11 November 2021

#BG4SDGs: the future passes through Smart Cities

According to the World Urbanization Prospect published in 2018 by the United Nations, by 2050 two thirds of the global population will live in large cities, with three countries - India, China and Nigeria - that will drive the development of this demographic phenomenon.

For this reason, today, intensive urbanization represents one of the greatest challenges of our society, so much so that it is included in the UN Agenda 2030. A challenge that we wanted to deepen in the new episode of #BG4SDGs together with an exceptional guest: Marco Pavone, Associate Professor at Stanford University and Director of NVIDIA's Autonomous Vehicle Research Lab.

At the center of the discussion with Pavone, led as usual by the Director of the Corriere Innovazione Massimo Sideri, there was therefore the theme of "Sustainable Cities and Communities" with the aim of investigating the state of the art of technologies that can promote concrete development of Smart Cities.

The Stanford Professor said: "One of the main problems related to large urban agglomerations is that of mobility. Self-driving cars are one of the possible responses that intervene in favor of the development of sustainable and inclusive cities. In the last 10 years, the different technologies presented have the potential to change the world of urban mobility: electric cars, the economy of sharing (car-sharing), connectivity between vehicles to effectively manage traffic or vehicles designed for specific purposes are just some of the answers to the problem".

The large amount of data circulating in smart cities - thanks to the IoT - can support administrations to better manage the community which, as confirmed by Pavone:" after the house, the car is the second investment of a family where travel takes up between 5% -10% of the time of a day. Putting together the new functional mobility system and the financial return will be essential to look at a future in which the city will be a symbol of sustainability, both from a social and environmental point of view".

Banca Generali and responsible investment

In line with the objective of fostering the transition to sustainable models of economic development and generating lasting value, we have adopted specific policies for responsible investment.

Moreover, thanks to the use of ESG indicators and screening tools, developed with the support of external advisors, we are able to determine whether the companies we invest in are involved in controversial sectors or have violated the UN Global Compact.

We do this in order to support our clients in building portfolios that take into account their different personal ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) goals.