Carbon Footprint and Smart Cities : from bottom-up initiatives towards environmental sustainability

Smart Cities are a recently developed concept which helps cities hoarded by rapid urbanization and ever-increasing population to innovate themselves and be sustainable. By the implementation of disruptive technologies and carbon literacy, their efficiency can be increased and set environmental sustainability as the principal marker for better livability within the city. That is why the newly formed definition of Smart Sustainable City represents a concept that should be utilized by all the stakeholders involved while aiming to positively evolve the Smart City context. Stakeholder involvement, in particular the citizens’ participation in the decision-making process is, now more than ever, a key feature for every city that desires becoming more “smart” and more environmentally sustainable. This involvement through Bottom-Up approaches gives practitioners and decision-makers potential new insights helpful to shape the city in the right direction. This research follows the five steps process to identify the practical advantages of the citizens’ involvement. A four-week study with 93 active participants from three pilot European city was set. This study, alongside a database model composed by ad-hoc environmental indicators, sets to be an example of how citizens’ literacy and feedback can be implemented and increase environmental sustainability, fostering the chances of a positive outcome. Furthermore, thanks to the validation received from Smart City practitioners, it promotes the inclusion of citizens within the decision-making context and an improved ready-to-use framework