Today cities have an essential role to play in fighting climate change by greatly reducing their carbon emissions. In the context of COP 24 and the 2015 Paris Agreement, the MAKING-CITY project kicked off on 13 December 2018, in Valladolid (Spain). It aims to address and demonstrate the urban energy system transformation towards smart and low-carbon cities, following the planning and development of urban areas: energy storage and transfer, heating and cooling systems, use of renewables, smart buildings, electric vehicles…
The Positive Energy District (PED) concept developed in the project will be tested and validated in two “Lighthouse cities”: Groningen, the largest city in Northern Netherlands, and Oulu, the largest city in Northern Finland – both count more than 200,000 inhabitants. The PED will be then replicated in 6 “Follower cities”: León (Spain), Bassano del Grappa (Italy), Kadiköy (Turkey), Lublin (Poland), Poprad (Slovakia), and Vidin (Bulgaria).
Finally MAKING-CITY will contribute to the long-term City Vision 2050 boosting energy transition in cities. A policy toolkit, including best practices and recommendations, will also be designed for European energy and urban planning stakeholders and policymakers to help them implement PED solutions that will have a positive impact on citizens and their quality of life.