In a rapidly urbanising world, cities need to become smarter to respond to citizen needs and to reduce their environmental footprints. GrowSmarter brings together cities and industry to integrate and demonstrate "12 smart city solutions" in energy, infrastructure and transport, to provide other cities with valuable insights on how they work in practice, as well as opportunities for replication. The idea is to create a ready market for these smart solutions to support growth and the transition to a smart, sustainable Europe.

The cities of Stockholm (Sweden), Cologne (Germany) and Barcelona (Spain) are implementing solutions ranging from smart home energy management systems, to micro-freight distribution, and from automated waste collection, to vehicle to grid charging. All solutions will be thoroughly tested and monitored to assess their potential for widescale replication throughout Europe.

Five "Follower Cities" – Cork (Ireland), Graz (Austria), Porto (Portugal), Suceava (Romania) and Valletta (Malta) – will be closely engaged throughout the project, with the aim of themselves implementing the demonstrated smart solutions.