This agreement was reached in the course of the business mission of St. Petersburg which visited Barcelona on November 17-19, 2015.
This agreement was reached in the course of the business mission of St. Petersburg which visited Barcelona on November 17-19, 2015. The delegation from St. Petersburg was headed by the Chairwoman of the Committee for Economic Policy and Strategic Planning of St. Petersburg Elena Ulyanova.
The delegation also included the Chairman of the Committee for City Planning and Architecture - Chief architect of St. Petersburg V.A. Grigoriev, the Chairman of the Committee for Construction M.V. Demidenko, the Chairman of the Committee for Energy and Engineering A.S. Bondarchuk, the Chairman of the Committee on IT and Communications I.A. Gromov, and the Head of the Kronstadt District Administration of St. Petersburg V.A. Ponidelko. The program of the delegation included participation in the Smart City EXPO World Congress.
Background information:
Smart City EXPO World Congress in Barcelona is an annual international event featuring achievements and innovative solutions which can be used to develop various functional spheres of modern cities. The Congress is attended by city administrations, major technological companies, research centers, prominent scientists and experts from various countries. Among the partners of the World Congress 2015 are such major corporations as: IBM, Microsoft, Cisco, SAP, ENGIE, Telefonica, Thyssen Krup, FIWARE, INDRA, Ferrovial Services, etc. This year the special sessions of the Congress focused around the use of integrated information technologies to improve city management, innovative strategies in planning and development, the improvement of city mobility and stability, the integration into city economy, the techniques of social service development and the creation of a comfortable urban environment. A meeting of E.V. Ulyanova with representatives of SAP company (develops information solutions for urban process management) was organized as a part of the conference along with an exchange of opinions on the “Smart City” conceptual approach with the Deputy Mayor of Lyon. The delegation from St. Petersburg visited an office of the largest Spanish company “Indra Sistemas” which specializes in the development of integrated information platforms for immediate decision-making in urban process management in general as well as in separate sectors (energy, transport, healthcare, financial services, security). E.V. Ulyanova, Head of the St. Petersburg delegation, attended a meeting with the International Director of Smart City EXPO World Congress Luis Gómez. In the City Hall of Barcelona the St. Petersburg delegation was received by Pablo Sánchez, Director of International Relations at Barcelona City Council. The meeting was also attended by Yu.N. Klimenko, Consul General of Russia in Barcelona. During the meeting, the parties discussed the prospects of developing bilateral cooperation between the partner cities. Barcelona is interested in cooperation with St. Petersburg within the framework of the “smart city” conceptual approach and is willing to pass the experience it has accumulated in various areas. During the visit of the St. Petersburg, delegation meetings with heads of the Department of Infrastructure and Mobility Development of Barcelona, the Department of Urban Habitat, the Department of Transport, the Department of Mobility were also organized and held along with a meeting with the founder of the Institute of Advanced Architecture of Catalonia and the organizer of the Urban Habitat Laboratory W. Müller. Moreover, the delegation visited 22@Barcelona, one of the innovative districts of the city. At the meeting with Dan Lewis, Head of the UN-Habitat Regional Office and Chief of the Urban Risk Reduction Unit, the parties discussed the possibility of St. Petersburg’s participation in the Sustainable Cities Association established as part of the UN Habitat lead by Barcelona which acts as an example for the whole program.
Background information:
Un-Habitat is the key organization in the UN organization system which ensures the exchange of experience between cities of the world in the sphere of sustainable development, solving modern problems of urban planning, and rational use of recourses for the economic and social development of cities.