- 27% of respondents know or have heard of the smart city concept.
- The study "Smart Cities: Radiography of the Metropolitan Region's Communes" revealed the places requiring greater intelligence in service of citizens are public spaces with a high flow of people, such as subway stations, health centers, and parks in Santiago.
Santiago, July 27, 2023 - As part of the Smart Cities Meeting organized by CORFO and Sé Santiago, Enel X presented the study "Smart Cities: Radiography of the Communes of the Metropolitan Region," showing Las Condes as the Smartest commune in Santiago with 24% of the mentions, followed by Vitacura (13%), Providencia (7%) and Lo Barnechea (6%), all communes located in the eastern part of Santiago.
The results' main factors, from a citizens' perspective, are related to the communes' economic resources. Other associated factors relate to more extensive green areas, better territorial planning, public-private infrastructure, and residents with higher cultural capital and security perspective.
While people associate the concept of Smart Cities mainly with technological solutions (36%), renewable energy (30%), energy efficiency (22%), digitalization (19%), and sustainability (17%), the study concludes the main expected benefit of a smart city, for Santiago, is to increase the feeling of safety (49%), followed by improving environmental conditions (23%), public infrastructure (21%), public lighting (14%) and public transportation (13%).
When consulted on which technological solutions are most in demand by citizens, three of the top five preferences are associated with security: video surveillance cameras (51%); LED public lighting (39%); electric public transportation (33%); photovoltaic solar panels (27%) and security totems with panic buttons (23%).
"This study allows us to understand citizens' perceptions on priority issues to understand large cities' problems, such as security, to design public policies addressing people's needs with the purpose of improving their quality of life, contributing to sustainable development, and democratizing access to technologies to serve the public," said Karla Zapata, general manager of Enel X Chile.
Asked about which places should become smart, respondents indicated spaces with the highest number of visitors, such as health centers (59%), squares, parks, and green areas (56%), schools and colleges (43%), avenues and main streets (35%) and public transportation stops (27%).
Regarding the city's iconic or emblematic places that people consider should be smart spaces, respondents indicated that metro stations (13%), Santiago's Plaza de Armas (9%), Plaza Baquedano (8%), Cerro San Cristóbal and Ohiggins Park (7%).
Moreover, those interviewed maintain municipalities are central to leading Smart Cities projects implementation (63%). Followed by the central government (55%), regional governments (28%), ministries, and social organizations (24%).
Regarding globally recognized smart cities, respondents highlighted Tokyo as the smartest city (38%), followed by Dubai (27%) and New York (19%).
When asked could be an ambassador for the Metropolitan Region towards developing a smart city, responses placed Federico Sánchez (29%) in first place, followed by Francisco Saavedra (25%), Julieta Martínez (23%), Leonardo Prieto (18%), Julio César Rodríguez (17%), Soledad Onetto (15%), Claudio Orrego (14%).
About the study Smart Cities: Radiography of the Metropolitan Region's Communes
This study, conducted by Enel X in late 2022, interviewed more than 3,000 people from every municipality in the Metropolitan Region to make an overview of the capital's municipalities, identifying perceptions, needs, and expectations of citizens related to the concept of a smart city, as well as its development in terms of energy solutions, technology, and innovation.
To learn more about the study, please access the following link:
https://www.enelx.com/cl/es/administracion-publica/ciudad-inteligente
