Built Environment & Liveability

A smart city is liveable first and technological second. This cluster covers the physical fabric of European cities and the human outcomes that fabric is supposed to deliver — proximity to daily needs, energy-efficient buildings that don't price residents out, and urban environments that support health and inclusion.

Frameworks shaping this work include the New European Bauhaus, the EU Renovation Wave, the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), and the URBACT urban-policy network. Cities like Paris (15-minute city), Vienna (Sozialer Wohnbau retrofit) and Barcelona (Superilles) have set widely-replicated reference points.

Three leaves sit under this cluster: urban planning and proximity models (the spatial frame), smart buildings and retrofitting (the building stock), and health, safety and wellbeing (the human-outcomes layer). Together they answer the question of what the smart city feels like at street level.