Toward Resilient Smart Cities: The Experience of Genoa

Smart city has been a recent trend in the urban strategy, aiming at improving the quality of life in cities and reducing our ecological footprint with the use of innovative technologies, especially in energy systems, local mobility, and e-government. Recently, due to the declaration of climate change emergency, citizens expect their local governments to be able to plan not only smart cities but also resilient cities that can withstand shocks and face them adequately. Smart transformation and resilience appear to be converging strategies. They require technology, innovation, and good governance to create sustainable cities delivering a better quality of life and environmental protection. However, these two strategies do not converge independently and must be consciously merged to produce the desired results. This paper investigates the evolution from smart to resilient cities. The study findings showed that a comprehensive strategic plan is necessary to achieve this objective. Using an interventionist approach to the R2Cities project developed by the city of Genoa, this paper aims to show the evolutionary path toward smart and resilient cities.