Sunderland: the building of a smart, inclusive and sustainable city – Smart Cities World

Report on Sunderland’s Smart City Strategy and Alignment with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Executive Summary

This report analyses the smart city strategy of Sunderland, focusing on its people-centric approach to technological innovation. The city’s initiatives are evaluated based on their contribution to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with a particular emphasis on digital inclusion, strategic partnerships, and sustainable infrastructure. The core principle of Sunderland’s model is the use of technology to improve residents’ lives, ensuring that advancements are inclusive and accessible to all, thereby leaving “no one and nowhere behind.”

Core Strategy: Digital Inclusion and Community Engagement

Sunderland’s smart city programme is founded on the principle of digital inclusion, directly addressing several key SDGs by ensuring technology serves the entire community.

Addressing Inequalities (SDG 10)

The city has implemented a range of initiatives designed to reduce digital and social inequalities. These projects are deliberately community-first, co-designed with residents to meet local needs.

• Free Public Wi-Fi: Superfast, city-wide public Wi-Fi provides essential connectivity for all residents and visitors, bridging the access gap.
• Device Donation Schemes: Programmes are in place to provide digital hardware to those who cannot afford it, ensuring access to essential online services.
• Digital Health Hubs: A network of hubs across the city offers trusted spaces for residents to gain digital skills and access services, tackling the root causes of digital exclusion.

Fostering Quality Education and Economic Growth (SDG 4, SDG 8)

By providing residents with the necessary tools and skills, Sunderland is enhancing life-long learning opportunities and improving employment prospects.

• Skills and Confidence Building: Initiatives focus on equipping residents with the digital literacy required to engage with online services for wellbeing, independence, and employment.
• Enabling Opportunity: Innovation is framed as a means to create opportunities, whether for youth skills development, improved access to health services for older residents, or business growth through smart infrastructure.

Strategic Partnerships for Sustainable Impact

Collaboration is a cornerstone of Sunderland’s success, demonstrating a strong commitment to SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals) by uniting public, private, and voluntary sectors.

Collaboration for the Goals (SDG 17)

Long-term, trust-based partnerships are leveraged to deliver strategic and sustainable outcomes.

• Boldyn Networks Partnership: This collaboration is a long-term commitment to creating a connected city that supports innovation, inclusion, and growth, rather than a single infrastructure project.
• Multi-Sector Health Hubs: The Digital Health Hubs exemplify effective collaboration between the public sector, the voluntary community sector, and residents to deliver measurable social impact.

Enhancing Health and Well-being (SDG 3)

The city’s partnerships are delivering tangible improvements in public health by making services more accessible.

• Access to Health Services: The Digital Health Hubs provide critical access points for residents to connect with digital health services.
• Future of Telehealth: The city is exploring the evolution of these partnerships to incorporate data-driven insights and 5G-enabled services, with a focus on advancing telehealth, mobility, and community safety.

Building Sustainable and Innovative Infrastructure (SDG 9, SDG 11)

Sunderland is developing resilient infrastructure that is both technologically advanced and socially responsible, contributing to the creation of a sustainable and inclusive urban environment.

Enhancing Urban Experience and Connectivity

Digital tools have been deployed to transform how people interact with and experience the city, making it more inclusive and accessible.

• The Sunderland App: This application, along with the free Wi-Fi network, makes the city more navigable and interactive, connecting users to local events, businesses, and council services.
• Measuring Social Impact: Success is measured beyond usage statistics, focusing on social and economic ripple effects such as increased footfall for local businesses (SDG 8) and stronger community engagement (SDG 11).

Integrating Sustainability and Social Value

Social value and sustainability are embedded in every smart city project, ensuring that growth is responsible and benefits the entire community.

1. Local Job Creation: Every project includes a commitment to creating local employment opportunities.
2. Training and Upskilling: Partnerships are structured to provide workforce training and skills development.
3. Environmental Benefit: A strong focus on sustainability ensures that technological advancements contribute to environmental goals. This includes using IoT sensors to reduce energy use and emissions (SDG 7, SDG 13) and deploying digital platforms for smarter transport and resource management (SDG 12).

Future Priorities and Key Learnings

A Model for Inclusive Digital Transformation

Sunderland’s nationally recognised achievements validate its “technology with purpose” approach. The primary lesson for other cities is that successful transformation is driven by a clear vision, strong partnerships, and community trust, rather than the scale of budget. The city’s agility and resident-focused purpose are key strengths.

Next Steps in Sunderland’s Smart City Journey

The city’s ambition is to become the UK’s most connected, inclusive, and people-powered smart city. Future priorities are aligned with this goal and the broader SDGs.

• Expansion of smart infrastructure, including forward-thinking mobility projects.
• Enhanced focus on data-driven insights for service improvement.
• Deepening the commitment to sustainability and continuous skills development for residents.

Analysis of SDGs in the Article

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

• SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

  The article highlights the creation of a “growing network of Digital Health Hubs across the city” to ensure residents can engage with digital services that “support their wellbeing.” This initiative directly connects to promoting health and well-being through accessible services, including telehealth capabilities.

• SDG 4: Quality Education

  The focus on digital inclusion involves providing residents with the “skills and confidence to engage with digital services.” The article mentions “workforce upskilling” and “training opportunities” as part of its social value commitment, which aligns with providing inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning opportunities.

• SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

  The smart city approach aims to improve “employment prospects” for residents. The article mentions that social value commitments include “local job creation” and that smart infrastructure benefits local businesses, leading to “inclusive growth.”

• SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure

  This is a core theme of the article. Sunderland’s smart city journey is built on deploying technology and innovation, such as “free, superfast public wifi,” “expanded IoT capability, and 5G-enabled services.” This focuses on building resilient infrastructure and fostering innovation.

• SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

  The principle of “digital inclusion” is central to Sunderland’s strategy, aiming to ensure every resident benefits “regardless of age, background or income.” The city’s motto of “leaving no one and nowhere behind” directly addresses the goal of reducing inequality by making technology and its benefits accessible to all.

• SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

  The entire article is about creating a “smart city” that is inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable. Initiatives like “smarter transport,” “community safety,” and using “IoT sensors to reduce energy use and emissions” are direct efforts to make the city more sustainable and enhance the quality of life for its residents.

• SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

  The article repeatedly emphasizes the importance of collaboration. It details the “partnership with Boldyn Networks,” collaborations with Microsoft, and partnerships between the “public sector, the voluntary community sector, and local residents” as key to the success of its initiatives, reflecting the spirit of this goal.

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

1. Target 3.8: Achieve universal health coverage

   The establishment of “Digital Health Hubs” and the exploration of “5G-enabled services – particularly in areas like telehealth” are direct actions to increase access to quality essential health-care services for all residents.

2. Target 4.4: Increase the number of youth and adults with relevant skills for employment

   The city’s focus on providing residents with “tools, skills and confidence to engage with digital services” and embedding “training opportunities” and “workforce upskilling” into its projects directly contributes to this target.

3. Target 8.3: Promote policies that support job creation and enterprise growth

   By including “local job creation” as a social value commitment and providing “smart infrastructure” that benefits local businesses, Sunderland is actively promoting policies that support productive activities and decent job creation.

4. Target 9.c: Significantly increase access to information and communications technology

   The provision of “free, superfast public wifi” and the development of a city-wide digital infrastructure, including 5G, are explicit efforts to provide universal and affordable access to the Internet and ICT.

5. Target 10.2: Empower and promote the social and economic inclusion of all

   The entire “digital inclusion” strategy, which underpins every project to ensure benefits for all “regardless of age, background or income,” is a direct implementation of this target, aiming to leave “no one and nowhere behind.”

6. Target 11.6: Reduce the adverse per capita environmental impact of cities

   The article explicitly mentions a “strong focus on sustainability” which includes “using IoT sensors to reduce energy use and emissions” and using digital platforms for “smarter transport and resource management,” directly addressing the reduction of the city’s environmental footprint.

7. Target 17.17: Encourage and promote effective public, public-private and civil society partnerships

   The success of the smart city program is attributed to “shared purpose and trust” in its collaborations, such as the “long-term commitment” with Boldyn Networks and the joint efforts of the public sector, community sector, and residents in creating Digital Health Hubs. This perfectly exemplifies the multi-stakeholder partnerships promoted by this target.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

• Social and Inclusion Indicators:

  The article suggests measuring success beyond simple usage statistics. Implied indicators include the number of residents with digital skills, the number of people accessing services through Digital Health Hubs, the number of devices distributed through “device donation schemes,” and the level of community engagement through digital platforms.

• Economic Indicators:

  Progress is measured by “increased footfall in key areas,” “stronger engagement between businesses and residents,” the number of “local job creation” opportunities, and the amount of investment attracted to the city.

• Infrastructure and Connectivity Indicators:

  While the article downplays their importance as the sole measure of success, “downloads or data usage” of the Sunderland App and public Wi-Fi are mentioned as metrics. The expansion of the “superfast, free wifi network” and IoT capability are also key indicators of progress.

• Sustainability Indicators:

  The article implies that progress can be measured by the “reduce[d] energy use and emissions” as monitored by IoT sensors and the implementation of “smarter transport and resource management” systems.

4. Table of SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

Source: smartcitiesworld.net