Romania's communications minister Marius Bostan has launched a challenge to the local business environment: “let’s built the first smart city in Romania by 2018, and let this city be Alba Iulia.”

The authorities want to launch a smart city project in Alba Iulia this September. The town in central Romania should be the first in Romania where the 5G communication technology will be available, in a pilot project, the minister said.

The Communications Ministry has chosen Alba Iulia for this project because it is “one of the first cities to have a long-term development strategy, launched in 2002-2003, and respect it. It also has the highest absorption rate of EU funds, and started having a smart transport system,” Marius Bostan explained, according to local Hotnews.ro.

There is also a symbolical reason why Alba Iulia was chosen for this project: on December 1, 2018, Romania celebrates 100 years from the Great Union. Alba Iulia was the birthplace of modern Romania, on December 1, 1918.

There are also other Romanian cities that want to implement smart city projects, such as Oradea and Piatra Neamt.

A smart city project was also launched in late-April in Oraselul Copiilor Park (part of Tineretului Park) in Bucharest. The project includes smart parking, free Wi-Fi, and smart street lighting.

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Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com

(Photo by: Ionut Vaidean)