Smart Points to provide smart urban services

Interactive totem (Image 1) and Smart Point (Image 2)

To increase the quality of life for citizens and visitors, the municipality of Bolzano created a network of over 100 Smart Points. To build these Smart Points, the city first installed a multi-purpose Urban Service-Oriented Sensible grid, with the objectives of improving energy distribution and mobility, monitoring local climate and traffic conditions, and retrofitting the public lighting network into a smart lighting system, saving up to 75% of energy through the use of LEDs.

Together with smart points, Bolzano implemented three multifunctional interactive totems acting as charging stations for electric cars and bikes, and providing at the same time a wide range of services to citizens, such as Wi-Fi connection, weather forecast and real-time traffic monitoring information. For these Smart Points to be adopted by citizens, it was essential for the city to identify the needs and desires of local stakeholders in order to define the list of services offered by the Smart Points, and make them truly useful in the everyday lives of citizens. Blended into the existing street lighting system, the Smart Points also have an attractive design, facilitating their integration in the city’s landscape.

To the best decide where to place the Smart Points, EURAC has developed an multi-criteria analytical (MCA) decision support tool for the optimal location of integrated infrastructure. This tool was used to identify optimal locations and set of functions and services for these Smart Points to ensure their maximised visibility and value.