Contents of this guide
What a smart city is
According to Green Valley’s note on the subject, a smart city is a city designed to work in a more connected, efficient and sustainable way, integrating technology, infrastructure, mobility, natural spaces and urban services within one plan. The same note stresses that digitizing the city is not enough and that technology has value when it solves a concrete need.
UN-Habitat takes a close view. Its program on people-centered smart cities aims to make urban digital transformation work for everyone, and the stated goal of its international guidelines is that digital infrastructure and data make cities sustainable, inclusive, prosperous and respectful of human rights. According to that page, the guidelines will be a non-binding framework for local and national rules, plans and strategies. At the close of this note, the page does not confirm their final approval.
A practical test follows from both sources: in a smart city, the digital layer serves the urban one, not the other way around. A development with a mobile app and sensors but without good sidewalks, green areas and clear access routes would hardly meet that idea.
Ten criteria to evaluate one
The table below proposes questions for any project that calls itself a smart city and shows, in the last column, what Green Valley publishes on its website about each point. These are the developer’s data and are verified on site and in documents before deciding.
| Criterion | What to ask | What Green Valley publishes |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Master plan | Is there a joint design of the whole project? | 200 hectares planned as an Eco-City |
| 2. Mobility | Are there wide roads, sidewalks and bike lanes? | Four-lane main avenue 33 meters wide, with bike paths and sidewalks |
| 3. Pedestrians | Can people walk between uses? | Paver sidewalks 2.5 to 4 meters wide in the commercial area |
| 4. Green space | How much area and which parks? | 54 hectares of green areas, eight parks and a lake |
| 5. Buried services | Do cables and pipes run underground? | Electricity, water and communications services underground |
| 6. Lighting | Is it efficient? | LED lamps using 50% less than sodium vapor |
| 7. Sustainability | Is there a verifiable standard? | Voluntary Ecological Certificate, paving the way to LEED or EDGE |
| 8. External access | How do people get there and how fast? | Two Corredor Norte exits; 10 minutes to Tocumen |
| 9. Mix of uses | Do housing, retail and services coexist? | Residential, commercial, institutional and sports lots |
| 10. Useful technology | Does it solve a concrete need? | The note presents it as a tool, not an end |
Data from Green Valley’s urban design, smart city and location pages. Bike path distances are left out because the developer’s pages publish different figures; they are confirmed with the sales team.
How Green Valley applies them on its website
Green Valley’s urban design page details physical elements. It describes a main avenue, Avenida del Sena, with four concrete lanes and 33 meters of width including the green strip, bike paths and sidewalks, linking the project through roundabouts. It mentions a lake built by using a natural depression in the terrain, surrounded by green areas, and an exclusive sports area in Phase 4 with access to the river bordering the project. Trees are part of the design: oaks and royal palms on the central axes, jacarandas in the contemplation strips and guayacanes on the west axis.
On sustainability, the website mentions the Green Valley Ecological Certificate, which is voluntary and sets out simple measures to reduce the environmental impact of construction and make it easier for buildings to obtain a LEED or EDGE certification later. That external certification, however, depends on each building and its developer.
The website also links the model to specific projects. Its projects page lists PH Mar Mediterráneo, a development of houses, the Innovation Smart District, described as an innovation free zone with offices for rent to companies in innovation, research and development, and the Metropolitan School of Panama, which according to the website was founded in 2011 and serves students from Pre-K 3 to 12th grade. That mix of housing, work and education illustrates criterion nine.
What changes for a developer
For someone who develops, the smart city changes the unit of analysis. Besides the lot’s surface area and zoning code, the account includes what exists around it, how the project connects to the rest of the city and what kind of community will form. That is the thesis of Green Valley’s smart city note, which adds that being part of a structured urban environment can mean working with a broader vision than that of a stand-alone construction.
That thesis has limits that each developer weighs. A planned environment offers clear rules, but also imposes them: uses, heights and setbacks already defined for each lot type. The lots Green Valley describes on its developers page are grouped by code, and the code decides what can be built. For the general context of residential demand, the reflection Who does Panama build for? offers a complementary view, and the note on Panama as a digital hub explains the digital infrastructure behind the country’s connectivity.
How to use the criteria in a decision
- Score each criterion with evidence. For each row of the table, note whether it exists, is under construction or is only in a plan, and where the information comes from.
- Visit the project. Sidewalks, parks, lighting and access routes are checked by walking and driving, not in renderings.
- Ask for the master plan documents. A joint design is backed by plans and by the rules for each lot type.
- Compare with public transport. The relationship with other mobility networks, such as the Panama Metro, affects how people who live or work in the project get around.
- Separate promise from deliverable. What a website describes as contemplated or planned is distinguished from what is already built, and the delivery date goes in writing in the contract.
The procedures that accompany a real estate project are also going digital; Radar’s guide to digital procedures in Panama summarizes which steps can already be done online.
Green Valley explains on its website what it understands by smart city and how it applies that model to its 200 hectare project in Panamá Norte, with urbanized lots for developers and builders.
Frequently asked questions
What is a smart city?
It is an urban model that integrates planning, infrastructure, mobility, public spaces, services and technology so the city works in a more efficient, sustainable and connected way.
Does a smart city depend only on technology?
No; according to Green Valley’s note and the UN-Habitat approach, technology is a tool in service of people, and planning and public spaces weigh just as much.
What is Green Valley in Panama?
According to its website, it is a 200 hectare project in Panamá Norte, presented as Panama’s first smart city, with urbanized lots for developers and builders.
How is a smart city different from a regular development?
By the joint planning of roads, bike paths, sidewalks, green areas, buried services and mixed uses, beyond whatever technology it adds.
What does UN-Habitat say about smart cities?
Its program proposes that urban digital transformation benefit everyone, and its international guidelines, described as a non-binding framework, aim for sustainable, inclusive cities that respect human rights.
Related articles
- Panama as a digital hub: submarine cables, data centres and what it means for a technology company
- The Panama Metro: lines, fares, hours, how to pay and Line 3
- Who does Panama build for?
- Digital procedures in Panama: Panamá Digital, electronic signature and what can already be done online
Sources
- Green Valley, what is a smart city: definition, buried services and developer approach.
- Green Valley, urban design: avenue, parks, lake, lighting and ecological certificate.
- Green Valley, location: access routes and travel times.
- Green Valley, projects and developers.
- UN-Habitat, International Guidelines on People-centred Smart Cities and People-Centered Smart Cities.
- Radar Panamá, digital hub, Panama Metro and digital procedures.
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