Association of smart cities to be set up in Russia

An association of smart cities will be set up in Russia by the end of 2012. It was announced at the last international exhibition Innoprom-2012 by Peter Schipper, the Director of Skolkovo engineering and transport infrastructure management.

Schipper says that a smart city is not only a comprehensive approach to the use of equipment, but also to the construction and operation of buildings and structures, regardless of their purpose - both residential and public. The concept of smart cities is relatively new for Russia, it is a very exotic method of building cities. For example, old and ordinary cities have been built in compliance with radial scheme while a smart city should be built according to the transport system. And that means the presence of a well-developed transport structure, the availability of airports and railways. It is assumed that the residents of smart cities will no longer use cars with internal-combustion engines - Schipper says.

There should be a high tech waste processing system in each smart city. And you should recycle the waste right here and now, which will reduce the cost of processing. Used water should be purified to the quality of drinking water and reused. Rainwater in the smart city can be used, for example, to create a green zone, for landscape architecture.

According to Schipper, Russian cities will be selected in compliance with these parameters. And a special association of these cities will be set up in the country in order to coordinate the activities.