Cities face increasing pressure to become smart, climate-neutral, and resilient, yet most struggle to measure how ready they actually are to implement transition policies and investments.
AWTY-City (“Are We There Yet – City”) is a new initiative to create a Smartness & Readiness framework for urban areas, helping municipalities benchmark and accelerate their progress across five interlinked transitions:

1. Digital – digital skills, connectivity, and GovTech capacity
2. Green – clean energy, circular economy, mobility, and emissions
3. Housing – affordability, quality, and social inclusion
4. New Globalization – innovation, local value chains, and openness
5. Resilience / Security – critical infrastructure and emergency capacity
    

AWTY-City will provide a decision-grade readiness score, a Gap Map of critical bottlenecks, and a Capex-to-Impact Curve that links policy priorities with investment outcomes.
 

•Co-develop a city-scale readiness dashboard adaptable to different data contexts.
•Pilot the method in two U!REKA cities during 2025, using open urban datasets.
•Prepare a joint proposal under the DUT 2026 call (Circular Urban Economies / Urban Governance pathways).
•Identify complementary opportunities under LIFE CET and Horizon Europe (Cluster 5 – Climate, Energy, Mobility).
•Build a U!REKA working group on urban transitions, data-driven governance, and smart readiness.
 

•Researchers in urban governance, sustainability, data analytics, and social innovation.
•City representatives and policy experts interested in testing readiness tools.
•Technology partners or SMEs working in digital mapping, circularity, or data integration.
•Universities with expertise in economics, management, urban planning, and environmental science.
 

Interested partners are invited to contact Fernando Gaspar, ISCAL, IPL to express interest or propose collaboration ideas. fagaspar@iscal.ipl.pt 
A coordination meeting will be organised in early December 2025 to structure the consortium and outline the DUT 2026 concept note.