The PPP model is established; now Smart City wants to drive cities forward
The PPP model for public-private partnerships is now well established in Switzerland and is increasingly being used for smart city projects. The Smart City approach, which shares many similarities with the PPP model, aims to make cities more efficient, technologically advanced, greener and socially inclusive.
Lorenz Bösch, President of the PPP Switzerland Association, emphasized at the General Assembly in Bern that the PPP model is now well established in Switzerland and is increasingly being considered for larger projects and tasks. The association's publications and events in recent years have made a significant contribution to this.
Standardization of the PPP model has become firmly established in some areas. The association's efforts have helped to ensure that core elements of the PPP model have been incorporated and established as binding specifications by the federal government, the federal procurement conference and many other administrations.
The knowledge gained with the support of many experts is publicly accessible. The association has thus largely achieved the goals it set itself and will cease its activities at the end of the month.
Smart City - means what exactly?
With a last public information event on the topic of "Smart City", the association PPP Switzerland, founded in 2006, ended its activities. The association had set itself the goal of anchoring the new model of public-private partnerships for the fulfillment of public tasks in Switzerland and promoting its standardization. The Smart City theme, which is also based on partnerships, aims to achieve ecological, economic and social sustainability, particularly in cities, and has many similarities with the association's previous efforts. According to current projections, Switzerland will have around ten million inhabitants in 2045 - the majority of them in large cities.
Smart City is a collective term for holistic development concepts that aim to make cities more efficient, technologically advanced, greener and socially inclusive. These concepts include technical, economic and social innovations.
According to Dr. Christian Geiger, President of the Smart City Hub Switzerland association, precautions are needed to maintain the quality of life and location in Switzerland. He is convinced that this is only possible in partnership between society, politics, administration and business.
New impetus for cities and more quality of life and location
Smart City Hub Switzerland was founded in summer 2018 by the cities of St. Gallen, Winterthur, Zug and Zurich together with SBB, Swisscom and Swiss Post. Other cities have become members in recent months, including Basel, Wil SG, Ittigen, Aarau, Lenzburg, Lucerne and Schaffhausen. Others are to follow, including cities from French-speaking Switzerland and Ticino. The association aims to promote the topic of smart cities throughout Switzerland with concrete projects. A central task of the Smart City Hub Switzerland is also to support its members in the implementation of public and private projects.
Philippe Stadler Benz, interim head of the Smart City program at SBB, emphasized that SBB can make a significant contribution to a smart Switzerland with its networked mobility services, nationwide infrastructures and central, large-scale areas. Aware of this economic responsibility, it wants to support cantons, cities and municipalities as a strong partner on the path to the smart city.
In spring 2019, the canton of Basel-Stadt and SBB opened the Smart City Lab Basel on the Wolf site, a few minutes by bike south of Basel's SBB train station. The Lab enables partners from business, science and government to develop and test innovative solutions for the city of tomorrow and for improving the quality of life and competitiveness of Switzerland as a whole. Until 2024, the Smart City Lab Basel offers around 160,000 m2 of space for smart city pilot projects and brings together ideas, knowledge and people to jointly address current and future challenges. The thematic focus is on the areas of mobility and logistics. Initial partners are working in the areas of city logistics, lighting control, energy, traffic counting and 3D data.
PPP model established, PPP Switzerland association ceases its activities
The knowledge developed by the PPP Association and its writings will be kept publicly available in the future by the Swiss Society for Administrative Sciences (www.sgvw.ch)
