Gdynia recognised as Smart City

World Council on City Data (WCCD) is the global leader in standardised city data and helps create smart, sustainable, resilient, and prosperous cities. All 56 of them, now joined by Gdynia, are committed to improving services and quality of life with open city data. Becoming a part of the WCCD network provides opportunities for partnerships with other cities, international organisations, corporate partners, and academia. This results in delivering better quality of living in member cities.

In order to join the club, Gdynia had to be ranked in seventeen categories: economy, education, energy, environment, finance, fire and emergency response, governance, health, recreation, safety, shelter, solid waste, telecommunication and innovation, transportation, urban planning, wastewater, water and sanitation. The evaluation was made first in Poland, and then verified by the Canadian representatives of WCCD. The city could choose one of the five levels of certification to apply for and decided to start with the lowest one: Aspirational, aiming for the other four (Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum) in the years to come.

The official message issued by Gdynia’s representatives on Facebook reads:

It is yet another success for Gdynia in its strive for sustainability. Our city is the first one among Polish and Eastern European cities to be certified as a smart city by the Canadian organisation World Council on City Data. This confirms Gdynia’s position as one of the leading locations awarded with the ISO 37120 document.

Gdynia is not the only place in Poland promoting itself as a smart city. Recently both Warsaw and Wrocław launched campaigns for the same kind of recognition, stressing their mobile and environment-friendly solutions, as well as innovation and quality of living. In your opinion, which of the cities deserves such a distinction?