Now that the COP26 objectives and targets for 2030 and 2050 have been discussed, I bring to readers a somewhat daring proposal, in our time of great transitions and so many imponderables.
Territorial collective intelligence and smart cities are the order of the day. Intelligent territories are, as we know, a kind of new emblem of territorial politics and the network society.
Therefore, it is worth making an analytical effort in order to better understand what it consists of and what is at stake when it comes to smart territories and digital strategy.
The proposal that I bring here is only a use of the principle of contiguity or proximity economies. I'm talking about a city-region, the Ecopolis of Faro-Olhão-Loulé-S.Brás.
The collective intelligence of a city-region
On a more general level, the collective strategy of a city-region can pursue four types of territorial intelligence that frame and delimit everything else:
– A simple optimization of resources in the provision of conventional public services, is the case of smart cities, a version, let's say, performative,
– A provision of inter-municipal commons as a result of some form of inter-municipal urban network, a version, say, cooperative,
– The launch of made in platforms to develop the co-production of the multi-local society, a collaborative version, let's say,
– The creation of an integrated digital ecosystem aimed at a territorial development strategy, a systemic version, as an instrument for the formation of new network and agglomeration economies at regional and sub-regional levels.
As noted, there are different scales and levels of complexity to meet and it is clear from the outset that there is a long distance between the simple intelligent provision of public services in a smart city and the creation of an integrated digital ecosystem within the framework of a strategy period of territorial development.
Today, as we know, the technological and managerial version of the smart city prevails. Indeed, today there is a very varied package of services that includes digital infrastructure, integrated energy networks and energy efficiency, management of smart neighborhoods, urban connections and mobility, online administration, urban platforms and its interoperability, the environment and quality of life indicators, the collection and processing of data and, finally, the security of citizens and systems in action in the smart city.
This is, in general, the methodological approach that is taken by the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities (ANMP). Therefore, many Portuguese cities will, simultaneously or at different times, proceed to the virtualization of conventional services in a vertical service-user perspective and the creation of made-in platforms in a more horizontal and peer-peer collaborative perspective which also includes a logic more individualistic city uberized with GPS systems and numerous applications.
There is, however, a long way to go between the comfort of a digital platform managed by an online network and the discomfort of a real problem managed by a real, intercity, associative or private community. This is where the region-city approach is inscribed.
The Ecopolis of Faro-Olhão-Loulé-S.Brás
COP26 poses great challenges for us. In a context of decarbonization, digitization and deterritorialization, the reterritorialization of intelligent digital environments can be a difficult but rewarding experience.
In precision agriculture, urban management, territory tourism, circular economy, forest management, organization of events, this reterritorialization can already be observed.
Digitization has already allowed us to produce technical, creative and cultural content from material resources. But the new immaterial resources thus produced now need to be rematerialized and reterritorialized.
And here begins another phase of territorial management that aims to create and network small agglomeration economies around small nuclei of territorial governance, for example: decentralized energy production networks, local and multi-local food production networks, management proactive biodiversity and ecosystem services, forest intervention zones, amenities, landscape arts and biophysical architecture, rural tourism and the management of agro-rural condominiums as a model of collaborative innovation, among other examples.
In this context, intelligent environments will permanently accompany economic activities and, in many cases, with the provision of services by start-ups in the first line.
We talk, for example, from preventive forestry to fire ecology, from hydrology to bioengineering, from precision agriculture to biological struggle and landscape architecture, from telemedicine to outpatient services at home, not to mention the real revolution in tourist visitation, which starts as an ex situ pre-visit and later becomes an interactive in situ visit. This is, perhaps, the best example of the digitalization – territorialization binomial.
Now, it is precisely here that the network and proximity economies of these four geographically contiguous Algarve councils fit. And to increase the network-intensity of this proximity and collaborative connection strategy, some fundamental operational instruments are relevant that must be put into the field, namely:
– In the area of water resources, the integrated management of water lines, rainwater retention basins and wastewater bio-purification ponds,
– In the area of agricultural land, a composting center for organic waste, soil regeneration and good circular economy practices,
– In the area of energies, a pedagogical-recreational park of renewable energies and its articulation with electric mobility, bioconstruction and bioclimatization,
– In the area of smooth mobility, collective and shared transport, cycle paths and proximity outpatient services for the benefit of public health and active aging programs,
– In the area of local food supply, a land bank for the management of available plots, the association between biopurification ponds and support for fish farming and agrobiological production, the network of local markets and short marketing circuits, the organization of institutional food,
– In the area of agroforestry production, preventive forestry services, integrated landscape management areas for the rehabilitation of burned areas and the use of multifunctional groves in landscape planning,
– In the pedagogical, recreational and therapeutic area, a pedagogical-therapeutic space with multipurpose residences, vacation camp and volunteer work, 4J gardening center (floriculture, horticulture, aromatic and medicinal herbs), aromatic and medicinal essence laboratory, beekeeping center , etc,
– In the area of ecological and heritage tourism, the definition of a network of heritage, natural and cultural paths and routes, as well as the respective visitation devices.
Perhaps more important than these areas of action is their network-intensity and, even more, their incorporation into value chains of final goods and services. And this incorporation is truly the biggest challenge for ecopolis, its brand image, its business card.
As an example, the Mediterranean diet is a distinctive territorial sign and this distinction, associated with local resources and handicrafts, can help ecopolis to design new products and services that we do not even imagine today.
Final grade
The proposal of an Ecopolis Faro-Olhão-Loulé-S.Brás aims to introduce a good part of the interior of these municipalities in the path of the 2nd rurality, of a new urban agriculture, one that will answer for the great challenges of the climatic, energetic and agro-ecological transition.
For all these reasons, it is imperative that the four councils draw up a new social contract for the economies of proximity that bring together residents, producer clubs, local production systems and the landscape units in which they belong.
Ecopolis lays the foundations for an urban agroecology of the near future. In this new urban agroecology, green infrastructure will have a prominent place in urban planning, prevention and therapy.
These ecological infrastructures will be essential in the territorial projection of the smart city, as they will be able to function as the turning plates of the green corridors or as the new central places of the city-region.
If these four Algarve councils want to compensate for the excessive touristification/littoralization of their territory, here they have an excellent opportunity to rebalance their region towards the 2nd rurality and provide an exemplary response to the climate emergency.
Author António Covas is a Retired Full Professor at the University of Algarve
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