Smart cities are at the forefront of global thinking on urban development. Perth and Kinross Council has been working since 2016 to develop smart city ideas and projects – supported until 2023 by the European Regional Development Fund ‘8th City’ Programme.  A smart city was defined in this Programme as the:

 “Integration of data and digital technologies into a strategic approach to sustainability, citizen well-being and economic development.”

Smart cities are attractive places to live, work and visit. The Perth and Kinross area already has many amenities and a good quality of life, and becoming a smart city (Perth and its wider area) will only add to its appeal and competitiveness.

The smart city is a connected city where systems such as traffic lights, CCTV, digital signs, air quality monitoring, lighting and parking bays are connected through a communications network. Data from the sensors in each of these systems is used to help manage the city.  Some examples of projects we have implemented are shown below:

The priorities for Perth and Kinross smart city work now are:

  • Making sure all the benefits of the ERDF investment into data and technology are realised and extended.
  • Boosting our gigabit capable fixed fibre and mobile networks so everyone has the world class digital connectivity that we all need
  • Continuing our investment in data and digital technologies and developing our data analytics and Open Data Platform.
  • Investing in Internet of Things (IoT) technologies and ICT architecture that enables data, technology and service innovation.
  • Applying technology to areas such as health and social care so that we can rapidly change the way these services are delivered so that are economic and efficient.
  • Help citizens and businesses engage with and improve their take up of digital services.

The achievement of this smart city vision will be a process, in which increased citizen engagement, infrastructure, social capital and digital technologies make Perth and Kinross more liveable, resilient and better able to respond to future challenges.

We developed a draft Smart City Strategy in 2016 and will soon be updating it but read the Strategy document here.