Smart City 2030 Project Marathon
The Smart City Project Marathon is a large-scale educational and innovative platform aimed at developing professional competencies in sustainable urban development, digital technologies, and project management.
The project brings together undergraduate and graduate students, and young researchers from across the globe, to develop relevant smart city concepts that address the socioeconomic, environmental, and technological challenges of the 21st century.
The project was initiated by Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University and is being implemented with the participation of leading universities from the BRICS countries, ensuring international expertise, multicultural exchange, and the high academic standards of the competition program.
The competition is co-organized by leading universities from BRICS countries:
- Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University (Russia)
- Lovely Professional University (India)
- Tsinghua University (China)
- Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)
Participants have the opportunity to present innovative projects, receive evaluation from an international jury and official certificates, strengthen professional networks, and contribute to the formation of future sustainable urban development strategies in BRICS countries.
The competition brings together multicultural teams of young professionals, encouraging an interdisciplinary approach and the development of solutions that enhance the potential of growing urban agglomerations and make the urban landscape more technologically advanced, socially inclusive, and resilient to future challenges.
In 2024, the international Smart City 2030 competition brought together young architects, engineers, urbanists, and researchers from across the BRICS countries to develop progressive projects aimed at sustainable urban development. The competition field included four main areas:
- Intelligent and creative development of the urban environment
- Safe and comfortable urban environment
- Smart city technologies and services
- Energy and transport infrastructure.
Participants presented work demonstrating innovative approaches to addressing pressing urban challenges—from smart infrastructure and green energy to the digitalization of city services and waste management programs. They proposed solutions for optimizing transportation systems, smart service projects for residents, architectural concepts for eco-friendly neighborhoods, and digital tools capable of improving the efficiency of municipal governance. The jury evaluated the projects based on innovation, applicability, social impact, and compliance with sustainable development principles, and the best works received awards and international recognition. The winners and finalists are among the leaders of the next generation of specialists whose developments can be incorporated into long-term strategies for improving quality of life in BRICS cities.
The competition final took place in November 2024 in St. Petersburg, as part of the BRICS International Municipal Forum.
The winners of the Grand Prix of the 2024 Competition:
- in the «Intellectual and Creative Urban Development» nomination — «Kapurthala 2030: Designing a Safe and Livable Urban Future» project, Lovely Professional University, India;
- in the «Safe and Comfortable Urban Environment» nomination — «SenseAIR: Smart Way to Clear Skies» project, Federal University of Ceará, Brazil;
- in the «Technologies and Services for a Smart City» nomination — «Universal Crime Prediction» project, Fudan University and Tsinghua University, China;
- in the «Energy and Transport Infrastructure» nomination — «Robots for Safety Roads» project, SPbPU, Russia.
Еhe following projects took the first places in the 2024 Competition:
- «Managing Sustainable Urban Development in BRICS Countries,» SPbPU, Russia;
- «Amritsar 2.0: A Sustainable Smart City Model,» Lovely Professional University, India;
- «Sustainable Energy Solutions for Fernando de Noronha,» Universities of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Mins Gerais, Brazil;
- «Smart Intersections with Energy Storage,» Sichuan University of Science & Engineering, National Research University Higher School of Economics, and SPbPU, China and Russia.
In 2025, the SMART CITY 2030 competition was held in an expanded format and confirmed its status as an international educational and innovation platform.
Organizers:
- Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University (Russia)
- Lovely Professional University (India)
- Tsinghua University (China)
- Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil).
Students and young scientists under 35 presented concepts for the sustainable development of «smart cities» across four thematic tracks: intelligent and creative urban development, safe and environmentally friendly urban environments, the implementation of digital services and technologies, and energy and transport infrastructure.
The competition projects were developed for a specific BRICS city, planning strategic decisions through 2030—from the digital integration of utility systems to technologies for enhancing the sustainability of the urban environment.
The competition’s Grand Prix was won by five teams whose projects were deemed the most promising.
- The SPbPU team, consisting of Daria Gunbina, Nikita Gavrilchik, Stanislav Konovalov, and Santoso Muhammad Kohhar Dwi, for their project of an intelligent waste monitoring and management system based on smart containers, which uses sensor technologies and data analytics to optimize the collection of recyclable materials.
- The Tsinghua University team for their SpecAI LLM-based AI platform for accelerating and verifying construction specifications, ensuring the transparency and efficiency of urban infrastructure project implementation.
- The Lovely Professional University team for their project of comprehensive urban infrastructure modernization in Delhi, integrating energy, water, and transport management for the sustainable development of the metropolis by 2030.
- The Federal University of Paraíba team for their «Energy Urbanism» concept, which uses environmental and tax mechanisms to incentivize energy efficiency and sustainable urban policy in Natal.
- Team Universitas Indonesia for the project «Dukuh Atas TOD Towards Seamless Mobility», which forms a model for seamless mobility and integrated urban transport in Jakarta.