PN-ISO 37120

PN-ISO 37120 establishes definitions and methodologies for a set of city indicators to steer and measure the performance of city services and quality of life. It complies with established principles and can be used in conjunction with ISO 37101 and other strategic guidelines.

The indicators can be used to track and monitor progress on city performance. In order to achieve sustainable development, the whole city system needs to be taken into consideration. Planning for future needs must take into consideration current use and efficiency of resources in order to better plan for tomorrow. Therefore, the indicators allow to conduct future-oriented development policy in consciously and holistic way.

The indicators refer to particular thematic areas, take differences in resources and capabilities of cities worldwide into account.

Smart cities have been a very popular topic in recent years. We can observe how dynamically and efficiently cities are developing serving the local community. However, unstructured approach to this issue can cause chaos and problems with deciding how a particular city should build its strategy to demonstrate that its intelligence is growing and that it ensures sustainable urban development in various areas.

Undoubtedly, in cities with Smart City certificate investments in human and social capital and modern (based on ICTs) infrastructures are made as a drive for sustainable economic growth and high quality of life, wisely managing natural resources. They are administrative units that effectively integrate physical, digital and social systems to ensure sustainable and prosperous future for their residents. These are places where approach to improvement of urban services, quality of life of residents and the growth of local economy covers many aspects and is integrated. A modern, smart city uses information and communication technologies for sustainable development and improvement of quality of its services.

The most often mentioned benefits from implementation of ISO 37120:

• More effective management, better decisions due to control of indicators of services and quality of life
• Structuring processes in defined thematic areas and diagnosing problems (e.g. increasing CO₂ emission and related decrease in air quality, and then searching for optimal solutions)
• Increasing knowledge about the city on a global and local scale through monitoring the city’s development and comparing achievements of local governments worldwide to identify best practices and mutual learning (benchmarking)
• Tool for talks with investors (the need to adjust orders to calculated parameters)
• A magnet for big investors (rewarded awareness of own potential, the ability to compare indicators with other cities that have implemented standard and the investor is already there)
• Increased opportunities to obtain Union funds
• Assistance in assessment of performance management within urban and other services and quality of life
• Faster responding to challenges, e.g. the growing number of children in schools and the subsequent need to invest in new places for schoolchildren.

ISO 37120 standard applies to:

• cities
• municipalities
• local governments

which undertake to measure their own performance in a comparable and verifiable manner, irrespective of size and location.