitiveness: A Comparison of Italian Cities Rankings

  • Rocco Papa Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, (DICEA) University of Naples Federico II
  • Carmela Gargiulo Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, (DICEA) University of Naples Federico II
  • Stefano Franco Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, (DICEA) University of Naples Federico II
  • Laura Russo Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, (DICEA) University of Naples Federico II
DOI: https://doi.org/10.6092/1970-9870/2555
Keywords: Smart City, Urban Competitiveness, Benchmarking

Abstract

This paper describes a part of the research carried out by the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering (DICEA) of the University of Naples “Federico II”, within the Project Smart Energy Master for the energy management of territory, financed by PON 04a2_E R&C Axis II, from 2012 to 2015. Today that the idea of smart city draws the attention of urban planners and policy makers and, at the same time, global competitiveness is considered essential for the success of a city, the paper aims to investigate the relationship between the concept of smart city and that of competitive city, identifying common characteristics and differences and answer the question: is “smartness” a new concept for urban studies? The analysis has been conducted in the Italian context, comparing the competitive structure of Italian provinces with their performance as smart cities. To rank Italian provinces because of their level of competitiveness, a previous ranking, carried out in 1995, has been updated with the most recent data available and the new hierarchy, thus obtained, has been compared with that of Italian smartest cities proposed by Forum PA.  The benchmarking shows that smartness and competitiveness are strictly connected: today, a city needs to improve its smart quotient in order to be more attractive and so more competitive, in fact, the efficiency and livability of cities, sought by potential citizens, can be improved by using ICTs, as supported by the advocates of smart cities, and represent a strategic factor for gaining a competitive advantage.

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Author Biographies

Rocco Papa, Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, (DICEA) University of Naples Federico II

Full Professor of Land Use Planning at the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering of University of Naples “Federico II”. Editor-in-Chief of the Scientific Journal TeMA - Land Use, Mobility and Environment since 2007. Director of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning DiPiST of University of Naples “Federico II”, from 1999 to 2005. Chairman of the Urban Transformation Company Bagnolifutura S.p.A from 2006 to 2010. Vice-Mayor of the Municipality of Naples, from 2001 to 2006. City Councilor for Livability (appointed to Town Planning and Historical Centre) for the Naples Municipality, from 1997 to 2001. Research activity, carried out continuously since 1974, has developed according to the following four main lines: the study of the interactions between urban and mobility systems; the management and governance of metropolitan areas; the safeguard of environmental quality in highly urbanized areas; the experimentation of new protocols for urban planning tools connected with the updating of techniques, methods and models of analyses, interpretation, planning and governance of territory. As City Councilor for Livability (appointed to Town Planning and Historical Centre) for the Naples Municipality he has developed in detail the following projects: the approval and implementation of the new Master Plan of Naples; the approval and implementation of the Local Master Plan for the area of Bagnoli-Coroglio and the establishment of the Urban Transformation Company Bagnolifutura SpA, and the restoration and requalification of the “Real Albergo dei Poveri” and of the “SS. Trinità delle Monache”, the implementation of the Line 1 and Line 6 of the Metropolitan Railway. He is the author of more than 100 publications.

Carmela Gargiulo, Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, (DICEA) University of Naples Federico II

Associate professor of Urban Planning Techniques at the University of Naples Federico II. Since 1987 she has been involved in studies on the management of urban and territorial transformations. Since 2004, she has been Member of the Researcher Doctorate in Hydraulic, Transport and Territorial Systems Engineering of the University of Naples “Federico II”. She is Member of the Committee of the Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Department of the University of Naples “Federico II”. Her research interests focus on the processes of urban requalification, on relationships between urban transformations and mobility, and on the estate exploitation produced by urban transformations. On these subjects she has co-ordinated research teams within National Project such as Progetto Finalizzato Edilizia – Sottoprogetto “Processi e procedure” (Targeted Project on Building – Subproject “Processes and procedures), from 1992 to 1994; Progetto Strategico Aree Metropolitane e Ambiente, (Strategic Project Metropolitan Areas and Environment) from 1994 to 1995; PRIN project on the “Impacts of mobility policies on urban transformability, environment and property market” from 2011 to 2013. Scientific Responsible of the Project Smart Energy Master for the energy management of territory financed by PON 04A2_00120 R&C Axis II, from 2012 to 2015. She is author of more than 90 publications.

Stefano Franco, Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, (DICEA) University of Naples Federico II

He received a master’s degree in Economics and Business Management - Marketing at LUISS Guido Carli University of Rome, with a thesis entitled “Social Mobile Marketing: evolution of the communication strategies in the web 2.0 era”. In February 2014, he started collaborating with the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering of the University of Naples Federico II within the Project Smart Energy Master for the energy management of territory.

Laura Russo, Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, (DICEA) University of Naples Federico II
Engineer, Ph.D. student in Civil Systems Engineering at University of Naples Federico II. She received a master’s degree in Architecture and Building Engineering with a thesis on urban expansion and the sprawl phenomena, with particular attention for Campania. She is part of the research group within the Project Smart Energy Master for the energy management of territory.

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SITOGRAPHY

Boyd Cohen: The Top 10 Smartest European Cities, http://www.fastcoexist.com/1680856/the-top-10-smartest-european-cities, last visit in March 2014.

Forum PA – Icity Lab, http://www.icitylab.it/, last visit in March 2014.

Published
2014-05-18
How to Cite
PapaR., GargiuloC., FrancoS., & RussoL. (2014). Urban Smartness Vs Urban Competitiveness: A Comparison of Italian Cities Rankings. TeMA - Journal of Land Use, Mobility and Environment. https://doi.org/10.6092/1970-9870/2555
Issue
2014: INPUT 2014 - Smart City: planning for energy, transportation and sustainability of the urban system
Section
input2014

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