This news article was originally written in Spanish. It has been automatically translated for your convenience. Reasonable efforts have been made to provide an accurate translation, however, no automated translation is perfect nor is it intended to replace a human translator. The original article in Spanish can be viewed at ‘Smart Street’, mejora de la calidad de vida con la optimización de recursos

The city of the future is intelligent, efficient, sustainable and more habitable

‘Smart Street', improvement of the quality of life with the optimisation of resources

Laura Sopeña17/02/2012

17 February 2012

With the will to turn into an intelligent city (Smart City), the place of Sant Cugat of the Vallés (Barcelona) has carried out the first intelligent street integral in Catalonia. The street Cèsar Martinell has been the chosen like the pilot proof of this ‘Smart Street', a shop window of the innovation and of the application of the TIC in the city, that has a system of management integrated cheese cheese that will allow a greater saving and do of the city a place more habitable and sustainable.

Identification ‘Smart Street' of Sant Cugat of the Vallès (Barcelona).

The past Wednesday 23 November, at 19:30h, set up the first intelligent street of Catalonia, in the Barcelonan place of Sant Cugat of the Vallés. The pilot proof of the street of Cèsar Martinell has begun to work after a year of the act of the rúbrica of the agreement that established between the city council and the companies Abertis and Indra. In the project also have participated companies of technology tip and specific applications like Worldsensing, Parkhelp, Moba, BibBelly Solar, Bit Loaders and Sinapse.

The technology

The sensors are the objects crashes of the ‘Smart Street', since by means of his installations in devices of lighting, of collected of demolitions, of road mobility and of recycling, send information on his state to the head office of data to be able to optimise each one of these services offered to the citizen. A total of seven technological platforms conform and put in operation the concept of innovative space, where the citizen is the centre of interest. All the measures and technological bets carried out, have implanted with the aim to improve the quality of life of the inhabitants of the place:

• Parkhelp, system guided of parking. Because of the sensors established in each one of the squares of parking, the citizen knows in advance the existent free squares thanks to the information offered in some panels, situated before arriving to the street. In this way it saves the traffic of the zone, the pollution of the air and the time and the cost of the distance. And, also, the system of parking Fastpark, that offers environingingmental profits, of traffic, of time and economic to the city and to his inhabitants.

Parkhelp, system of guided of parking.

• Sinapse, system of control and management of the lighted up. With the implantation of the system of energetic reduction, four farolas of the park Ramon Barnils control the intensity of the lights and regulate the luminosidad depending on the time band. In phase of proofs finds the feasibility of the implantation of a system of detection of presence, which will allow to regulate the intensity in function of the needs of the moment, depending on the frequency of step of the pedestrians.

Sinapse, system of control and management of the lighted up.

• CitySolver, management of flows of traffic. This system provides an intelligent management of the traffic in the city to real time. With him they detect the intensities of the traffic, accidents and congestions, and creates a platform of citizen query, where will be able to analyse the time of the route and choose the suitable alternatives of routes or transport.

• Urbiotica And Moba, system of environingingmental control and waste management. The platform of environingingmental control contemplates sensors of humidity of the earth that allow to realise a more efficient irrigation. On the other hand, the sensor of level of capacity of the containers allows to optimise the time of collected and the management of the efficient routes of the resources of the City council of Sant Cugat of the Vallés.

Sensors under earth that allow to realise an intelligent irrigation.

• Worldsensing, system of parking. Integral solution for the management of the parking in the city to real time, through a Smart Phone or panels of visualisation, where facilitates a communication without threads and of low consumption.

• BigBelly, system of compactación solar without cables. It reduces the operative costs, the consumption of fuel and the broadcasts of gases invernadero associated to the process of collected of the waste, until a 80 percent, thanks to the compactación of the undone. The system informs, at all times, of how is of full the container, works through solar feeding and can access to all the data by means of any browser.

BigBelly, system of compactación solar without cables.

With all these applications, the street has of systems of catchment to measure the reality in real time, of continuous way, a network of communications to transmit the minute-by-minute information and applications of integrated cheese cheese management to analyse the information, take decisions, act and analyse the results.

According to the City council of Sant Cugat of the Vallés, "the intelligent city (Smart City) is that that applies the technologies of the information and the communication (TIC) to the city to cater of an infrastructure that was guarantee of a sustainable development, of an increase of the quality of life of the citizenship, of a greater efficiency of his resources and of a greater citizen participation".

Jordi Puigneró, deputy mayor of Governació, Seguretat, Mobilitat i Tecnologia of the City council of Sant Cugat of the Vallès.

Interview to Jordi Puigneró, deputy mayor of Governació, Seguretat, Mobilitat i Tecnologia of the City council of Sant Cugat of the Vallès

How and when arose the idea of the realisation of the project ‘Smart Street' in Sant Cugat of the Vallès (Barcelona)?

The project started does a year and half. The idea arose because of the moment in which they find the city councils, where do very present the economic difficulties in all the senses. This need does that we have to manage much better what have and like this can save money in the big bills that has a city council. ‘Smart City' Appears like an opportunity to manage better ours city, thanks to the introduction of the new technologies. This is a key project for the future of the city. In a very next future, all the cities of the world go to want to be ‘Smart' because the one who was not it, will mean that it will not be managing properly the resources of which has.

Why in the place of Sant Cugat of the Vallès?

In Sant Cugat of the Vallès always have wanted to stand out for being a leading city and that manage well, from the technological point of view. Therefore, we take us these subjects with seriousness and priority, in front of others. Also, it exists a political will by part of the current mayor. Therefore it is a strategic project of mandate.

Exists some precedent in Europe or EE UU?

Exist very few cities in the world that are betting so strong like us, is by this that do not have a model referent. Yes that, for example, there are cities like Yokohama (Japan), that do technological bets very important in the management of the city. But it does not be necessary to forget that we are a city to level of Catalonia, a half city: and to level of the world, small. We have developed the strategic plan of ‘Smart City' for our city and from here are it developing, but do not have a model in which we have guided us or based, because I think that there is not it.

How and in how long has carried out the execution and implantation of the technology in said street?

From a strategic plan of ‘Smart City' in Sant Cugat arose the pilot proof of the ‘Smart Street' endowed of different types of technology that allow to manage better the resources (water, light, mobility, etc). With the aim to see how works and what save with her, have realised in a street what wish to execute in all the city. The information received serves us for the back management of the resources established and like this can save in daily attitudes of the day in day out. Like this we will be able to have a more effective city and more efficient. In definite, do that it save money the taxpayer, as for example until 20% in the bill of the water.

Which institutions or organisations have made possible that the ‘Smart Street' of Sant Cugat of the Vallès saw the light?

The form of financials of this project has come given of a public collaboration-private. The impulsor of the project has been the city council, that has worked with private companies Catalans that have yielded the technology of free form and we have offered them the space. In this way we boost the innovation and economic activity of these companies and has been all a success, since we have had a greater offer of companies for the participation. Therefore, the project has not cost at all economically, only hours of the people working; and the companies, collaborating contributing the technology. We have achieved the initiative of the ‘Win Win' (all win).

How has reacted and reacts the citizenship in front of this project?

Mostly, the greater number of citizens has reacted of a very positive way, although always there are people reacia to the technological change, attitude that is very normal, as with any another novelty.