When is a City Smart?
Today, I talked with an old friend of mine in Denmark.
He has been working for many years in the public sector, and today we talked about how cities could become smart, or efficient. During the conversation, he gave an example of a small community, Læsø, which is a small island in the northern part of Denmark. The island has a population of around 1800 people.
He explained that the population has an average age of 54 years. There are a few small farms and a very small community.
As we talked about how daily life for these citizens goes, I thought that perhaps, it is a good idea to attract some businesses and younger investors or perhaps introduce AgriTech to boost productivity. — With my theory of Smart City building block, I thought this would work.
But then he explained that the city had almost zero crimes, and the community was actually happy and comfortable. People leave their doors open and keys in their cars, as they know and trust everyone in this small community.
Why should they attract younger people, who may not like to live in such a remote city, or find the surroundings too “close to nature”.
In fact, as he explained, the community has been living on tourism over the years, and yes they have small fisheries and produce flour from some of the farms, but they cannot compete with foreign imports.
So, they grind the flour the old-fashioned way, on mills, using rocks. They then sell the flour at around $18 or DKK100 per Kg to tourists.
People can visit the farms and walk with the pigs and goats and more. In fact, the citizens have understood how to entertain visitors and maintain a safe community.
Of cause the municipality does invest in healthcare improvements, such as home care and more, but as I learned from the conversation. There is no need to disrupt a community if there is a way to improve the quality of life of the citizens in other ways.
I would say that this approach is a smart approach, as it maintains a balance with the environment while improving the lives of the citizens. Although it does not necessarily provide a sustainable economic community. Then, this community or city is so small, that it depends on the surrounding cities.
