The new president of the Smart City Cluster in Spain, economist José María Zambrano, partner at 3CS Strategic Economic Consulting, reviews the challenges of smart cities for Digital Shield: protection of critical infrastructures, data preservation, cybersecurity, sustainability, mobility, quality of life, equality..
QUESTION: What are the main challenges a smart city must face?
ANSWER: To continue being smart and to continue having smart people. Let me explain: there are cities that lose population and others that gain it; often there is no cohesion between the loss and the gain. There is a demographic challenge, the first one that a smart city must face. Improving the quality of life, both for those who are there and for those who come, that is a great challenge. And to achieve it, inequalities must be corrected, progress must be made on sustainability so that the city continues to be a place where one can live and that mobility in large metropolises is sustainable and affordable for all citizens. That one can work in one area of the city and reside in another without it being a personal failure. Job opportunities are much greater with sustainable mobility. Cities then become an economic attraction that allows families to have a life project. And it is also important that we do not fall into dataism, that we do not let machines speak to each other and remove the human being from the decision-making process. This must be combined with avoiding that data thieves dominate technology at their whim.
"Improving the quality of life is a great challenge for smart cities."
Q: How is the protection of the digital world and of the physical infrastructures in a smart city?
A: Physical and digital security are very similar. There are always good and bad people. The good ones are the citizens and public administrations; and of the bad ones, every day we know less about them. Before, they would physically steal our wallet or bag with a snatch. Today they are platforms located in other destinations, in other countries. We know where they are, but not who they are. Therefore, there is an endless race; and the most important thing is to be aware of the importance of prevention and protection. No one is safe and there are many useful tools, but we must be aware that they must be used.
Q: What are the biggest risks for cybersecurity in a smart city?
A: Until recently, we did not imagine that critical infrastructures (such as energy or water control) could be hacked. But now their digitalization entails threats. The management of cities can be compromised. Before, a traffic light system was controlled by a person who coordinated it. Now, it is programmed through an algorithm. And those programs can be hacked. Critical infrastructures and data protection are the elements most at risk.
Q: How will security change? How will law enforcement work?
A: Given the large number of threats that did not exist before, the border between the digital and physical world is increasingly blurred. Security requires very robust models, with AI to prevent attacks, not just to reject them. Cities must combine artificial and human intelligence because they must constantly anticipate what critical cases might be to put up a shield that prevents the bad guys from entering. And agents must be protected by those kinds of assistants to help them make decisions. They will even have to be assisted by robots for their integrity. Anticipation is key. With digital twins and AI, simulations can be carried out that allow us to make decisions.
"Cities must combine artificial and human intelligence."
Q: Are the bad guys ahead of the good guys, are they more technologically empowered?
A: States are more aware of the importance of security: a few years ago, national cybersecurity centers did not exist, and now they inform cities of the risks. The bad guys may be ahead of the good guys, if I may say so, but new firewalls are being put in place. However, the fact that attackers are agents from outside the European Union (EU) limits control possibilities. Therefore, the investment that States and cities must make in public-private collaboration in the European field is essential not to depend solely on certain technological oligarchs who do not reside in Europe. That is why there must be an open innovation model from the European Commission that allows cities to be more secure.
Nevertheless, right now the malice consists in obtaining financial data or key infrastructure data to later decipher them with quantum processes. We must keep in mind the famous Q-Day, the moment when quantum computers can break encryption systems. My hope is that cities invest in and develop technology to limit access to the wicked, to have a "more secure cybersecurity."
"Cities must invest in quantum technology to limit access to the wicked."
Q: Do we run the risk of suffering a data dictatorship?
A: More than a dictatorship, we run the risk of only talking about data, and data, numbers, are flat, and ideas are deep and based on data, but it is the human being who produces ideas and carries them out. If we are only looking at data, KPIs, and with them some algorithm decides for us, we would be making our city intelligence no longer smart. A city would be condemned if it does not have intelligent governance. As they say, data kills the narrative, but data serves as support for someone to make decisions. The human being must continue to make decisions in cities.
Q: How is privacy guaranteed in a smart city?
A: By being aware that citizens, companies, and administrations know that the data is ours. I am very afraid that the data from a vision camera or a sensor is given by an administration to whoever implemented the technology. The data belongs to the cities, in Spain to the municipalities, and their ownership must be with the municipality. Another thing is that there is a contract with a specialized company that helps with that processing. If we are aware that not anyone can use our data but that we are the owners, it would change the guarantee of privacy and awareness.
Q: Will there be gaps? First and second-class smart cities? First and second-class neighborhoods?
A: There have always been first and second-class neighborhoods and first and second-class cities. For this process to be more interoperable, all structures must be installed in a city and not be exclusive. It makes no sense for there to be a technology that improves quality of life and is not shared, respecting of course intellectual property rights. Cities compete locally, regionally, and globally. The challenge for those who build them must be that there are no differences that cause comparative grievances. A smart city must pursue the well-being of its citizens and that its technological capacity can be exported to other urban centers.
Q: How will air, land, and sea traffic be coordinated?
A: There must be a capacity to share data. Public-private collaboration will increase the capabilities of cities to be more competent in this area and more competitive. A traffic control system in a population does not make sense if it is not in contact with the surrounding populations. The metropolis, a city surrounded by smaller cities, must share its mobility systems. Air, land, and sea traffic must be interconnected, depend on governance, and a coordinated decision-making system.
Q: What is urban cyber-resilience?
A: It is a concept that refers to the ability to anticipate, resist, recover, and evolve. Resilience refers to the ability to adapt when a fortuitous event occurs. Urban cyber-resilience involves anticipating technological change, the new paradigm of citizen use and custom, and climate change; knowing how to prepare for it before a catastrophe or a new need that the city did not cover occurs. The city must be listening to all the data it produces to anticipate, and that anticipation in some cases will be reactive, in others defensive, and in others proactive.
"Urban cyber-resilience involves anticipating, preparing before a catastrophe occurs."
Q: What can a future smart city offer that we cannot imagine right now?
A: In two aspects, mobility and housing. Europe needs many more homes than it has. Housing must be smart, located in smart neighborhoods with affordable access. The configuration of cities will be affected by the fact that teenagers and young people are not considering buying a car because in a few years there will be new shared use formulas, both for parking and vehicles or charging systems. When I need a car, I will request it by mobile, it will arrive at the door, possibly autonomously. It will take me to my destination, perhaps shared, and the vehicle will be electric. All this will influence production factors. Access to housing will also lead to new solutions being reconsidered.
Q: Will smart cities make us happier?
A: I believe so, because if not, they will not be smart. Intelligence must go hand in hand with happiness, utility, practicality; that makes us gain more time for ourselves. The best sensor that exists is the citizens, the smart citizens, who communicate to managers, both administrative and political, what feeling the city produces in them. The administration must be receptive and make decisions so that those who inhabit the cities have greater happiness.
Q: A final note...
A: Smart cities must have a system of public and private services that guarantees the population greater levels of equality and security. It is technology that can provide this coexistence between equality and security.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Antonio M. Figueras
Dieser Artikel ist neu veröffentlicht von / This article is republished from: Escudo digital, 23.03.2026
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