Speech by Jose Luis Schafer, UNALE President of Brazil, at 2014 China International Friendship Cities Conference

I will start my speech greeting the event organizers for the opportunity to meet you in this so prosperous city and an example of development and industrialization to the world. I believe that everyone who is here for the first time is impressed with the development of the region and the selected audience that is present.

I am a Brazilian parliamentarian from the State of Acre， in the region of the Brazilian Amazon， and I chair UNALE — National Union of Brazilian State Legislators and Legislatives， an entity that congregates the 1，059 state representatives of Brazil. We represent the State legislature from 27 states and we know the importance of the topics that are being discussed at this conference.

With the disorganized growth of the cities， we often face serious problems that disturb and endanger our citizens. For this reason I desire， in this short time， refer to the concept of smart cities.

Cities are increasingly the central and fundamental element of economic and population growth of countries. Already in 2007， 50% of the world’s population lived in urban areas.

With the accelerated pace of these concentrations it has become necessary to develop studies and evaluations on how to reconcile increasingly populated environments and how to meet the most essential needs of its inhabitants.

According to experts， the current context and alert of possible crisis coupled with limited resources， requires a systemic innovation， without which， there will be no social， economic and environmental development of the urban ecosystem.

In this context， these same experts claim that the current global development model is unsustainable. You must construct alternatives that meet at the same time， economic growth， social justice and environmental sustainability.

The expansion in sharp pace of cities， has been the primary triggering factor of global climate change with the known consequences. This is due to the growth of economic activity， industrialization and consumption level of cities.

The conclusion is substantiated by simple statistics: the cities consume 75% of the planet’s energy and produce 80% of greenhouse gas emissions. The dizzying and uncontrolled urbanization has compounded also， critically， the quality of life of urban populations， stressing the difficulty of managing the cities.

In this context， the notion of “smart cities” emerges as a suggested solution for the related problems， undoubtedly the great challenge of the coming years.

A group of researchers from different universities led the Smart Cities Project in Europe， whereby a city should be considered intelligent if it presents substantial progress in six situations: smart governance， intelligent citizens， intelligent environment， intelligent mobility， smart economy and intelligent ways of life.

This means a set of actions and concurrent positions.

Cities with good performance in subjects like economics， portability， governance， environment， life and people fit in the process.

“Intelligent city is a city whose community learned how to learn， to adapt and to innovate”， say the scholars.

The evolution of a city in economic， social and environmental terms depends largely on its ability to create a conductive environment to innovation in the various sectors of society， uniting governments， industries， companies， universities and research centers， organizations， communities and citizens to work cooperatively.

This innovation required， from actions based on information and communication technology would be the process through which are found solutions to problems ranging from the fight against fatal diseases to climate changes; this would be the essential source of improvement of quality of life， for the current generation and for our descendants.

An example of a smart city in Europe is the small Santander， in Spain， with almost 200，000 inhabitants， where there are sensors scattered throughout the city to inform about air quality， traffic conditions and even where there are public parking spaces， to prevent the person crosses beyond their need with the car.

Issues related to logistics and urban mobility are increasingly present on the day of the great metropolises. Coexistence between public and road transport are some of the main challenges in the current agenda of big cities.

In Brazil， for example， the fleet of cars and motorcycles has quadrupled in the last 10 years. On the other hand， public transport did not follow this trend and， nowadays， it is not considered an alternative able to meet satisfactorily the demands of society.

In this sense， Curitiba， capital of the State of Parana， in southern Brazil， is a good example. It will be the first city to house the deployment of the Brazilian pilot project of the Smart Cities 2020 Index.

In other Brazilian cities it increases the implementation of technological intelligence for traffic flow control and there is an improvement on public security situations， through the installation of cameras and monitoring stations.

Anyway， it becomes necessary to invest in technology as a form of aid to the rulers.

In our view， it is actually far more effective — and more prudent — that human and financial resources are directed to the studies and to technological initiatives that target achievable alternatives in order to enable the harmonious coexistence of the Urbanization-Smart Cities.

Actions and energies should be directed to this， instead of high spending on permanent palliatives， in particular in the area of urban mobility， especially in road area and the displacement of people.

Thus， I am convinced that the solution for many of our problems lies in the dialogue and exchange of experiences. This friendship we are establishing and the opportunity that people of different nationalities and continents have in this debate， must be harnessed and developed into working tools to improve people’s lives.

In this regard， I wish to inform you that annually we perform a Brazilian Parliamentary Conference， and we receive international delegations to show our potential， to learn and to cooperate， in the most diverse segments of public administration. All experiments are welcome， as well as your presence. The meeting will take place in May 2015， in the State of Espirito Santo， southeastern Brazil.

Thank you for your attention. Let’s stick together exchanging experiences， helping each other because we live in the same planet and its future depends on our dedication and organization.