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7/11/25, 1:53 PM Insights: What the Middle East can learn about ‘smart’ spaces from the French City of Pau - Construction Week Online
And what about our responsibility to our environment? European Commission data tells us
that cities generate about 70 per cent of global GHG emissions and generate over 720 billion
tonnes of waste each year. Unsustainable rapid urbanisation saw water bodies in Bangalore,
India, decline by 85 per cent between 2000 and 20014.

Like our stadium, the past decade has some glaring examples of where proposed ‘smart’
developments have fallen by the wayside. These include the planned Sidewalk Labs
development in Toronto. With heated side-walks, autonomous rubbish collection and data-
focused service delivery, it was to provide the ultimate city living experience. But in May 2020,
Sidewalk pulled the project. It cited “the unprecedented economic uncertainty brought on by
the covid-19 pandemic.”

City of Pau: The blueprint for how to establish a truly ‘smart’ city

But 6,000km from Toronto, in South West France sits a thriving example of a smart city. The
city of Pau is a blueprint for how to successfully create and manage a people-centred,
efficiently managed urban centre.

The story of Pau dates back to 2016 when the Communauté d’Agglomération de Pau Béarn
Pyrénées (CAPBP), which coordinates policies and actions for regional planning and economic,
environmental, cultural, and transportation initiatives for municipalities and cities in the
region, launched an ambitious plan to improve quality of life and encourage economic
development.

Critically, this team started not with the technology – but with their challenges – and what and
why they needed to overcome. These included the desire to promote communication and
collaboration between city officials and community members to avoid dissatisfaction with city
planning; to ensure transparency and include city citizens, in decision processes; the desire to
improve the visual appeal of the territory; the desire to ensure “right first time” construction to
prevent unnecessary spending.

It wanted also to make its asset monitoring process and the collection of data about its assets –
spanning 31 municipalities and 370 square kilometres – more efficient. To that date the city
had gathered immersive view insights by exporting and producing videos completed by
external subcontractors.

After examining their options Pau created a digital twin of the city that could collate their data
– geospatial, engineering, design etc – into a single connected environment and provide
accurate, real-time insights for a variety of stakeholders.

Analysing and processing that data supports multiple use cases, such as utility development,
architectural design, and events planning. Technical, political, and civilian stakeholders gain
complete access to the same, accurate, up-to-date information.

Using the twin city planners can simulate traffic scenarios, model architectural projects in
real-world context, track progress towards sustainability goals, and view the city’s utility
networks from one platform. The twin helps monitor stormwater, and Pau plans to add
capabilities for natural gas, water supply, waste, and electricity.

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