European Union research and development funding on smart cities and their importance on climate and energy goals

The scope of this paper is to examine the European Union support in terms of research and development funding on the topic of smart cities. A detailed literature review, based on a project-by-project investigation, and a data analysis process identified these expenditures since the research on this topic was first funded. The portion of the Sixth and Seventh Framework Programs funding dedicated to smart cities is only 3 % of the total funding for energy projects and an all-time low of 1 % is expected within Horizon 2020. The low funding for the investigated field fails to capitalize on the high savings potential represented by the urban primary energy use in Europe. Restructuring the funding distribution for research and development in energy could better fulfill the potential primary energy savings of the European urban sector and contribute to achieving the European Union's climate and energy goals for 2020, 2030, and 2050.