Smart cities put together lifestyle and sustainability. Cártago’s local government aims to that. It is intended that, by 2021, Cártago becomes the first city of its kind in Costa Rica. Mayor Rolando Rodríguez explained that it will be a gradual process.
A smart city is defined as a model city with an intelligent environment, with services and technological solutions aimed to facilitate and transform citizens’ life quality. They also have little impact on the natural environment and count on a local government to maintain its economic growth, according to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
To achieve this, the municipality has been implementing small actions in order to turn it into a digital city:
-Technological infrastructure modernization.
-Free Internet in parks and public places.
-Literacy.
-Local implementation for service payment.
The main challenge for the local government is to build a smart platform for efficient land management, urban environment and all digitized services.
Since the total investment needed is unknown, the municipalities expect small actions to be implemented trough the years.
Cities like Tokyo, London, New York, Zürich and Paris are already part of this model.