On 11 October 2024, the Department of Administrative Law at the Faculty of Law, Charles University, organised the second roundtable in the Lectures in Modern Administrative Law series.
While last year’s focus was on regulatory sandboxes, this time, the discussion centred on the concept of smart cities. The roundtable was structured in two panels and was steered by Professor Jakub Handrlica (Charles University). To open the event, Professor Gherardo Carullo (University of Milan) presented the work and future plans of the academic group Venice Network on Smart Cities and Digital Administration. His speech was followed by a series of presentations dedicated to cross-cutting topics related to the implementation of various smart city functionalities, such as the use of artificial intelligence in spatial planning (Professor Julio Ponce Sole, University of Barcelona), and smart energy solutions for the new generation of cities (Alessia Monica and Leonardo Scuto, University of Milan, and Lucie Vosečková, Charles University).
The second panel was focused on practical demonstrations of how the smart city concept is implemented across Europe. Presentations covered examples from Sweden (Professor Henrik Wenander, University of Lund), Italy (Corso Tozzi Martelli, University of Milan), and Switzerland (Marc-Olivier Busslinger, University of Geneva). Representing the Faculty of Law of Charles University, Christopher De La Cruz shared a report on smart city initiatives in Prague, and Liliia Serhiichuk presented her paper on the state of digitalisation in Kyiv. Alice Nováková, currently writing her diploma thesis on smart cities at Charles University and studying in Thessaloniki though the Erasmus+ programme, presented Thessaloniki as a smart city.
The Department of Administrative Law organised the round table as part of the Charles University 4EU+ mini-grant “Charting the course towards a new legal framework for smart cities”. Through the successful collaboration between Departments of Administrative Law, in Prague and Milan, the written versions of the papers presented will be published in a special issue of the Milan journal CERIDAP, which is indexed in Scopus.
The cooperation established within this 4EU+ mini-grant will continue in the following years on two platforms. First, the research team from Prague will be involved in the project La mejora de las decisiones administrativas mediante el uso de IA, la experimentación y los sandboxes: especial atención al ámbito urbano y de vivienda, awarded to the University of Barcelona. Additionally, the Department of Administrative Law will also cooperate with researchers at the University of Milan on their Jean Monnet project focused on energy law.
"I am honoured to have participated in this insightful round table on smart cities, where leading experts from across Europe came together to address the legal and administrative challenges posed by the digital transformation of urban spaces. The diversity of perspectives, from the regulation of autonomous public transport to privacy concerns and energy communities, highlighted the complex but exciting future ahead for smart city governance. Our discussion on the Venice Network’s work on digital administration reaffirmed the importance of collaborative, cross-border efforts in shaping the future of urban management. I look forward to continued dialogue and cooperation with my esteemed colleagues from across the 4EU+ Alliance and beyond."
"By participating in the roundtable 'Charting the course towards a new legal framework for smart cities', organised by the Department of Administrative Law in Prague, I had the privilege of engaging with diverse ideas and perspectives on the evolving concept of smart cities. Personally, the most valuable insight for me was to gain a new perspective on the use of artificial intelligence in urban planning and in addressing the right to housing in smart cities in today's context of a lack of affordable housing. As someone particularly interested in the potential of artificial intelligence to support administrative decision-making, I found the contributions on this topic and the stimulating debate with colleagues from other countries particularly enriching. I believe that these discussions were beneficial not only for me but also for all participants.“
"It has been a pleasure attending the roundtable "Charting the course towards a new legal framework for smart cities" in Prague and giving a speech on integrating energy communities within smart cities. These last represent a paradigm in the EU environmental and energy policy efforts to pursue sustainable development goals. From the EU administrative law perspective, energy transition efforts, driven by the principle of sincere cooperation, aim for a more equitable, sustainable society where present and future generations can enjoy a quality environment built on solidarity. Additionally, being part of 4EU+ fosters the possibility to share knowledge and competencies that can be developed further in other EU programmes, such as the Jean Monnet Module 'Public Administrations in the EU energy policies and communities 101175226 — PAEPeC'."