Co‑Designing Inclusive and Safe Smart Cities: Public Engagement, Security, and Gender‑Responsive Urban Innovation
This session brought together researchers and engineers to explore public engagement, security, and gender-responsive urban innovation . The session featured contributions from Lylian Coelho (France), Elisabetta Venezia (UK/Italy), and Lidia Zakowska (Poland/UK), each addressing different dimensions of inclusive urban design.
Lylian Coelho focused on the intersection of water services and gender, arguing that water is not gender neutral and that women and girls are often the primary users and managers of water in households and communities . She highlighted how smart technologies, including AI, advanced analytics, and digital water management systems, can improve urban water resilience, but cautioned that technology must be carefully planned and people-centred rather than deployed for its own sake . Drawing on fieldwork in Senegal and Angola, she emphasised the importance of including women from the outset of projects, noting that engaging local women's community representatives led to measurable improvements in water access and project outcomes . Her key recommendations included collecting gender-disaggregated data, designing projects with affected communities, and promoting women's leadership in urban governance .
Elisabetta Venezia addressed inclusive and safe mobility, stressing that transport is not gender-neutral and that women's travel patterns - including trip-chaining, care responsibilities, and safety concerns - differ significantly from men's . She outlined the need to consider vulnerable groups, including the elderly, persons with disabilities, and caregivers, and argued that accessibility and safety must be integrated across every stage of a journey, from planning to the last mile . She also underscored the importance of participatory co-design, combining official data with residents' lived experience, and called for disaggregated data collection by gender, age, disability, and income to ensure services genuinely meet population needs .
Lidia Zakowska reinforced these themes from an engineering education perspective, arguing that future engineers must be trained to integrate sustainable development goals - particularly gender equality and sustainable cities - into their everyday professional thinking . She concluded that participation is essential to achieving all SDGs, and that inclusive, safe smart cities require consistent cooperation across disciplines and institutions .
Overall Purpose
- The discussion is a multi-speaker academic and professional session focused on co-designing inclusive and safe smart cities, with particular emphasis on gender responsiveness, public engagement, and urban innovation. Speakers from different fields - water engineering, transport economics, and civil engineering education - share research findings, practical examples, and policy recommendations aimed at making urban services more equitable and accessible for all, especially women, the elderly, and other vulnerable groups.
Major Discussion Points
- Water systems as a gendered issue in smart city development: Lylian Coelho argues that water is not gender neutral, noting that women and girls are often the primary users and managers of water in households and communities . She highlights how inadequate water services directly affect women's safety, health, education, and economic participation , and presents digital water technologies - including AI-driven optimisation, real-time network monitoring, and personalised customer services - as tools that can improve access whilst also creating opportunities for women to participate in the sector . She cautions, however, that technology must be planned carefully and must prioritise people, planet, and finance rather than being deployed for its own sake .
- Gender-disaggregated data and inclusive participation as prerequisites for equitable urban design: Both Coelho and Venezia stress that collecting gender-disaggregated data is essential to transforming urban services . Coelho emphasises that women must participate not only as beneficiaries but as designers, decision-makers, and innovators , and cites a concrete example from Senegal where local women were consulted at the outset of a water project, leading to more effective and inclusive outcomes . Venezia echoes this by calling for co-design processes that move from general consultation to evidence grounded in lived experience .
- Transport as a gendered and multi-dimensional accessibility challenge: Venezia explains that women's travel patterns differ significantly from men's, involving trip-chaining, care responsibilities, and safety concerns at different times of day . She argues that transport services cannot be designed without accounting for gender, disability, age, and income, and outlines a six-step journey framework - from planning and information provision to stops, vehicles, interchange points, and final destinations - to ensure full accessibility . She also highlights the need to balance physical safety, digital trust, and social inclusion as three mutually reinforcing dimensions .
- Digital innovation must enhance inclusion without creating new exclusions: Both Venezia and Coelho warn against uncritical adoption of digital tools. Venezia stresses that digital innovation should improve inclusion without generating new forms of exclusion , raising concerns about data representation, privacy, algorithmic fairness, and the need for non-digital alternatives for vulnerable users . Coelho similarly cautions that AI requires substantial planning, data infrastructure, and energy resources, and that smart city solutions must be designed to address real problems rather than being applied superficially .
- Education and interdisciplinary engineering as a long-term strategy for inclusive cities: Lidia Zakowska argues that embedding gender equality and sustainable development goals into engineering curricula is critical for lasting change . She notes that engineers working on infrastructure and transport often focus narrowly on technical outputs, and advocates for training students to integrate SDG goals - particularly Goal 11 (sustainable cities) and Goal 5 (gender equality) - into their everyday professional thinking . She emphasises that student project exhibitions and international cooperation are practical tools for achieving this cultural shift within the profession .
Overall Tone
- The overall tone of the discussion is collaborative, constructive, and professionally optimistic. Speakers are collegial and mutually appreciative, frequently acknowledging one another's expertise and contributions . There is a consistent sense of shared purpose and urgency around the need for more inclusive urban design. The tone remains largely consistent throughout, though it shifts slightly in register: Coelho's opening presentation is energetic and advocacy-driven , Venezia's contribution is more analytical and policy-oriented , and Zakowska's closing remarks are reflective and forward-looking, with a focus on education and future generations . There is no notable tension or disagreement; the session closes warmly, with expressions of gratitude and a desire for continued collaboration .
Expanded Summary: Co-Designing Inclusive and Safe Smart Cities - Public Engagement, Security, and Gender-Responsive Urban Innovation
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Session Overview and Context
This multi-speaker academic and professional session, held as part of this international forum (referred to in the transcript as "VISAES"), brought together researchers and practitioners from across the world to explore the co-design of inclusive and safe smart cities, with a particular focus on public engagement, security, and gender-responsive urban innovation . The session was moderated by Elisabetta Venezia, a transport economist participating remotely from London, who introduced the three principal contributors: Lylian Coelho, a civil engineer based in France with extensive international experience in water and public-private partnerships; Professor Lidia Zakowska, a civil and transportation engineer from Kraków University of Technology, also participating remotely from London; and Venezia herself . Venezia specifically thanked a colleague named Katayoun for being present at the event and for helping to save the session. The session was convened despite logistical difficulties, including visa-related problems that prevented other colleagues from attending in person , reflecting the broader international character of the collaboration. The overall tone throughout was collegial, constructive, and marked by a shared sense of urgency around the need for more equitable urban design .
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Lylian Coelho: Water, Gender, and Smart Urban Technologies
Lylian Coelho opened her contribution by reframing water infrastructure as a fundamentally gendered issue, asserting that "water is not gender neutral" . She argued that women and girls are often the primary users and managers of water in households and communities, and that inadequate water services and poor sanitation directly affect their safety, health, education, and economic participation . This framing positioned water not merely as a technical utility but as a social and political resource whose design has profound implications for gender equity. She further noted that climate change and urbanisation are placing increasing pressure on urban water systems, compounding these existing inequalities . Coelho also noted that she has contributed to the development of guidelines aimed at producing more equitable projects in the future, a credential that contextualised her authority on the topic.
Coelho then presented a vision of the digitally enabled water utility, describing a range of advanced technologies now available to urban water managers, including artificial intelligence-driven optimisation, desalination plants with AI-driven management, standardised membrane systems, advanced analytics for chemical dosing, real-time network monitoring, and personalised digital customer services . She highlighted examples from Senegal, where chemical production processes have been adapted to reduce costs and improve water access for scarce communities, and noted that these innovations represent opportunities for women to enter and contribute to a sector they have historically been excluded from . However, she was careful to contextualise these opportunities within a broader critique of uncritical technological adoption, warning that "smart cities also are something that is planned so many times before that you need to combine and put people first. People First, Planet, and Finance" .
A significant portion of Coelho's presentation was devoted to cautioning against the superficial deployment of artificial intelligence. She argued that AI requires substantial planning, data infrastructure, trained personnel, and autonomous systems - resources that cannot be assembled in a matter of minutes or months . She also drew attention to the environmental costs of data-driven smart city systems, noting that "all data that you use has an impact in energy, has an impact in the planet, and we need to take care even using water in data centres" . This environmental dimension, linking data centre water consumption directly to the water sector she specialises in, introduced a sustainability consideration that went beyond the session's primary focus on social inclusion.
Coelho outlined a four-phase framework for digital water management, encompassing customer management, asset management, network and operations management, and data and AI management . She stressed that this sequence must begin with understanding what customers - and specifically women - need, and that women must be present in decision-making processes before any technical solutions are designed . She reinforced this with a set of concrete recommendations - framed explicitly as seven ways to build more inclusive cities - including communication, participation, digital inclusion, mixed and common neighbourhoods, affordable housing, collecting gender-disaggregated data, and integrating gender considerations into smart city investment frameworks . She also referenced a global dataset from the International Water Association illustrating widespread water losses in urban systems - including commercial and technical losses - as evidence of the scale of the challenge that smart technologies must address .
Coelho concluded her presentation with a series of normative principles. She invoked the phrase "nothing about us without us," asserting that "women should participate not only as beneficiaries, but also as designers, decision makers and innovators" and that gender-disaggregated data must be collected "to transform the future" . Her final message was that "a truly smart city is not only digital connected. It is a city where everyone can access essential services safely, equitable, and sustainability" . These closing statements established a clear normative benchmark against which all smart city initiatives could be evaluated.
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Best Practice Examples: Angola and Senegal
When invited by Venezia to share concrete examples of best practice , Coelho drew on her recent fieldwork - noting that she had just returned from Angola that morning - to describe two complementary models of gender-inclusive water project design.
The first example concerned capacity-building and knowledge transfer programmes embedded within public-private partnership (PPP) contracts in Angola. Coelho explained that all PPP and contract management arrangements for smart city and urban infrastructure projects now include a requirement for the private sector to transfer knowledge and build capacity within the public sector . She noted that private companies in France, for example, are relatively mature in their inclusion of women in decision-making processes, and that this expertise is now being transferred online to partners in Angola and Senegal, with measurable results . She also referenced her work with the United Nations Economic Council (as referenced by Coelho in the transcript) on guidelines for including women in PPPs as part of this broader international cooperation effort .
The second example came from Senegal, where Coelho described the engagement of local community women - referred to locally as "badwin" (as described by Coelho, though the precise transcription is uncertain) - as the voice of their communities at the outset of water projects . Rather than consulting communities after decisions had been made, project teams asked these women directly what was missing and what problems needed to be solved, incorporating their responses into the project design . The impact was tangible: when women were part of the process, community members - including men - became more willing to pay for water services and to take responsibility for maintaining them . Coelho summarised the lesson as follows: "bring people to the table, and no matter if you are in the local operation or you are a manager or you are in the government, all people in the projects that are applying around the world are participating from the solution" . She cited the PPP between Switzerland and Senegal as an example she described as among the best in the world precisely because women's inclusion has been demonstrated and proven . The overarching principle she drew from both examples was that "if you share and include people from the beginning, not in the end of the process," the results are consistently stronger .
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Elisabetta Venezia: Inclusive and Safe Urban Mobility
Elisabetta Venezia's contribution approached the theme of inclusive smart cities through the lens of transport economics, offering a complementary but distinct perspective to Coelho's water-focused analysis . She opened by arguing that public engagement is essential for understanding mobility as a daily lived experience, and that without it, urban planners lose critical information about barriers, risks, and unmet needs . She stressed that services must be aligned with what the population actually demands, rather than what planners assume they need . She also referenced recent guidelines issued by the European Commission - described in the transcript as being on "the stamp" - as a policy signal that placing people first is gaining institutional momentum.
A central argument in Venezia's presentation was that transport, like water, is not gender neutral . She explained that women's travel patterns differ significantly from men's, involving trip-chaining across multiple destinations, care responsibilities for children and older relatives, and safety concerns that vary by time of day . These differences mean that transport services designed around a simple home-to-work commute model systematically fail to serve women's actual needs. She also highlighted the importance of addressing the needs of other vulnerable groups, including persons with disabilities, older people, caregivers, and children, noting that physical, sensory, and digital accessibility must be guaranteed throughout the entire journey chain . She referenced a recently completed research project on ageing populations and transport as evidence of the depth of work being done in this area .
Venezia outlined a multi-step framework for ensuring inclusive accessibility across the full journey, from planning and information provision through to the final destination . She emphasised that information must be provided not only through digital channels but also through paper-based and human contact methods, recognising that many elderly and vulnerable users cannot access or do not trust smartphone-based services . She also stressed the importance of walkable paths, accessible stops, suitable vehicles, and well-designed interchange points as components of a seamless and inclusive journey .
On the question of safety, Venezia identified three mutually reinforcing dimensions that must be addressed simultaneously: physical safety (lighting, crossing design, visibility, universal design), digital safety (privacy, cyber security, trusted data, accessible interfaces), and social safety (harassment prevention, reporting mechanisms, inclusive public spaces) . She argued that safety concerns are particularly acute for women and the elderly, and that these groups require specific attention in the design of both transport infrastructure and the broader urban environment .
Venezia devoted considerable attention to the risks of digital innovation in smart city contexts. She argued that "digital innovation should be improved inclusion without creating new forms of exclusion" , and raised concerns about data representation (who is visible in the data and who is missing), privacy (whether people can use mobile services without disproportionate surveillance), and algorithmic fairness (whether systems are optimised to produce equal access rather than expose users to risk) . She also stressed the need for non-digital alternatives to remain available, particularly for vulnerable users . These concerns echoed Coelho's earlier caution about uncritical AI adoption, creating a coherent critical thread across both presentations.
Venezia then described a structured co-design methodology for transport services, comprising journey mapping, participatory data collection that combines official data with residents' lived experience, rapid prototyping of temporary interventions before scaling investment, inclusive auditing involving everyday users rather than only technical experts, and feedback loops that show participants what changed as a result of their input . She argued that this approach moves beyond general consultation to evidence grounded in lived experience , and that it is essential for building trust between planners and communities. She also called for disaggregated data collection across multiple dimensions - gender, age, disability, neighbourhood, income, and time of day - as a prerequisite for services that genuinely meet population needs .
Venezia concluded by framing inclusive mobility not as a feature of a smart city but as "a general condition for the provision of services" , and posed a reflective question to participants: if they could redesign one mobility experience in their city, who would they include, and where does the journey currently fail ? She identified accessibility, safety, affordability, reliability, participation, and gender responsiveness as the core metrics against which urban transport services should be evaluated .
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Lidia Zakowska: Engineering Education and the SDG Framework
Professor Lidia Zakowska's contribution approached the session's themes from the perspective of engineering education and the Sustainable Development Goals, offering a longer-term and more structural analysis than the preceding presentations . She opened by acknowledging the depth and quality of Venezia's research on mobility and inclusive cities , before arguing that the 17th SDG - on intercooperation between all goals - is a foundational principle that all professionals, not just engineers, must understand and apply .
Zakowska identified education as the most critical lever for achieving lasting change in inclusive urban design. She observed that many engineers working on transport infrastructure and mathematical modelling focus narrowly on technical outputs, without integrating broader social, gender, or sustainability considerations into their thinking . Her response to this gap has been to embed SDG principles - particularly SDG 11 (sustainable cities and communities) and gender equality - into the engineering curricula at Kraków University of Technology, which she described as a large institution with eight faculties all now working towards the same goals . She argued that "the more we remember and we think about it, we put it into our curricula, the most effective it will be within future" , and that there should be no different career pathways for women and men in engineering education .
Zakowska described practical initiatives at her university, including student project exhibitions to which deans, rectors, and international experts are invited, as a means of demonstrating the value of inclusive and safe city design and embedding it as a professional expectation . She argued that if students feel that inclusive smart city design is successfully integrated into their studies, they will carry this commitment into their careers . She also emphasised the importance of international cooperation and cross-cultural exchange, noting that "there are not two identical places in the world. Even if the infrastructure is the same, some people are different, their customs, what they are doing, how they think. But we can, through cooperation, through discussion, do it all successfully" .
Zakowska reinforced the session's overarching theme by arguing that participation is fundamental to achieving all 17 SDGs: "without participation, there will be no goal affected" . She framed smart cities as places that are safer, more inclusive, and cleaner - outcomes that can only be achieved if the needs of all community members, particularly those in vulnerable situations, are placed at the centre of design and governance . Her closing remarks expressed a wish for all participants to continue working on the challenge of building inclusive and safe smart cities, and not to underestimate its importance .
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Cross-Cutting Themes and Areas of Consensus
Across all three contributions, several cross-cutting themes emerged with notable consistency. First, all three speakers agreed that urban services - whether water, transport, or infrastructure more broadly - are not gender neutral, and that this non-neutrality must be explicitly acknowledged and addressed in design, governance, and investment decisions . Second, all three converged on the principle that women and other vulnerable groups must be included from the outset of design processes, not as afterthoughts or beneficiaries, but as participants, designers, and decision-makers . Third, all three endorsed the collection of gender-disaggregated data as an essential tool for understanding and addressing inequalities in urban service provision .
A further area of consensus concerned the risks of uncritical digitalisation. Both Coelho and Venezia warned against deploying technology for its own sake, and both stressed the need for non-digital alternatives to remain available for those who cannot access or do not trust digital services . Coelho additionally raised the environmental costs of data-driven systems , a dimension that reinforced the broader argument for thoughtful, planned technology adoption. Both speakers also agreed that a truly smart city is defined not by its level of digital connectivity but by its ability to ensure equitable access to essential services for all residents .
One area of analytical interest - though not one explicitly acknowledged by the speakers themselves, who remained collegial and complementary throughout - concerned the relative priority of different urban sectors. Coelho argued that smart city discourse tends to focus on mobility, energy, and design while neglecting water as a fundamental service , whereas Venezia positioned inclusive mobility as "a general condition for the provision of services" . Their presentations thus reflected different entry points for gender-responsive smart city design, without either speaker directly contradicting the other. Similarly, Zakowska's focus on long-term educational reform as the primary vehicle for change sat alongside the more immediate, operational approaches advocated by Coelho (through PPP frameworks) and Venezia (through co-design methodologies), reflecting different time horizons and mechanisms for achieving the same goals.
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Conclusions
The session closed with expressions of mutual appreciation and a commitment to continued collaboration . Venezia thanked Coelho and Zakowska for their contributions and noted that the session had been saved by the organisers' flexibility in accommodating participants despite visa difficulties . Two additional speakers, referred to as Uri and Batti from the UK, were not present at the time of closing .
Taken together, the three contributions made a compelling and mutually reinforcing case that inclusive, safe, and gender-responsive smart cities are not a technical aspiration but a social and political imperative - one that requires the participation of all community members, the systematic collection of disaggregated data, the careful and planned deployment of digital technologies, and the long-term reform of professional education and governance frameworks. As Coelho summarised: "the objective is not technology for technology's sake. The objective is technology that improves the reality and reduces the inequality" .
Water is not gender neutral and women are disproportionately affected by inadequate water services.
Arg. 1Coelho argues that women and girls are often the primary users and managers of water in households and communities. Inadequate water services and poor sanitation directly affect their safety, health, education, and economic participation.
Coelho states that 'women and girls are often the primary users and the managers of the water in the households and communities' and that 'inadequate water services and poor sanitation affect the safety, health, education and economic participation' .
on: Urban services are not gender neutral and must be designed with women's specific needs in mind
Smart digital water technologies offer significant opportunities for inclusive urban development, but require careful planning and a people-first approach.
Arg. 2Coelho presents advanced digital water technologies such as AI-driven optimisation, real-time network monitoring, and personalised digital customer services as transformative tools. However, she cautions that these technologies require extensive planning, data infrastructure, and a focus on people rather than technology for its own sake.
Coelho describes how modern water utilities can use artificial intelligence, advanced analytics, and digital channels, but warns that 'artificial intelligence needs a lot of planning' and that 'you need to combine and put people first' . She emphasises that 'the objective is not technology for technology's sake. The objective is technology that improves the reality and reduces the inequality' .
on: Technology must serve people first, not be deployed for its own sake
on: Degree of caution warranted regarding AI and smart technology deployment
Data use in smart city technologies has significant environmental impacts that must be considered.
Arg. 3Coelho highlights that the use of data, including for AI and digital services, has a real impact on energy consumption and the planet, including water usage in data centres. She urges stakeholders to be mindful of these environmental consequences when deploying smart city technologies.
Coelho states that 'all data that you use has an impact in energy, has an impact in the planet, and we need to take care even using water in data center' .
Gender-disaggregated data collection and women's inclusion from the outset of project design are essential for equitable smart city outcomes.
Arg. 4Coelho argues that collecting gender-disaggregated data and involving women as designers, decision-makers, and innovators — not merely as beneficiaries — is fundamental to building truly inclusive cities. She stresses that women must be included before decisions are made, not after.
Coelho recommends that stakeholders 'collect gender, desegregate that', 'design water projects with affected communities', and 'promote women's leadership in urban governance and innovation' . She also states that 'nothing about us without us' and that 'women should participate not only as beneficiaries, but also as designers, decision makers and innovators' .
on: Gender-disaggregated data collection is essential for equitable urban outcomes
on: Timing and mechanism of women's inclusion in project design
A truly smart city must ensure everyone can access essential services safely, equitably, and sustainably.
Arg. 5Coelho concludes that digital connectivity alone does not make a city smart. A genuinely smart city is one where all residents, regardless of gender or background, can access essential services in a safe and equitable manner.
Coelho states that 'a truly smart city is not only digital connected. It is a city where everyone can access essential services safely, equitable, and sustainability' .
on: A truly smart city is defined by equitable access to essential services for all, not merely by digital connectivity
International cooperation and knowledge transfer in the water sector, including through public-private partnerships, are critical for including women and improving urban water access in developing countries.
Arg. 6Coelho draws on her experience in Angola and Senegal to illustrate how international cooperation and PPP frameworks can transfer knowledge and best practices that include women in water governance. She highlights the role of community women ('badwin') as voices of their communities in project design.
Coelho describes working with UNSC PPP to develop guidelines that include women in PPPs , and gives the concrete example of Senegal where local women were consulted at the start of projects: 'you came to ask them, what is missing? Where is the problem? You include this woman in the process' . She also notes that Angola is replicating this model .
on: International cooperation and knowledge sharing are essential for achieving inclusive urban development
Capacity building and knowledge transfer must be embedded in contracts for smart city and water infrastructure projects.
Arg. 7Coelho argues that all PPP and contract management arrangements for building smart and inclusive urban infrastructure should include a requirement for the private sector to provide capacity building and knowledge transfer to the public sector. This ensures that innovation and best practices are shared across borders.
Coelho explains that 'all PPP or all contract management to build smart seats and to build more urban inclusive. All projects have a link that is the private need to bring a capacity building and the transfer in knowledge to the public sector' . She notes this is now happening online between France, Angola, and Senegal .
on: Capacity building and education are critical for embedding inclusive and gender-responsive design into urban development
Engineering education must integrate gender equality and sustainable development goals into curricula to produce future professionals who design inclusive and safe smart cities.
Arg. 1Zakowska argues that engineers and technical professionals need to go beyond purely mathematical and structural thinking and incorporate the SDGs — particularly gender equality and sustainable cities — into their everyday work and education. She believes that embedding these values in university curricula will ensure future generations of engineers design more inclusive infrastructure.
Zakowska notes that 'not too many engineers who are working within the mathematical modeling and building factors... think much more than about this pure, tough engineering way' . She describes efforts at Krakow University of Technology to integrate SDGs into curricula across all eight faculties, stating 'the more we remember and we think about it, we put it into our curricula, the most effective it will be within future' .
on: Capacity building and education are critical for embedding inclusive and gender-responsive design into urban development
Participation and attention to the needs of vulnerable groups are prerequisites for achieving all 17 SDGs, not just those directly related to cities and gender.
Arg. 2Zakowska argues that without genuine participation and special attention to those in vulnerable situations, none of the SDG goals can be effectively achieved. She emphasises that inclusive design — which addresses violence, safety, and ecological concerns — is what defines a smart city.
Zakowska states that 'without participation, there will be no goal affected' and that 'if we put special attention to the needs of everyone in this vulnerable situation, so we will be able to eliminate whatever is violence, it will be safer, it will be much more exclusive, including to everyone, and it will be clean. This means smart cities' .
on: Women and vulnerable groups must be included from the outset of design processes, not as afterthoughts
Involving students in real design projects and exhibitions builds awareness of inclusive and safe smart city principles and prepares them to address these challenges in their careers.
Arg. 3Zakowska describes a pedagogical approach where students share their designs in exhibitions attended by university leadership and international experts. This experiential learning helps students internalise the importance of inclusive and safe city design as a daily professional challenge.
Zakowska explains that 'involving our students into projects shows that it makes sense. Students can share their designs. We make the exhibitions, we invite deans and rectors to show them how it is, and also experts from all around the world. If they feel that this aspect of smart and safe cities is included successfully during their studies, they will keep in mind, together with us, that every day challenge is possible to be win' .
International cooperation and cross-cultural exchange are essential for successfully designing inclusive and safe smart cities, as no two places are identical.
Arg. 4Zakowska acknowledges that while infrastructure may be similar across contexts, people's customs, behaviours, and ways of thinking differ. She argues that through cooperation and discussion, these differences can be navigated to achieve inclusive outcomes globally.
Zakowska states that 'there are not two identical places in the world. Even if the infrastructure is the same, some people are different, their customs, what they are doing, how they think. But we can, through cooperation, through discussion, do it all successfully' .
on: International cooperation and knowledge sharing are essential for achieving inclusive urban development
The 17th SDG on intercooperation between all goals is a foundational principle that all professionals, not just engineers, must understand and apply.
Arg. 5Zakowska highlights that the interconnectedness of all 17 SDGs — as embodied in SDG 17 on partnerships — is something every professional must internalise. She argues that consistently applying this principle is essential for achieving sustainable and inclusive development.
Zakowska states that 'the 17th SDG goal is intercooperation between all of them is really something we should know. Not only me, like an engineer, but all of us' . She also notes that her university is working to 'flow and to complete really consequently SDGs by 2030' .
Public engagement is essential for understanding mobility as a daily lived experience and for capturing the inputs needed for urban innovation.
Arg. 1Venezia argues that without genuine public engagement, planners lose critical information about barriers, risks, and unmet needs. She stresses that services must be aligned with what the population actually demands, not what planners assume they need.
Venezia states that 'we need a public engagement in order to consider mobility as a daily experience, because otherwise we lose some information, some pieces of inputs that are relevant, really needed in order to consider urban innovation' . She adds that 'we need to have a good knowledge of what the demand is asking for because otherwise we are providing services that are not requested by population' .
on: Technology must serve people first, not be deployed for its own sake
Security in smart cities must address physical safety, digital trust, cybersecurity, and protection from harassment, particularly for women and the elderly.
Arg. 2Venezia argues that security is a multidimensional requirement in smart cities, encompassing physical safety, digital trust, cybersecurity, and protection from harassment. She emphasises that these concerns are especially acute for women and elderly populations.
Venezia states that 'we need to combine some elements which are linked to physical safety and digital trust, cyber security and protection from erasement' and that this is 'particular close to women needs' . She notes that 'most cities everywhere in the world are trying to make more safety the public transport' to guarantee better security .
Transport is not gender neutral; women's travel patterns differ significantly from men's and must be considered in service design.
Arg. 3Venezia argues that women's travel patterns are fundamentally different from men's, involving trip-chaining, care responsibilities, and multiple destinations beyond the home-to-work commute. Ignoring these differences results in transport services that fail to meet women's actual needs.
Venezia explains that 'their travel pattern is completely different from the men's one' and that women 'care about all the other components of family, they are doing some other things which are related to shopping' . She concludes that 'we cannot provide transport services without considering the gender issues, because transport is not gender neutral' .
on: Urban services are not gender neutral and must be designed with women's specific needs in mind
Inclusive transport design must address the specific needs of multiple vulnerable groups, including persons with disabilities, the elderly, caregivers, and children.
Arg. 4Venezia argues that transport services must be designed to overcome physical, sensory, and digital accessibility barriers for a range of vulnerable groups. She highlights the importance of distance, legibility, comfort, and trip-chaining for these populations.
Venezia notes the need to 'overcome some of the physical, sensory and digital accessibility in order to guarantee full accessibility to transport services' for persons with disabilities . She also describes findings from a research project on ageing populations, noting that 'the distance is important and also the legibility and also the comfort and the confidence is very key for this part of the population' . She further highlights the need to consider 'trip-chaining and the strollers and the care responsibilities' for caregivers and children .
Digital innovation in smart cities must improve inclusion without creating new forms of exclusion, and must guarantee privacy, algorithmic fairness, and accessible alternatives for those without digital access.
Arg. 5Venezia argues that digital tools must not inadvertently exclude vulnerable populations, particularly those without access to smartphones or digital services. She stresses the importance of privacy, algorithmic fairness, and the availability of non-digital alternatives.
Venezia states that 'digital innovation should be improved inclusion without creating new forms of exclusion' and raises concerns about privacy, asking 'can people use mobile services without disproportionate surveillance?' . She also highlights the need for 'algorithmic fairness' and stresses that 'digital access... we also need to think about the possible alternatives, because they need to be available, especially online... for vulnerable people' .
on: Degree of caution warranted regarding AI and smart technology deployment
Co-designing transport services requires moving from general consultation to evidence grounded in lived experience, using participatory data, journey mapping, rapid prototyping, and inclusive auditing.
Arg. 6Venezia outlines a structured co-design methodology that goes beyond standard consultation to incorporate residents' lived experiences. This includes journey mapping, combining official and resident-reported data, piloting interventions before scaling, and evaluating accessibility with actual users rather than only experts.
Venezia describes the need to 'move from general consultation to the evidence grounded in a lived experience' and recommends 'safety walks', 'journey mapping', 'document friction across the complete door-to-door participatory data', and combining 'official data with the resident reporter experience' . She also advocates for 'rapid prototyping' - testing 'temporary intervention before scaling investment' - and 'inclusive auditing' that evaluates 'accessibility with the drivers, users, and not only by experts, but by normal people' .
on: Women and vulnerable groups must be included from the outset of design processes, not as afterthoughts
on: Timing and mechanism of women's inclusion in project design
Measuring equity in transport requires disaggregated data by gender, age, disability, neighbourhood, income, and time of day.
Arg. 7Venezia argues that without disaggregated data across multiple dimensions, cities can only provide generic services that fail to meet the specific needs of different population groups. Proper measurement is essential to ensure services are equitable and to identify where improvements are needed.
Venezia states that 'we need to shape our services by considering disaggregated data, by considering gender, age, disability, neighborhoods, income and time of day. Otherwise, we are just providing a general services program, which is not guaranteeing anyone the services that they really need' .
on: Gender-disaggregated data collection is essential for equitable urban outcomes
Inclusive mobility is not merely a feature of a smart city but a fundamental condition for the provision of urban services.
Arg. 8Venezia argues that inclusive mobility should not be treated as an optional add-on to smart city design, but as a baseline requirement. She frames it as a general condition that underpins access to all other urban services and opportunities.
Venezia states that 'inclusive mobility... is not a feature of the smart city, it's a general condition for the provision of services' . She also emphasises that 'transport may affect also the accessibility to work, for education, for health and public life' and that if access is difficult, people - especially the elderly - will forgo essential services such as healthcare .
on: A truly smart city is defined by equitable access to essential services for all, not merely by digital connectivity
on: Priority sector for smart city gender inclusion: water versus transport
Session Knowledge Graph
Speakers · Topics · Arguments · Relationships
Both Coelho and Venezia explicitly state that their respective sectors are not gender neutral. Coelho argues that 'water is not gender neutral' and that women and girls are the primary managers of water in households and communities . Venezia mirrors this for transport, stating that 'we cannot provide transport services without considering the gender issues, because transport is not gender neutral' , noting that women's travel patterns involve trip-chaining, care responsibilities, and multiple destinations beyond the home-to-work commute .
Water is not gender neutral and women are disproportionately affected by inadequate water services.
Transport is not gender neutral; women's travel patterns differ significantly from men's and must be considered in service design.
Coelho cautions against uncritical adoption of technology, stating that 'you need to combine and put people first. People First, Planet, and Finance' and that 'the objective is not technology for technology's sake. The objective is technology that improves the reality and reduces the inequality' . Venezia similarly argues that 'we need to put in the center people, not transport means' and that services must be aligned with what the population actually demands .
Smart digital water technologies offer significant opportunities for inclusive urban development, but require careful planning and a people-first approach.
Public engagement is essential for understanding mobility as a daily lived experience and for capturing the inputs needed for urban innovation.
All three speakers converge on the principle that inclusion must begin at the design stage. Coelho states that 'you cannot start in a different way than a woman needed to be before the starting decision' and that 'women should participate not only as beneficiaries, but also as designers, decision makers and innovators' . Venezia advocates moving 'from general consultation to the evidence grounded in a lived experience' and co-designing with residents . Zakowska reinforces this, stating that 'without participation, there will be no goal affected' .
Gender-disaggregated data collection and women's inclusion from the outset of project design are essential for equitable smart city outcomes.
Co-designing transport services requires moving from general consultation to evidence grounded in lived experience, using participatory data, journey mapping, rapid prototyping, and inclusive auditing.
Participation and attention to the needs of vulnerable groups are prerequisites for achieving all 17 SDGs, not just those directly related to cities and gender.
Coelho recommends that stakeholders 'collect gender, desegregate that' and 'design water projects with affected communities' , and that 'women should participate not only as beneficiaries, but also as designers, decision makers and innovators' and that 'you need to collect gender-disaggregated data to transform the future' . Venezia similarly argues that 'we need to shape our services by considering disaggregated data, by considering gender, age, disability, neighborhoods, income and time of day. Otherwise, we are just providing a general services program, which is not guaranteeing anyone the services that they really need' .
Gender-disaggregated data collection and women's inclusion from the outset of project design are essential for equitable smart city outcomes.
Measuring equity in transport requires disaggregated data by gender, age, disability, neighbourhood, income, and time of day.
Coelho concludes that 'a truly smart city is not only digital connected. It is a city where everyone can access essential services safely, equitable, and sustainability' . Venezia frames this in terms of transport, arguing that 'inclusive mobility... is not a feature of the smart city, it's a general condition for the provision of services' and that transport affects 'the accessibility to work, for education, for health and public life' .
A truly smart city must ensure everyone can access essential services safely, equitably, and sustainably.
Inclusive mobility is not merely a feature of a smart city but a fundamental condition for the provision of urban services.
Coelho draws on her experience in Angola and Senegal to illustrate how international cooperation and PPP frameworks transfer knowledge and best practices that include women in water governance , noting that 'the international cooperation in the water sector... is something that you cannot imagine how important it is for the countries to help each other' . Zakowska similarly argues that 'there are not two identical places in the world. Even if the infrastructure is the same, some people are different, their customs, what they are doing, how they think. But we can, through cooperation, through discussion, do it all successfully' .
International cooperation and knowledge transfer in the water sector, including through public-private partnerships, are critical for including women and improving urban water access in developing countries.
International cooperation and cross-cultural exchange are essential for successfully designing inclusive and safe smart cities, as no two places are identical.
Coelho argues that all PPP and contract management arrangements should include a requirement for the private sector to provide capacity building and knowledge transfer to the public sector , with this now happening online between France, Angola, and Senegal . Zakowska argues from an educational perspective that 'the more we remember and we think about it, we put it into our curricula, the most effective it will be within future' , and that students must internalise inclusive design principles during their studies .
Capacity building and knowledge transfer must be embedded in contracts for smart city and water infrastructure projects.
Engineering education must integrate gender equality and sustainable development goals into curricula to produce future professionals who design inclusive and safe smart cities.
Both Coelho and Venezia share a cautious but constructive view of digital technology in urban services. Coelho warns that 'artificial intelligence needs a lot of planning' and that 'you need to combine and put people first' , while Venezia argues that 'digital innovation should be improved inclusion without creating new forms of exclusion' and raises concerns about privacy and algorithmic fairness . Both agree that technology must be deployed thoughtfully and with attention to those who may be left behind. Both speakers highlight the unintended consequences of digital technologies. Coelho draws attention to the environmental cost, noting that 'all data that you use has an impact in energy, has an impact in the planet, and we need to take care even using water in data center' . Venezia focuses on the social cost, warning that digital tools can create new exclusions if not carefully designed, particularly for those without smartphone access . Together they present a holistic view of the risks of uncritical digitalisation. Both Zakowska and Venezia share a strong focus on the needs of vulnerable populations as central to inclusive urban design. Zakowska argues that 'if we put special attention to the needs of everyone in this vulnerable situation, so we will be able to eliminate whatever is violence, it will be safer, it will be much more exclusive, including to everyone, and it will be clean' . Venezia similarly details the specific needs of persons with disabilities, the elderly, caregivers, and children, noting the importance of distance, legibility, comfort, and trip-chaining . All three speakers share a vision of the smart city as fundamentally a social and inclusive project, not merely a technological one. Coelho defines a smart city as one 'where everyone can access essential services safely, equitable, and sustainability' . Zakowska frames smart cities as places that are 'safer, more inclusive to everyone, and clean' . Venezia argues that public engagement is essential to capture the lived experience of residents and that inclusive mobility is 'a general condition for the provision of services' . Both Coelho and Venezia advocate for robust, participatory data collection methodologies that centre the voices of those most affected. Coelho emphasises the principle of 'nothing about us without us' and the need to include women as 'designers, decision makers and innovators' . Venezia outlines a structured co-design methodology involving journey mapping, combining 'official data with the resident reporter experience' , rapid prototyping , and inclusive auditing with actual users rather than only experts .
In a discussion primarily focused on gender inclusion and social equity in smart cities, it was somewhat unexpected that both Coelho and Venezia raised concerns about the environmental and resource costs of digital technologies. Coelho explicitly noted that 'all data that you use has an impact in energy, has an impact in the planet, and we need to take care even using water in data center' , linking data centre water consumption directly to the water sector she specialises in. Venezia, while focused on transport and mobility, implicitly supported this concern by warning against uncritical digitalisation . This convergence on environmental sustainability as a dimension of responsible smart city development was not the primary focus of any speaker's presentation, yet emerged as a shared concern.
Despite coming from different professional backgrounds - civil engineering and water (Coelho), transport economics (Venezia), and civil engineering and transportation education (Zakowska) - all three speakers converged on the SDG framework as a unifying reference point. Zakowska explicitly states that 'the 17th SDG goal is intercooperation between all of them is really something we should know. Not only me, like an engineer, but all of us' . Coelho frames her recommendations around SDG-aligned principles , and Venezia references European Commission guidelines that 'put in the center people first' . This cross-disciplinary consensus on the SDG framework as a practical guide for urban professionals was a notable and somewhat unexpected area of alignment.
Both speakers, despite advocating for digital innovation in their respective sectors, unexpectedly converged on the importance of maintaining non-digital alternatives. Coelho cautions that smart city technologies require extensive planning and cannot be assumed to be universally accessible . Venezia is explicit that information must be provided 'not only in a digital way because we need to consider those who cannot have access to smartphones or to other elements, but also, you know, with paper or other elements' , and that 'digital access... we also need to think about the possible alternatives, because they need to be available... for vulnerable people' . This consensus on the limits of digitalisation from two speakers who are broadly pro-technology was notable.
The three speakers - Lylian Coelho (water sector), Elisabetta Venezia (transport economics), and Lidia Zakowska (engineering education) - demonstrated a remarkably high level of consensus across a range of substantive issues, despite approaching the topic of inclusive and safe smart cities from distinct disciplinary perspectives. Key areas of agreement included: the non-gender-neutral nature of urban services; the necessity of a people-first approach to technology; the imperative to include women and vulnerable groups from the outset of design; the centrality of gender-disaggregated data; the definition of a smart city as one ensuring equitable access rather than mere digital connectivity; the importance of international cooperation and capacity building; and the need for caution about the unintended consequences of digitalisation, including environmental impacts and new forms of exclusion. Zakowska's contribution reinforced the consensus from an educational and SDG-framework perspective, emphasising that these values must be embedded in professional training. The speakers also converged on the SDG framework - particularly SDG 11 (sustainable cities) and SDG 5 (gender equality) - as a shared reference point, with Zakowska explicitly highlighting SDG 17 on intercooperation .
Coelho argues that water is a neglected but fundamental service in smart city discourse, noting that 'the Wiley Smart Seats often focus on mobility, energy and design. But in the digital service, water remains a fundamental service' . She frames water as the primary lens through which gender inclusion should be addressed in urban contexts . Venezia, by contrast, positions transport and mobility as the foundational condition for urban inclusion, stating that 'inclusive mobility... is not a feature of the smart city, it's a general condition for the provision of services' . While both acknowledge the importance of the other's domain, their presentations implicitly compete over which sector is the more critical entry point for gender-responsive smart city design.
Smart digital water technologies offer significant opportunities for inclusive urban development, but require careful planning and a people-first approach.
Inclusive mobility is not merely a feature of a smart city but a fundamental condition for the provision of urban services.
Coelho is explicitly cautionary about AI, warning against the tendency to 'just add more artificial intelligence' and stressing that 'artificial intelligence needs a lot of planning. Five years ago, you needed to train, you needed to have the database, you needed to have data centers, you needed to be autonomous' . She emphasises that smart technologies must be planned carefully and that 'the objective is not technology for technology's sake' . Venezia, while also people-centred, frames technology investments - including 'sensor, apps, automatization, and also optimization of information' - more positively as necessary tools for inclusive transport, and focuses her caution primarily on exclusion and privacy risks rather than on the feasibility and planning burdens of AI deployment itself. The difference in tone reflects a more sceptical stance from Coelho versus a more instrumentally positive stance from Venezia.
Smart digital water technologies offer significant opportunities for inclusive urban development, but require careful planning and a people-first approach.
Digital innovation in smart cities must improve inclusion without creating new forms of exclusion, and must guarantee privacy, algorithmic fairness, and accessible alternatives for those without digital access.
Coelho insists that women must be included before any decisions are made, stating that 'you cannot start in a different way than a woman needed to be before the starting decision' and that inclusion must happen 'not in the end of the process' . Her examples from Senegal and Angola show women being consulted at the very outset of projects . Venezia, while also advocating for co-design, describes a more iterative and phased methodology that includes journey mapping, rapid prototyping, and feedback loops , which implies that inclusion can be built in progressively across multiple stages rather than exclusively at the start. This reflects a difference in whether inclusion is primarily a precondition or an ongoing iterative process.
Gender-disaggregated data collection and women's inclusion from the outset of project design are essential for equitable smart city outcomes.
Co-designing transport services requires moving from general consultation to evidence grounded in lived experience, using participatory data, journey mapping, rapid prototyping, and inclusive auditing.
In a discussion focused on inclusion and gender equity, it is somewhat unexpected that Coelho raises the environmental cost of data and smart technologies as a significant concern, noting that 'all data that you use has an impact in energy, has an impact in the planet, and we need to take care even using water in data center' . This introduces an environmental sustainability dimension that neither Venezia nor Zakowska addresses in their presentations. Venezia's discussion of digital innovation focuses entirely on inclusion, privacy, and accessibility without acknowledging the environmental trade-offs of deploying sensors, apps, and data systems at scale. This implicit disagreement - where Coelho treats environmental impact as a co-equal concern alongside inclusion, while Venezia treats digital tools primarily as instruments of inclusion - is unexpected given the otherwise collaborative framing of the session.
Zakowska's primary vehicle for achieving inclusive smart cities is education - specifically, reforming engineering curricula to embed SDGs and gender equality . This is somewhat at odds with the approaches of Coelho and Venezia, who focus on immediate, practical interventions: Coelho through PPP contractual requirements for capacity building and community consultation , and Venezia through co-design methodologies and participatory data collection . While not a direct confrontation, Zakowska's long-term educational focus implicitly suggests that current professionals and frameworks are insufficient, whereas Coelho and Venezia present their existing tools and frameworks as already capable of delivering inclusive outcomes. This difference in time horizon and mechanism of change is unexpected in a session where all speakers appear to share the same goals.
The discussion is characterised by a high degree of consensus on overarching goals - inclusive, safe, gender-responsive smart cities - but reveals meaningful differences in sectoral priority (water versus transport versus cross-sectoral education), in the degree of caution warranted regarding AI and digital technologies, in the timing and mechanism of women's inclusion in project design, and in the primary vehicle for achieving systemic change (PPP frameworks, co-design methodologies, or educational reform). The most substantive implicit disagreement concerns whether water or transport is the more critical entry point for gender inclusion in smart cities, and whether AI deployment requires the level of caution Coelho advocates or can be more readily embraced as a tool for inclusion as Venezia implies . Zakowska's focus on long-term educational change sits in mild tension with the more immediate, operational approaches of the other two speakers.
All three speakers agree that a truly smart city must be inclusive and safe for all residents, particularly vulnerable groups. Coelho states that 'a truly smart city is not only digital connected. It is a city where everyone can access essential services safely, equitable, and sustainability' . Venezia frames inclusive mobility as 'a general condition for the provision of services' . Zakowska argues that 'without participation, there will be no goal affected' . However, they differ on which services and sectors are most critical: Coelho prioritises water , Venezia prioritises transport , and Zakowska takes a broader cross-sectoral view rooted in SDG intercooperation . They share the destination but approach it through different disciplinary lenses.
A truly smart city must ensure everyone can access essential services safely, equitably, and sustainably. Inclusive mobility is not merely a feature of a smart city but a fundamental condition for the provision of urban services. Participation and attention to the needs of vulnerable groups are prerequisites for achieving all 17 SDGs, not just those directly related to cities and gender.
Both Coelho and Venezia strongly agree that gender-disaggregated data is essential for equitable outcomes. Coelho recommends that stakeholders 'collect gender, desegregate that' and that 'women should participate not only as beneficiaries, but also as designers, decision makers and innovators' . Venezia similarly argues that 'we need to shape our services by considering disaggregated data, by considering gender, age, disability, neighborhoods, income and time of day' . However, they differ in scope: Coelho focuses specifically on gender disaggregation in the water sector and PPP frameworks , while Venezia advocates for a broader multi-dimensional disaggregation framework applied to transport planning .
Gender-disaggregated data collection and women's inclusion from the outset of project design are essential for equitable smart city outcomes. Measuring equity in transport requires disaggregated data by gender, age, disability, neighbourhood, income, and time of day.
All three speakers agree on the importance of international cooperation for achieving inclusive smart city outcomes. Coelho highlights her work with UNSC PPP and gives concrete examples from Angola and Senegal . Venezia references European research and international survey data and advocates for co-design methodologies that incorporate diverse lived experiences . Zakowska emphasises that 'through cooperation, through discussion, do it all successfully' and describes her university's international engagement . However, they differ on the mechanism: Coelho focuses on PPP contractual frameworks and knowledge transfer , Venezia on participatory research and co-design tools , and Zakowska on academic and educational cooperation .
International cooperation and knowledge transfer in the water sector, including through public-private partnerships, are critical for including women and improving urban water access in developing countries. Co-designing transport services requires moving from general consultation to evidence grounded in lived experience, using participatory data, journey mapping, rapid prototyping, and inclusive auditing. International cooperation and cross-cultural exchange are essential for successfully designing inclusive and safe smart cities, as no two places are identical.
Both Coelho and Venezia agree that technology must be people-centred rather than technology-driven. Coelho states that 'you need to combine and put people first. People First, Planet, and Finance' and that 'the objective is technology that improves the reality and reduces the inequality' . Venezia similarly argues that 'we need to put in the center people, not transport means' and that the latest European Commission guidelines also 'put in the center people first' . However, they differ in how they operationalise this principle: Coelho frames it primarily through the lens of community consultation and PPP design requirements , while Venezia develops a more structured six-step co-design methodology .
Smart digital water technologies offer significant opportunities for inclusive urban development, but require careful planning and a people-first approach. Public engagement is essential for understanding mobility as a daily lived experience and for capturing the inputs needed for urban innovation.
- Water is not gender neutral; women and girls are the primary users and managers of water in households and communities, making their inclusion in water system design essential for equitable outcomes.
- Smart water technologies, including AI-driven optimisation, advanced analytics, and digital customer services, offer significant opportunities but require careful, people-first planning rather than adopting technology for its own sake.
- Gender-disaggregated data must be collected, and women must be included as designers, decision-makers, and innovators — not merely as beneficiaries — to build truly inclusive smart cities.
- Capacity-building and knowledge transfer programmes embedded within public-private partnerships in Angola and Senegal are successfully sharing inclusive practices from more mature systems to developing ones.
- In Senegal, engaging local community women ('badwin') from the outset of water projects ensures that real community needs are identified and addressed, resulting in more successful and inclusive outcomes.
- Transport is not gender neutral; women's travel patterns differ significantly from men's, involving trip-chaining, care responsibilities, and safety concerns, and these differences must be reflected in service design.
- Safety in public transport and urban spaces is a critical requirement, particularly for women and the elderly, requiring attention to lighting, visibility, harassment prevention, and perceived risk across the entire journey.
- Inclusive mobility must address the needs of multiple vulnerable groups — including persons with disabilities, older people, caregivers, and children — ensuring physical, sensory, and digital accessibility throughout the journey chain.
- Public engagement and co-design are essential to capturing lived experience, identifying unmet needs, and ensuring that urban services genuinely reflect the demands of the population rather than planners' assumptions.
- A structured co-design process should include journey mapping, participatory data collection, rapid prototyping, inclusive auditing, and feedback loops to continuously improve services and infrastructure.
- Digital innovation must enhance inclusion without creating new forms of exclusion, requiring attention to data representation, privacy, algorithmic fairness, and the availability of non-digital alternatives for vulnerable users.
- Engineers and technical professionals must integrate the Sustainable Development Goals — particularly SDG 11 (sustainable cities) and SDG 5 (gender equality) — into their everyday thinking and professional practice to achieve meaningful change.
- Embedding inclusive and gender-sensitive smart city design into university curricula ensures that future engineers carry these values into their careers, making sustainable and safe urban development a standard professional expectation.
- Participation is fundamental to achieving all SDGs; without the involvement of all community members, particularly those in vulnerable situations, smart city goals related to safety, cleanliness, and inclusion cannot be realised.
- A truly smart city is not merely digitally connected — it is a city where everyone can access essential services safely, equitably, and sustainably.
- The principle of 'nothing about us without us' was affirmed as central to inclusive urban innovation, emphasising that affected communities must shape the solutions designed for them.
“Water is not gender neutral. Women and girls are often the primary users and managers of water in households and communities. Inadequate water services and poor sanitation affect safety, health, education and economic participation.”
“The objective is not technology for technology's sake. The objective is technology that improves the reality and reduces the inequality.”
“Nothing about us without us. Women should participate not only as beneficiaries, but also as designers, decision makers and innovators.”
“When women are part of the process and the concrete project, when the men come back home, they say, you need to pay water, you have now something to do. Bring people to the table, and no matter if you are in the local operation or you are a manager or you are in the government, all people in the projects that are applying around the world are participating from the solution.”
“Transport is not gender neutral. Women's travel patterns are completely different from men's. They care about all the other components of family — shopping, accompanying children, older relatives. We cannot provide transport services without considering gender issues.”
“Digital innovation should improve inclusion without creating new forms of exclusion. We need to guarantee representation — who is visible in the data and who is missing. Can people use mobile services without disproportionate surveillance? We need algorithmic fairness.”
“One of the most important things I realise in my career now is education. Not too many engineers who are working within mathematical modelling and building infrastructure think much more than about this pure, tough engineering way. What we are trying to do is make cooperating in their minds every day — not only Goal 11 (sustainable cities) but together with gender equality.”
What are concrete best practice examples of gender-inclusive water management in smart cities?
Elisabetta explicitly asked Lylian Coelho to share one or two best practice examples related to gender-inclusive water management, indicating a need for more documented, real-world case studies that can be replicated or adapted in other contexts.
How can artificial intelligence be responsibly and effectively integrated into water management systems in developing urban contexts, given the significant planning, data infrastructure, and capacity requirements involved?
Lylian cautioned against simply 'adding more AI' without proper planning, highlighting that AI requires years of preparation, data centres, and training. Further research is needed into phased, context-appropriate AI adoption strategies for water utilities, particularly in the Global South.
How can gender-disaggregated data be systematically collected and used to improve the design of urban water systems and smart city infrastructure?
Lylian emphasised the need to collect gender-disaggregated data as a foundational step for inclusive urban design, yet this remains an underdeveloped practice in many countries. Further research into methodologies and governance frameworks for such data collection is needed.
How can public-private partnerships (PPPs) be structured to ensure meaningful knowledge transfer and capacity building for women in water and smart city sectors, particularly in African and developing nations?
Lylian referenced her work with the UN Economic Council on PPP guidelines and gave examples from Angola and Senegal. Further research is needed into how PPP contractual frameworks can be standardised to mandate gender-inclusive capacity building and knowledge transfer.
How can community-based women's voices (such as the 'badwin' women in Senegal) be formally integrated into the governance and decision-making structures of urban water and smart city projects?
Lylian described how engaging local women in Senegal improved project outcomes, but this remains an informal practice. Research is needed into scalable, institutionalised mechanisms for incorporating community women's voices into formal urban governance processes.
How do women's travel patterns and trip-chaining behaviours differ from men's, and how should these differences inform the design of public transport services and infrastructure?
Elisabetta highlighted that women's travel patterns are fundamentally different, involving care responsibilities, multi-stop journeys, and safety concerns. Further research is needed to quantify these differences across diverse urban contexts and translate findings into transport planning standards.
How can public transport systems be redesigned to better accommodate care mobility, including journeys involving children, older relatives, and dependants?
Elisabetta identified care mobility as a distinct and underserved travel need. Research is needed into how transport networks, vehicle design, and scheduling can be adapted to support caregivers, who are disproportionately women.
What methods can be used to ensure digital transport and smart city services do not create new forms of exclusion for vulnerable populations, including the elderly, people with disabilities, and those without smartphone access?
Elisabetta stressed that digital innovation must improve inclusion without generating new exclusions. Research is needed into hybrid service delivery models that combine digital and non-digital channels to ensure universal accessibility.
How can algorithmic fairness and data privacy be guaranteed in smart city mobility applications, particularly to protect women and vulnerable groups from surveillance and discriminatory outcomes?
Elisabetta raised concerns about algorithmic bias and disproportionate surveillance in digital mobility services. Further research is needed into regulatory frameworks, technical standards, and audit mechanisms to ensure equitable and privacy-respecting algorithmic systems.
How can rapid prototyping and pilot testing be embedded into smart city and transport planning processes to reduce the risk of failed investments and ensure services meet real user needs?
Elisabetta recommended testing temporary interventions before scaling investment, but this approach is not yet standard practice. Research is needed into governance models and evaluation frameworks that support iterative, evidence-based co-design in urban mobility.
How can engineering education curricula be reformed to embed gender equality, inclusive design, and SDG principles as core competencies for future transport and civil engineering professionals?
Lidia highlighted that many engineers working on transport infrastructure do not consider gender or social inclusion dimensions. Research is needed into effective pedagogical approaches and curriculum frameworks that integrate these values into technical engineering education.
How can international cooperation between universities, governments, and industry be structured to share knowledge and best practices on inclusive and safe smart city design across different cultural and geographic contexts?
Lidia noted that no two places are identical and that cooperation is essential for success. Further research is needed into models of international academic and professional collaboration that are effective in transferring inclusive urban design knowledge across diverse contexts.
How can the energy and environmental costs of data centres supporting smart city technologies, including water management AI systems, be minimised and made sustainable?
Lylian drew attention to the significant energy and water consumption of data centres underpinning AI and smart city systems. Further research is needed into green data infrastructure strategies that align smart city ambitions with environmental sustainability goals.
How can the 'last mile' of urban mobility journeys be made fully accessible and safe for all users, including women, the elderly, and people with disabilities, from planning through to implementation?
Elisabetta emphasised that accessibility and safety must be guaranteed across the entire journey, including the last mile. Research is needed into integrated last-mile solutions that address physical, digital, and social safety dimensions in a coordinated manner.
How can participatory co-design processes be scaled and institutionalised within urban governance frameworks to move beyond one-off consultations towards ongoing, evidence-grounded resident engagement?
Elisabetta called for a shift from general consultation to lived-experience-based co-design. Research is needed into governance structures, tools, and incentives that embed continuous participatory processes into city planning and transport management cycles.