The development of smart city solutions is central within the SPARCS project, the Espoo development strategy, and the transformation towards carbon-neutrality in general. These smart city solutions aim at the improvement of city functions, such as healthcare, security, and energy, while providing a foundation for sustainable digital services. To enable the implementation of new smart city solutions, development of communication technologies is needed. One often mentioned technology in this regard is 5G and, in the future, 6G and beyond. Different development and research projects within Finland and the City of Espoo have been implementing innovative pilots in the field of 5G. These pilots are testing 5G communication, physical small cell infrastructure and connected operation models needed for a smart city.

During the SPARCS project, the Espoo project team aimed to study the possibilities of 5G within the mobility and energy sectors, and engage project representatives of different ongoing smart city projects. To achieve this, a feasibility study and a survey on 5G and mobility were conducted. The feasibility study aims to assess the opportunities provided by 5G towards the energy and mobility sectors, the links between 5G and the Espoo city strategy (the Espoo Story), activities and opportunities within the Kera development district, stakeholders within a 5G ecosystem and other 5G projects of interest. Meanwhile, the 5G and mobility survey aims to collect opinions related to the benefits that local 5G infrastructure can provide within urban areas, risks affecting implementation, and the city’s role. Both the report and the results of the survey are available below.