Case study: Cluj-Napoca – the new smart city

With a view to harmonious and modern development, public administrations involve citizens in decision-making processes and civic activities. In order to raise the standard of living and implement innovative projects, town halls must integrate green spaces and digitization of services.

The City Hall of Cluj-Napoca has developed a project that involves the planting of over 100,000 trees in the coming years, in order to expand the green space, install a network of sensors to monitor air, water and soil quality and transform ecological transport in the city.

Collaborative projects are also being developed that consider the creation of train and subway infrastructure. The projects regarding the digitization of public services were implemented at a fast pace, in Cluj-Napoca there are currently over 175 digital programs that facilitate collaboration between citizens and the public administration. In this context, we can mention Antonia – the first virtual officer in Romania and Blue Ticket, an online communication system through video conferencing between residents and officials, in addition to the MyCluj notification channel and the online payment option for all fees and taxes, as well as obtaining all approvals or authorizations online. Another tool that involves citizens, developed in Cluj-Napoca, is the CIIC (Centre for Innovation and Civic Imagination) which publicly presents large projects through the interaction between residents, specialists and decision-makers, so that the final result of the project meets the needs as best as possible the local community.

In Cluj, following these processes, clear, impactful results can be observed: closed circuit school buses for transporting students to and from school, smart fitness equipment and outdoor educational activities.