Smart in the City – The BABLE Podcast

Today our journey leads us to the Municipality of Gladsaxe in Denmark, where the lighting design practice Light Bureau has implemented a red Bat-Friendly LED Street Lighting along an important traffic artery, and all for the sake of bats! We welcomed Rune Brandt Hermannsson, Visualizer and Designer at Light Bureau, Philip Jelvard, Lighting Designer and VR Specialist at Light Bureau and Jonas Jørgensen, Project Manager of traffic and facilities at Gladsaxe to discuss this project. Overview of the episode: 04:50 - Teaser: If the lights were a different colour than red, what colour would they be? 11:15 - What was the public reception of the project? 13:50 - How will light interact with biodiversity in the future? 15:25 - Are red lights as safe for pedestrians and cyclists as a white light might be? 19:30 - What are the next steps after this pilot? 26:20 - Trial and Error: What went wrong? What mistakes were made along the way, and more importantly, what lessons were learned? 32:00 - Ending Question: To you, what is a Smart City?   Liked our show? Remember to rate it! Want to join us for an episode? Contact our host Tamlyn Shimizu. And for more insights, join our Smart City Community!

On this new stop on the journey toward a better urban life, we look at Smart Cities through an academic lens with Iris Belle, Professor and Dean of Studies for the international Master's programme for Smart City Solutions at the Stuttgart University of Technology. In this episode, Iris tells us more about the creation of the Master Smart City Solutions at the Stuttgart University of Technology, as well as different case studies and texts of reference in the field. We also discussed urban design, the ecosystem of stakeholders and the role of different cultural perspectives. Overview of the episode: 02:00 - Teaser: What's Iris' favourite topic to teach? 05:20 - The case study of an indoor climate control system at the Franklin Barracks in Mannheim, Germany 07:58 - The case study of an autonomous shuttle bus in Sion, Switzerland 10:20 - The BABLE Use Case of an autonomous shuttle bus in Tallinn, Estonia 11:20 - Why does the Smart City Solutions Master programme exists at the University of Technology of Stuttgart? 14:49 - Pieces of advice for Smart City professionals 20:10 - How much of these Smart City topics can we really teach? 25:47 - The importance of a user-centric approach in urban design 30:27 - Shoutout: Our guest mentions a person, an organisation or a city they think deserves more recognition in the field 32:52 - Ending Question: To you, what is a Smart City?   Liked our show? Remember to rate it! Want to join us for an episode? Contact our host Tamlyn Shimizu. And for more insights, join our Smart City Community!

In this episode, we are talking about testing mobility solutions and how to accelerate new technology developments with Yves Frère, Project Manager at the Mobility Lab in the Netherlands. Mobility Lab accelerates the development of startups that are ready to set up their first real-life pilot. Their goal is to allow start-ups and organisations with mobility issues to test innovative solutions together in practice.  Are you a start-up wanting to pilot your proposition in the Netherlands? Apply now! Are you another start-up programme or another mobility lab wanting to collaborate? Contact them!   Overview of the episode: 02:30 - Teaser: What is your favourite new mobility technology that you have seen? 04:44 - How did Mobility Lab start, and how does it function?  08:27 - How is it funded? 09:48 - How can public sector and private sector organisations work with Mobility Lab? 11:22 - The success story of the start-up Felyx and the challenges encountered with the start-up ENSO 15:10 - Haven't we tested enough? How do we get from pilots to scale-up after the technologies leave the lab?   18:12 - Call for start-ups applications and mobility labs collaboration 20:45 - Flip the Script: our guest is asking the questions!  23:19 - Ending Question: To you, what is a Smart City?   Liked our show? Remember to rate it! Want to join us for an episode? Contact our host Tamlyn Shimizu. And for more insights, join our Smart City Community!

In this episode, we hop on our bicycles to pursue our journey toward a better urban life with Jill Warren, CEO of the European Cyclists'​ Federation, and Shannon Macika, Smart Cities Consultant at BABLE. We discussed biking, active mobility, public health and urban planning, as well as ECF's goals and challenges as an umbrella federation for civil society cyclists' organisations in Europe, which promotes cycling as a sustainable and healthy means of transport and leisure. Overview of the episode: 02:42 - Teaser: Rapid Fire Questions 04:19 - What is ECF? What are your main goals and activities? 05:29 - Zoom on the Velo-city conference 07:00 - What do you think are the top priorities for active mobility? 08:44 - On the policy side of things, what needs to happen for people to feel more safe cycling? 10:14 - Do you have best practices examples? 11:24 - What do you think are the main challenges behind increasing more active mobility in cities? 15:59 - What about people with reduced mobility? 18:22 - Do you have any examples of poorly executed implementations? 21:03 - Have you experienced limitations to what you can do to impact active mobility causes? 23:48 - How would city representatives come to work with you, and what can they get out of it? 25:02 - And for companies? 25:52 - Ending Question: To you, what is a Smart City?   Liked our show? Remember to rate it! Want to join us for an episode? Contact our host Tamlyn Shimizu. And for more insights, join our Smart City Community!

We continue our journey toward a better urban life in Sweden with Noak Westerberg, Project Manager for Panorama at the Swedish Climate Policy Council. Panorama is a web-based tool powered by ClimateView that visually presents the current state of Sweden's greenhouse gas emissions. It also presents trends with regard to the national targets for emission mitigation as well as relevant actions and measures. In this episode, Noak tells us about this visualisation tool, the context in which it was created, its purpose, its users, and where he sees the project going in the future. We also discussed net-zero solutions, climate transition and manufacturing. Overview of the episode: 02:08 - Teaser: How do you say "liveable city" in Swedish? 03:29 - What is the Panorama tool and what does it do? 07:03 - "A public-private cooperative journey" 08:32 - Are Sweden's national climate targets reachable? 11:48 - How do you see public and private entities using the tool? 14:00 - Can private entities collaborate or get more involved with Panorama? 15:19 - Where do you see the project going in the future? 19:10 - Are there any barriers to using Panorama? 22:49 - Roll with the Punches: our guest answers "this or that" questions 25:22 -  Ending Question: To you, what is a Smart City?   Liked our show? Remember to rate it! Want to join us for an episode? Contact our host Tamlyn Shimizu. And for more insights, join our Smart City Community!

Today, our journey toward a better urban life led us to the city of Helsingborg, Sweden. In this episode, we sat down with Åsa Bjering, who works in international relations for the city, and we discussed the main event to come in Helsingborg this summer: the 6 weeks-long H22 City Expo. From 30 May to 3 July 2022, it will be the culmination and springboard in the city's long-term initiative to become an enabler of collaborative innovation and be the biggest arena in Europe for sustainable urban transformation in 2022. BABLE will be at H22 City Expo for the Urban Future Conference on June 1st-2nd and at the H22 City Arena on June 15th. Want to meet up? Contact us! Overview of the episode: 02:27 - Teaser: How would you describe Helsingborg in 3 words? 05:07 - How did the idea for H22 City Expo start? 10:19 - What is the central goal behind this initiative? 12:46 - What are the opportunities and benefits for city representatives coming to Helsingborg? 14:15 - The H22 program: a little bit for everyone 16:55 - Bringing out the super-hero in everyone 18:31 - What are the benefits for companies? 20:10 - A 6 weeks-long expo: will it be worth it? 22:20 - What is it that makes us belong in a city? 23:40 - Roll with the Punches: our guest answers "this or that" questions 25:13 - Ending Question: To you, what is a Smart City?   Liked our show? Remember to rate it! Want to join us for an episode? Contact our host Tamlyn Shimizu. And for more insights, join our Smart City Community!

On our journey toward a better urban life, we talk about cities but also Smart City solutions and trends. In this episode, we discuss Heat Waste Reuse with Michael Oghia, former Director of External Relations for the Sustainable Digital Infrastructure Alliance (SDIA), and Miguel Mósca, Smart Cities Consultant at BABLE. The SDIA strives to bring together companies, individuals, and governments to advocate and realize key initiatives such as heat reuse, smarter power consumption, and efficient use of resources. Overview of the episode: 01:56 - Teaser: If SDIA were a superhero, what would its power be? 04:53 - What is SDIA, its goals, and its activities? 07:45 - What does "Heat Waste Reuse" mean? 11:28 - Looking at it from an investment perspective 16:18 - An advantage for rural areas as well... 17:29 - ... that can be implemented at a local level 21:14 - Roll with the Punches: our guest answers "this or that" questions 25:09 -  Ending Question: To you, what is a Smart City?   Liked our show? Remember to rate it! Want to join us for an episode? Contact our host Tamlyn Shimizu. And for more insights, join our Smart City Community!

The second stop on our journey toward a better urban life is in Heraklion, Greece with its Vice-Mayor Yiannis Anastasakis. Heraklion is the administrative capital of the island of Crete and the fourth largest city in Greece. Yiannis Anastasakis is Vice-Mayor of Technical Works, Daily Life & Greenery for the Municipality of Heraklion since 2019, and was before that Vice-Mayor of Technical Projects, Autopilot & European Programmes for 5 years. In this episode, we discuss the transformations of the city for the past 20 years, the projects aiming to bring the famous landmark of the Venetian Walls of Heraklion back into the daily life of its inhabitants, as well as mobility, resilience, and urban planning. Overview of the episode: 01:22 - Teaser: What is the one thing people do not know about Greece? 02:56 - Of the advantages of visiting your urban planning projects by foot  03:39 - Heraklion: from the “most ugly city in Greece” to "a city under transformation" 05:57 - The Venitian Walls of Heraklion and their rehabilitation 11:47 - Of the difficulties of collaborating between different parties in the public sector 13:45 - Overcoming water scarcity with circular economy 15:12 - A few recommendations for Mayors or Project Managers undertaking similar projects 19:14 - Flip the Script: our guest is askin

What better place to start our journey toward a better urban life than in Copenhagen? In this episode, Rikke Peterson and Anders Sloth Nielsen from the investment promotion agency Copenhagen Capacity, as well as Martine Reinhold Kildeby from BLOXHUB, a sustainable urbanisation hub, are sharing success and mess up stories from their work with companies and cities in Denmark and around the world. Hear first-hand advice for companies wanting to integrate Copenhagen’s ecosystem and gain inspiration for Smart City implementations. Want to join us for an episode? Contact our host Tamlyn Shimizu. And for more insights, join our Smart City Community!

What exactly is a Smart City? The answer will always be different depending on who you ask. But despite the concept's diversity, it speaks to people from different cities and organisations, all striving to build more sustainable and liveable cities. And soon, you will hear directly from them in our podcast. We hope to see you at the next stop on the journey to a better urban life! Join our Smart City Community: https://www.bable-smartcities.eu/