Bologna: smart community e smart governance

In recent years, numerous definitions of Smart City seem to tend toward approaches and solutions strongly linked to socio-cultural characteristics of each city. This assumption is confirmed by the results of recent scientific research and reports in Europe, which show substantial differences between European and Italian Smart Cities, but also among the main Italian cities. The recent report “Mapping Smart Cities in the EU”, of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy of the European Parliament, identifies a trend increasingly linked to the context as a parameter of the most virtuous for the replicability of initiatives, indicating “an approach to the territory no longer fragmented and sectorial but a vision of the Smart City increasingly integrated and differentiated”.This paper proposes a study on the process and the status of the Smart City in the metropolitan area of Bologna, in the north of Italy, highlighting how, in line with its socio-political history, Bologna Smart City is based on a participatory and on a long-term vision, characterized by objectives of social cohesion and sustainability, pursued through close collaboration between administration, universities and businesses. Through the analysis of smart experiences, developed in the metropolitan area of Bologna since the 90s, conducted deepening on site and interviewing the stakeholders, the paper aims to emphasize the social and community dimension of the Smart City and the relevance of experiences intended to create cohesion and environmental awareness. In this sense, the Smartness deals with not just what is “technology based”, but with “the ability (socio-cultural) to build a network toward a common project”.