Tehran’s mayor outlined the municipality’s plans for transforming the metropolis into a smart city during the first round of Smart Tehran Congress, which is being held at the iconic Milad Tower north of Tehran on March 4-5.
In his opening speech on urban hazards and problems, Mohammad Ali Najafi added that transforming metropolises into smart cities is inevitable and meticulous planning for the development of smart cities is necessary to make urban areas livable again.
“Sustainable growth will not be possible without transforming Tehran into a smart city,” he said.
According to Najafi, the transformation will increase transparency in urban management and help authorities fight corruption, which transformation is crucial to making Tehran more livable and human-oriented.
The mayor added that developing the technological infrastructure is part of the transformation process, but public participation is essential to the development of smart cities.
"Transforming Tehran into a smart city is beyond the municipality’s resources and requires extensive government support," he said.
According to Najafi, talks held between the municipality and government bodies over the past few months have laid the groundwork for the project.
He notes that citizens from every walk of life should contribute to the development of smart cities and the vast potential of the younger generations, the private sector and academic bodies must be mobilized in the process.
The mayor further said startups and knowledge-based firms can and should pave the way for the development of smart cities.
According to Najafi, one of the key elements in the transformation procedure is providing everyone with access to high-speed Internet.
>Inevitable Reality
Iran’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mohammad Javad Azari-Jahromi told the gathering that a clear roadmap should be devised for the development of smart cities.
He said Tehran’s current status in terms of urban and technological development must be documented and clear goals with deadlines should be determined.
“The development of smart cities and expansion of startups must contribute to countering the current unemployment crisis facing the country,” he said.
The minister noted that startups and other private entities can create transparency in urban development and management.
Tehran is wrestling with various problems like suffocating air pollution and nerve-racking traffic congestions.
Azari-Jahromi is of the opinion that transforming the metropolis into a smart city is part of the solution to address these problems. He named managing resources, fighting corruption, elevating life standards and addressing ecological problems as some of the aims of developing smart cities.
“Smart cities will enhance living standards. Once, the development of smart cities was considered luxurious fantasy. Today, it has become an inevitable reality,” he said.
Azari-Jahromi also proposed that municipalities collaborate with each other in the development of smart cities, adding that talks have been held with the mayors of Mashhad, Shiraz and Yazd for the development of smart cities.
>Transcending Old Boundaries
One of the other speakers at the event was Sorena Sattari, Iran’s vice president for science and technology. He believes transforming Tehran into a smart city will provide the infrastructure for nurturing creativity.
“After the transformation, the city as a whole would be able to operate as Science and Technology Park, which will boost innovation and growth,” he said.
The vice president believes smart cities help remove hurdles that hamper creativity and business. He also said development of smart cities will enable academic bodies to transcend old boundaries and form closer ties with the society.
"Therefore, universities would be able to assist urban developers in their endeavors toward sustainable growth," he said.
Noting that smart cities will change education’s goals and mechanisms, Sattari said that with the development of smart cities, education would not be limited to the classic systems and metropolises will operate as educational bodies training people how to better make use of modern technologies.
One of the oft-mentioned mantras of Sattari in recent months has been establishment and expansion of Iran’s startup ecosystem.
“Development of the startup ecosystem is essential to transforming Iranian cities into smart metropolises,” he said.
According to Sattari, over 3,500 knowledge-based firms and several thousand startups are operating in Tehran. He added that the revenue of these companies during the last fiscal which ended in March 2017 surpassed 400 trillion rials ($8.4 billion).
"The transformation will ease doing business for such entities," he said.
Sattari also named nurturing creativity in the workforce as a key element to the development of smart cities.
Smart Cities Deputy Coordinator of Austrian Institute of Technology Hans-Martin Neumann and Smart City Ambassador at Amsterdam Smart City Frans-Anton Vermast also addressed the event.
Neumann said Tehran and several other Iranian cities have great potential for developing into smart cities.
He noted that transforming metropolises into smart cities will enable cities to reduce their ecological footprints and help build a more competitive economy.
“The EU wants to become low carbon society. Smart cities are seen as a contributor to this initiative,” he said.
“Smart city development plans should be embedded in urban development strategies and the projects should be formed as a coalition of different actors. The framework should be flexible so as to adapt to challenges and changes.”
Vermast had words of encouragement for Iranian officials, as he stressed that Tehran is moving in the right direction.
On the sidelines of the event, 50 startups active in the fields of urban management and green technologies showcased their latest services. Some of these startups were Domino Logistic (on-demand fuel delivery), Travener (travel guide), Smarty Pot (seller of houseplant caretaking pots), Moheme (social campaign management website), Dadsun (online legal advice services), Linkap (Internet of Things solutions), Vo Office (virtual office), E-Wheel (city information for the disabled), and Mibarim (carpooling service).
