Urban Renewal: The Smartest community

In 2000, Barcelona’s council created 22@ Barcelona as an urban transformation project with the aim of turning a rundown industrial area called Poblenou into a new innovation district. Today, the neighborhood is buzzing with creative startups, research centres and international businesses and is regularly touted as an example of urban, economic and social renewal.

The Poblenou district of Barcelona long reflected the wider malaise of Barcelona. Once a thriving industrial district in the 19th Century, it gradually became the ideal canvas for spraycan-wielding graffitists. Between 1970 and 1990, some 1,300 firms closed, leaving the area littered with abandoned buildings: a decaying post-industrial landscape. Barcelona’s city council seized the opportunity offered by the 1992 Olympics to refresh the city. A modern infrastructure, revamped neighborhoods, greener parks and a new two-kilometre sandy beach opened the city up to the Mediterranean Sea. The revitalisation made Barcelona a tourist must-visit destination again.

And Poblenou? It, too, is awakening from its long sleep to become a torch bearer for urban renewal. Much of Poblenou’s renaissance has been built on IoT systems. Starting in 2012, the city deployed responsive technologies across public transport, parking, street lighting and waste management systems as part of a Smart City Barcelona plan.

Home to the Future: Ten universities, nine R&D and technology transfer centres, and a spaceship tower, the 142 m high Torre Glòries, Barcelona’s new signature skyscrape.

Transitioning to a more energy-efficient LED lighting system has led to cost savings. Sensors in lamp-posts identify when pedestrians are near and dim automatically if the streets are empty to save energy. The lampposts form part of a WiFi network, too, providing consistent, city-wide, free connectivity anytime, anywhere. The network is also integrated into Sentilo, a system of over 19,500 smart meter sensors that receive data on weather, pollution and noise. IoT devices also monitor rain, humidity and soil moisture in city gardens. Using the data, gardeners can remotely programme electro-valves to deliver any irrigation needed. This has resulted in savings of approximately €500,000 per year.

For cars, embedded sensors in parking bays identify if they are occupied. Drivers are guided to available spaces through ApparkB, an app that allows online payment for parking. This has reduced congestion and emissions.

The innovations continue with smart pneumatic waste bins that reduce odors and new interactive bus stops, powered by solar panels, offer USB charging stations and updates on bus arrivals.

The Knowledge Neighbourhood

In 2000, €200 million was earmarked to foster the Barcelona technology industry. Twenty-two acres of Poblenou was to be recast as an innovation district and its name change said it all. Formerly called 22a (Industrial), it became 22@ – tagging it as a digital testing ground. Visit the district today and any fresh graffiti will be by renowned local artists, commissioned by one of the design, energy, media or scientific research companies that call 22@ home. The triangle formed between the seafront, Avinguda Diagonal and Ciutadella Park is a hotbed of innovation. Five universities and academic institutions have a presence, and co-working spaces, incubators and startups abound. Famous brands present include Amazon, HP, T-Systems, Ricoh, Schneider Electrics and Vice Media. Sergio Ruiz, CEO of the Signaturit Group, an electronic signature software company, says the decision to open in Poblenou was easily made.

“You can really breathe innovation and technology here,” he explains. “22@ is a hub that allows us to connect with other technology companies and promote innovation. This allows the development of new opportunities in our business. It is the ideal ecosystem for synergies.”

City in the City: The Interface Building, headquarters of the Telecommunications Market Commission, contains over 42,000 sqm of office space.

It is estimated that 4,500 new companies have come to Poblenou since 2000. Of these, 47 percent are startups, and 31 percent are technology or knowledge-based companies. Before Covid-19 struck, around 56,000 tech talents had been attracted to the area and the total number of jobs created was estimated at 150,000.

Old Charm, New Tech

Poblenou is far from a business district where the lights go out at night. The redevelopment was not intended to run slipshod over existing residents but to make 22@ an appealing place to live. This included developing 4,000 units of subsidised housing, creating new green areas, remaking streets and providing facilities for the public, such as schools and community centres.

Cool Quarter: With Poblenou, Barcelona has succeeded in rebranding itself as a city for business, talent and innovation.

For this, the support of the real estate sector was critical. If educated professionals, tech-savvy workers and other creatives were to be attracted, they needed office and living spaces. By 2011, there were 139 plans submitted for urban redevelopment, 84 from the private sector. “What caught our eye was not just the basic economics and demographics, it was also that people want to live there, that the universities are expanding, and that 22@ is increasingly regarded as a smart city,” says Eduardo de Roda, country manager for Patrizia, an international asset management company focusing on innovation technology in the real estate industry. On behalf of clients, Patrizia has invested in five office and residential buildings. Two are redevelopments of old industrial space and the goal is to create sustainable buildings, reflecting the changing local environment.

“Although 22@ is one of the largest urban regeneration areas in Europe, there is still a major shortage of Grade A office stock. We aim to address that demand,” says de Roda.

More Than Green: The 22@Barcelona project transforms two hundred hectares of industrial land of Poblenou into an innovation hub. An estimated 4,500 new companies have come to Poblenou since 2000. Of these, 47 percent are startups.

Walk the streets of Poblenou and you find a lively scene, half bohemian and half cybernetic. La Rambla del Poblenou, the promenade that cuts through the district to the sea, has been revitalised with top-notch restaurants, microbreweries and shops. In the backstreets alternative art galleries, advertising agencies, architect firms, dance companies and designer showrooms burnish the reputation of Poblenou as Barcelona’s cool new barrio. It is certainly an eclectic mix Modernista constructions like the tubular Torre Glòries and the Design Museum of Barcelona loom large – but there has been considerable effort to preserve the heritage.

Cisco invested $30 million in developing a co-innovation centre, focused on the Internet of Everything (IoE), in a former textile factory. An artistic colony occupies the Palo Alto Market area, and the Pompeu Fabra University’s Communication Campus and the Fundació Vila Casa Museum are housed in renovated textile factories.

From old to new: The former industrial slum of Poblenou has been transformed into the throbbing heart of a new city by a mix of careful conservation and striking modernisation. (source ©: Patrizia AG)

November 2020 marked the twentieth anniversary of the 22@ urban planning project and provided an opportunity to reassess its direction. The council plans to open the district to green companies and more space was earmarked for 9,300 rental homes – but this looks like it will be increased to around 15,800 residential apartments. “It is the mix of uses that we like about 22@,” explains de Roda. “How the office and living spaces are revitalising the quarter to create a new, dynamic and compelling lifestyle. That’s the attraction for the creative classes and will ensure they will continue to be drawn to the area.”

Interview: Giulio Spinell

Solutions by the People, for the People

How is Barcelona approaching IoT?

Barcelona is transforming itself into a true smart city. The areas they have focused on – environmental monitoring, parking, waste disposal and smart lighting – provide them with a solid platform for continuing to develop in the future. Importantly, they have put all this in place not for the sake of the technology but because it provides solutions for the needs of people.

Thanks to IoT, barcelona has reduced congestion and lowered car emissions, water and energy costs.

_{Giulio Spinell, EMEA Smart City Business Development Manager and technology specialist for timing and sensing at Avnet Silica, lives and works in Milan}

What are the main challenges?

First – scale. With a project like this, you only benefit when you cover a large area. This can pose problems because of the physical environment or the ‘not in my backyard’ attitudes. Barcelona has overcome this by effectively scaling proven technology from its Urban Lab out over the wider city.

Any others?

There are issues concerning retrofitting the urban landscape to handle new technology. For example, providing power to the parking place sensors. There is also security. A parking app helps cut down on pollution and congestion but it also marks where the car and owner will be for the next few hours, so security is an issue. There are some pretty nifty gadgets installed around here.

Is theft a big problem?

With such innovative products, tampering happens more often than you might think. Safeguards have to be put in place to protect the devices.

What’s the payback?

There are two: cost savings and the ability to influence behavior. Thanks to IoT, Barcelona has reduced congestion and lowered car emissions, water and energy costs. It has also brought significant economic development. The quality of life for residents, workers and visitors has also improved. Also, collecting data can help government agencies place infrastructure where it’s needed in a far more focused manner. When that data is also made available to the public in effective formats, it can encourage behavioral changes. People can see it is far quicker to take a bike than a car for a short trip, or to leave a trip until later when the pollution will not be as bad.

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