Box Story: Oslo's Smart City Initiatives

Oslo has ranked highly across various Smart City indices due to the city’s dedicated efforts to improve sustainability and resilience. There are a wide range of projects implemented in Oslo which aim to improve the daily lives of residents, following the key principles of openness, connectedness, sustainability and innovation. Information and communication technology and IoT solutions are seamlessly integrated into Oslo’s built environment to regulate and enhance various aspects of the city’s operations.

Come 2030, Oslo aims to reduce emissions by 95% (Pexels)

Implementing Oslo's Smart City Initiatives

Oslo’s projects centre on intelligent systems that are integrated across the city. An energy-efficient street lighting system remotely monitors and adjusts lighting levels in response to traffic and weather conditions. Additionally, data is transmitted via powerline to a geographic information system (GIS) database, which tracks the operational lifespan of each fixture. This feature has been estimated to improve overall efficiency by 30%. Since the project’s implementation, Oslo has successfully reduced energy consumption by 70% and carbon dioxide emissions by 1,440 tons per year. Data plays a key role in the implementation of Oslo’s Smart City strategies, such as the FutureBuilt programme which supports the completion of projects that are aimed at reducing the greenhouse gas emissions of buildings by at least 50%. Through FutureBuilt, a building’s carbon footprint is estimated with the use of greenhouse gas accounting tools, and emissions are tracked at three main phases of the development process— "reference building”, “projected building” and “as built”.

Reference building involves the use of an equivalent building located in the same area as a digital model, whereas the projected building phase refers to the proposed new design, which should halve greenhouse gas emissions. At the as-built phase, actual emissions are calculated to assess the project’s performance. FutureBuilt is thus a pioneering programme that establishes greenhouse gas calculation as a requirement before beginning development. As of March 2024, 75 of 100 targeted pilot projects have been completed or are undergoing implementation.

To effectively measure the impact of all ongoing projects, Oslo has also developed a Climate Dashboard, which tracks and displays environmental data in real time. The dashboard provides an overview of how climate-related indicators like air quality, cyclist and pedestrian share, and the number of active charging stations for electric vehicles have changed over time.

Conclusion

Oslo’s smart city initiatives demonstrate how climate-neutral urban areas can be developed through robust experimentation and innovation. By implementing demand-controlled technology across city-wide systems and in public and commercial buildings, Oslo has also increased energy efficiency and lowered overall consumption. With strategic use of data-driven solutions and thoughtful integration of IoT into urban spaces, the city succeeds in reducing its overall carbon footprint while creating attractive, liveable neighbourhoods.