Dublin: the Docklands, a testbed for a Smart City District

Interview with Jamie Cudden, Smart City Lead – Dublin City Council. Officially launched in February 2018, Smart Docklands is the result of various initiatives launched in the past years. The programme concerns a district which currently home 500 businesses, 44,000 workers and 26,000 residents. The priorities for this smart district are the mobility, environment, buildings and infrastructures. Could the innovative solutions currently being tested and/or implemented in Dublin be replicated by AIVP port cities members who are facing the same challenges? Let’s talk with Jamie Cudden, Smart City Lead – Dublin City Council. Dublin City Council is an active AIVP member since 2012 and the Dublin Port Company since 2018 AIVP – There are various examples in the world of City Port spaces being transformed in hub for innovation. Can you explain us why the Docklands area has been chosen for being a smart city testbed? Jamie Cudden, Dublin City Council – From its origins as a thriving industrial port area the district experienced a period of significant urban dereliction in the 20th century. A period of transformation was initiated in the late 1980’s to reinvent the area into a global financial service hub. In 1997 the Dublin Docklands Development Authority (DDDA) was created by the DDDA Act 1997 to lead a major project of physical, social and economic regeneration of the area. The Project extended over 520 hectares, at the core of which were former Dockland areas comprising some 100 hectares of substantially derelict or low value industrial land. The various communities lying in the area outside of this core comprised some 17,500 people. Although there was a very strong and active sense of community, the area had severe economic and social problems. This Docklands has radically changed, not only through major phases of mixed use property development but also by involving local communities in the planning. The area was subject to a fast track development process (strategic development zone) since 2009 which has accelerated development. The Dublin Docklands was selected as a location for this testbed due to its unique potential as a Smart City District. It has a diverse and growing population of residents and workers, and is home also to many of the world’s leading global technology companies, who are ready and eager to make use of having a cutting-edge urban technology ‘sandbox’ in their backyard. "Smart Docklands" – a Smart Dublin district, which was officially launched in February 2018 under Dublin City Council’s Smart City Program. Furthermore, the area has benefited from significant property and infrastructure investment in recent years under DCC’s Strategic Development Zone plans. Building on these foundations, our vision is to make the Dublin Docklands one of the best districts to live and work in the world. We do this through connecting diverse communities with each other, and empowering them to take an active role in developing and harnessing technology that will improve their lives. As a result of these measures, the port city of Dublin,…