S[m2]art project: from digital island to vertical ring. Integration of environmental monitoring technology into street furniture

This chapter documents the research conducted as part of the S[m2]art (Smart Metro Quadro) project aimed at developing innovative street furniture that can deliver general and personalized services to the public administration (PA) and the citizens in an inclusive manner. Through an open design approach, S[m2]art seeks to provide urban solutions with recognizable aesthetics to monitor current urban phenomena and meet today’s needs without banning the possibility of providing new services in the future. The primary outcome is a prototype installed on the campus of two of the main Universities in Italy: Politecnico di Milano and Politecnico di Torino. Due to its low maintenance and operating costs, the resulting prototype makes it possible to increase the number of aggregation and resting nodes in the city, expanding its physical and digital network. Moreover, the S[m2]art model can also provide the PA with tangible and intangible tools capable of collecting, monitoring, and analyzing data on environmental parameters through the various integrated sensors. To summarize, this landmark seeks to formally reference a design concept open to the ever-changing nature that characterizes smart cities.