Smart solutions for over-touristed cities

The coastal city of Ostend, Belgium, is set to trial new technologies to improve the quality of services for its inhabitants, a population that triples in the tourist season.

Climate Change and Environment

© MAtchUP

Ostend is known as the "queen of the Belgian seaside resorts": its beach, fishing harbour and old town draw thousands of visitors every year.

"We are a small city but, being on the coast, we triple our population (around 70,000 residents) in summertime. So, we have problems typical of bigger towns," says Astrid Vanackerem, smart city coordinator at the Municipality.

In particular Ostend will look closely at the solutions adopted by tourist cities such as Valencia in Spain, Dresden in Germany and Antalya in Turkey, which are the 'lighthouses' of the EU smart city project MAtchUP. Vanackerem says: "As 'a follower city' will see how they handle issues such as sustainable mobility and deal with information and communications technology (ICT). In this way, we want to upscale our own ideas and strategies."

Read the video interview with Astrid Vanackerem here: https://www.matchup-project.eu/news/smart-solutions-for-over-touristed-cities/

Keywords

smart cities, drones, harbour, port, tourism