Neapolis Smart Eco-City Presented at HORIZON 2020 European Conference

Dr Georgios Artopoulos (Lecturer in Architecture) presented successfully Neapolis Smart Eco-City at the COST Conference entitled “The Cities of Tomorrow: the Challenges of Horizon 2020,” held by the Scuola Holden, Turin, Italy, 17-19 September 2014.

The aim of the conference was to enable breakthrough scientific developments leading to new concepts and products, thereby contributing to strengthening Europe’s research and innovation capacities. COST programme is committed to reinforcing the principles of excellence, openness and inclusiveness by fostering new ideas, sharing knowledge and ensuring the output oriented approach of the Actions supported.

This interdisciplinary Conference was a unique event designed to bring new insights to the cities of tomorrow by gathering views and discussions from a diverse set of stakeholders. Organizers and members of EU research programmes on Smart Cities and relevant COST Actions had the opportunity to learn about the Neapolis Smart Eco-City project and inquire about the details of its masterplan. It was with great pleasure that key players of the Smart Cities European community expressed they genuine interest in participating in and contributing to the planning of this pioneer project.

At Neapolis University Pafos, a large interdisciplinary group of researchers, academics, architects, engineers and policy-makers are working to develop an Innovative Smart EcoCity in the Mediterranean that integrates health and wellness, culture, education and life-long learning, as well as the latest technological solutions, with the aim of creating a unique living experience within a green environment.

The Neapolis project is developed in cooperation with the Cyprus government, local authorities and other semi-government entities. It promotes the national and regional strategic objectives and growth strategies set by the Cyprus Government and the EU by facilitating the creative collaboration of international and local industry partners, academia and expert consultants.

We envision Neapolis to become a prototype for a “Smart EcoCity” in the EU, and its design is based on eco-friendly, energy efficient, smart and sustainable principles set by the current European policies. In particular the incremental quality of the ‘holistic’ character of the Neapolis project will be achieved via the integration of:

1. A complete health and wellness approach;
2. Life-long learning methodologies;
3. Innovation and research scope; and,
4. Support of cultural activities.

We believe that the concept of “Living laboratory” and the focus on state-of-the-art interdisciplinary collaborations between academic researchers and partners from the industry will offer solid foundations to the development of Neapolis at the forefront of technological innovation regarding urban development policies.