Luxembourg Communes in transition: smart cities in action

As municipalities in Luxembourg face increasingly complex missions, growing sustainability demands, and shifting citizen expectations, they stand at a pivotal crossroads. How can they balance mobility, housing pressure, multilingualism, and the energy transition? In response, several cities are embracing a promising path: urban intelligence. At the forefront of this transformation is the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST), which is helping municipalities become the cities of tomorrow. We spoke with German Castignani, Manager of the Digital Twin Innovation Centre and Leader of the AIRA Research Group at LIST.

Municipal Roles in Transformation

From roadworks and civil registry services to primary education, housing, and social assistance, Luxembourg’s communes handle a wide range of responsibilities. Yet, these duties are being reshaped by structural shifts: traffic congestion, energy efficiency, housing shortages, cross-border commuter flows, and mounting environmental and technological challenges. In this context, municipalities must innovate to do more with the same—or even fewer—resources.

“Communes are at the heart of the country’s transformation. But this shift requires new skills, appropriate tools, and above all, reliable data to guide their decisions,” says Castignani.

From Buzzword to Reality: Smart Cities in Practice

While the term smart city often conjures images of highly connected and tech-savvy urban areas, the underlying goal is simpler and more human: to improve citizens’ quality of life while making public services more efficient. Artificial intelligence (AI) is central to this vision.

AI can help model traffic flows, optimize waste collection routes, plan energy infrastructure based on real consumption, anticipate social housing needs, and improve citizen communication. One of the most transformative innovations is the digital twin: a virtual replica of the city that can monitor real-time activity, predict changes, and simulate scenarios. These tools enable municipalities to evaluate the potential impact of urban planning, energy, or mobility decisions before they’re implemented.

Yet for many municipalities, AI remains uncharted territory. Assessing the return on investment (ROI) for innovative projects or navigating a fragmented and opaque tech market can be daunting—especially for smaller communes. Add to that the challenges around data access, quality, protection, and governance. AI, after all, is powerless without data.

That’s where LIST steps in. “Our goal is to help municipalities test concrete AI solutions on the ground, tailored to their specific challenges,” Castignani explains.

SmartCityHub: A Digital Compass for Local Government

To meet these needs, LIST launched the SmartCityHub, an experimental environment designed to support Luxembourg municipalities in their digital transformation—safely and effectively. Co-financed by the European Commission and Luxembourg’s Ministry of the Economy as part of the CitCom.ai Testing and Experimentation Facilities (TEF) project, SmartCityHub is the only TEF site in Luxembourg and aims to support local governments through 2027 and beyond.

The hub’s activities are coordinated by the AI Readiness and Assessment (AIRA) group and build on innovations from multiple LIST research units. A dedicated team of experts in data science, AI, cybersecurity, and digital twins—alongside smart city specialists and facilitators—works hand-in-hand with municipalities to carry out pilot projects and develop tailored services.

Learn more at smartcityhub.list.lu

Differdange’s E-Mobility Project: A Model for Others

One of SmartCityHub’s flagship initiatives is the creation of a digital twin to support Differdange’s goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2030. Among several ongoing use cases, one tool is helping the city strategically deploy electric vehicle charging stations based on user behavior and local solar energy production.

This digital twin is also being used to explore energy efficiency in public buildings, parking management, and photovoltaic subsidy programs for residents—real-world applications that demonstrate the tangible impact of data-driven AI technologies on local decision-making.

Mapping the Future: Use Cases and Public Guidance

Beyond the tech pilots, LIST is also helping municipalities grasp and adopt AI through a structured support process. In partnership with SYVICOL (the Association of Luxembourg Cities and Municipalities), LIST is building a catalogue of use cases to inspire and inform smart city strategies focused on sustainability and community well-being.

The project begins with a detailed mapping of municipal missions, grouped into broad themes like energy or mobility. From there, the catalogue highlights relevant tech solutions—whether developed in-house at LIST, sourced from European partners, or available commercially—and supports cities in designing their own pilot projects.

SmartCityHub serves as a facilitator, guiding municipalities through needs assessments, prototyping, and subcontracting, all while ensuring compliance with EU regulations.

Toward More Inclusive, Sustainable, and Efficient Cities

But SmartCityHub’s mission goes beyond technical experimentation. By empowering municipalities to embrace intelligent technologies, LIST is helping to transform organizational culture. The goal: foster data-driven decision-making, build digital skills among public servants, promote a shared smart city vision, and actively engage citizens.

This approach aligns with Europe’s broader digital and green transition goals. Through its participation in the EU-wide Testing and Experimentation Facilities for Smart Communities, Luxembourg is positioning itself as a key player in shaping the smart cities of the future.

Because the complex challenges facing today’s cities can’t be solved by technology alone—they require a collective intelligence that combines science, data, and on-the-ground expertise.

By bridging research, innovation, and public action, SmartCityHub embodies this vision. For Luxembourg’s municipalities, it offers a low-risk opportunity to explore the transformative potential of AI—and perhaps pave the way to a new model of citymaking that is more inclusive, more sustainable, and more effective.

Interested in launching a pilot in your municipality? Explore the SmartCityHub’s projects, prototypes, and resources at smartcityhub.list.lu.

Translated from Villes luxembourgeoises en transition : le pari de l’intelligence urbaine, published in Smart City Magazine.