references
Dr. Mila Gascó Associated Director Center for Innovation in Cities – Institute of Innovation and Knowledge Management
The case of Barcelona
Barcelona is a pioneering city within the Smart City concept, with its strategy based on a vision of transforming the city in the long-term. It aims to become a self-sufficient city of productive neighbourhoods at human speed, within a hyperconnected metropolis with zero emissions. The city's development strategy is focused to guarantee citizens a high improvements giving added value to neighbourhoods, and fostering its full urban potential in sustainable development and green economy. This vision encompasses projects in many different areas that, thanks to technology and innovation, seek to achieve improvement in the services that the City provides to its citizens, as well as improved management and knowledge of the city as a whole. Specifically, Barcelona bases its strategy on 22 programmes that help shape the smart city global programme and try to find the path to where Barcelona wants to go: self-sufficiency, real connectivity, renaturalisation and regeneration of its traditional structures. Josep Ramon Ferrer i Escoda (FD 07) Director of Smart City Deputy CIO Ajuntament de Barcelona
cities were: Luxembourg (Luxembourg), Aarhus (Denmark), Turku (Finland), Aalborg (Denmark), Odense (Denmark), Tampere (Finland), Oulu (Finland) Eindhoven (Netherlands), Linz (Austria) and Salzburg (Austria). Others have made similar efforts, which has led to the existence of almost one hundred different smart city indices, whose indicators did not match up (although they were similar). This may explain the different results.
agement to traffic control or water management. 2) Adopting a dual perspective, both technological and human. This means that technology is key to the development of smart cities, and in this sense, it is the tool of choice. That said, the smart city must be built by, for and with its inhabitants, as to not forget the importance of the processes of urban governance and participation, as well as investing in human and social capital. 3) Pursuing three objectives: improving the efficiency of urban operations, improving the quality of life of inhabitants and boosting the local economy, all with the backdrop of sustainability. Cities all around the world are making significant efforts to become smart cities. In fact, Spain
Common aspects
Despite these differences, the various indices and rankings reveal some common aspects that we can call the lowest common denominator of the smart city and involve: 1) Having a global/complete view of the city, as embodied in initiatives that can range from waste man-