Abstract
Information and communication technology is changing the way in which cities organise policymaking and urban growth. Smart Cities base their strategy on the use of information and communication technologies in several fields such as economy, environment, mobility and governance to transform the city infrastructure and services. This paper draws on the city of Barcelona and intends to analyse its transformation from a traditional agglomeration to a twenty-first century metropolis. The case of Barcelona is of special interest due to its apparent desire, reflected by its current policies regarding urban planning, to be considered as a leading metropolis in Europe. Hence, an assessment of the Smart City initiative will cast light on the current status of Barcelona’s urban policy and its urban policy of Barcelona and its future directions. This article analyses Barcelona’s transformation in the areas of Smart City management; drivers, bottlenecks, conditions and assets. First, it presents the existing literature on Barcelona’s Smart City initiative. Then, the case study analysis is presented with the Barcelona Smart City model. After describing this model, we further explore the main components of the Smart City strategy of Barcelona in terms of Smart districts, living labs, initiatives, e-Services, infrastructures and Open Data. This paper also reveals certain benefits and challenges related to this initiative and its future directions. The results of the case study analysis indicate that Barcelona has been effectively implementing the Smart City strategy with an aim to be a Smart City model for the world.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ajuntament de Barcelona: 22@Barcelona, the innovation district (2010) May, Ajuntament de Barcelona
Ajuntament de Barcelona: The City of Barcelona, Barcelona (2011) Ajuntament de Barcelona
Barber A, Eastaway MP (2010) Leadership challenges in the inner city: planning for sustainable regeneration in Birmingham and Barcelona. Policy Stud 31(4):393
Batlle J (2010) Barcelona Smart City: paving the way, Ajuntament de Barcelona
Batlle J, Majo A, Ventura JL, Vila M, Ponti I (2011). Interviews, Barcelona City Council
Caragliu A, Bo C, Nijkamp P (2009) Smart cities in Europe. Research memorandum, 48
Cushman and Wakefield (2009) European city monitor
Davis K (2010) The rise of the smart city. POWERGRID International. http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2010/01/the-rise-of-the-smart-city. Accessed 10 May 2011
Domènech L, Saurí DA (2011) Comparative appraisal of the use of rainwater harvesting in single and multi-family buildings of the metropolitan area of Barcelona (Spain): social experience, drinking water savings and economic costs. J Clean Prod 19(6–7):598–608
Ferrer A, Pie R, Nello O (1997) Els 20 anys del Pla General Metropolita de Barcelona, Papers 28, Regio Metropolitana de Barcelona
Garcia B (2004) Urban regeneration, arts programming and major events: Glasgow 1990, Sydney 2000 and Barcelona 2004. Int J Cult Policy 10(1):103–118
Garcia-López MÀ, Muñiz I (2010) Employment decentralisation: polycentricity or scatteration? The case of Barcelona. Urban Studies 47(14):3035–3056
Garcia J, Raya JM (2011) Price and income elasticities of demand for housing characteristics in the city of Barcelona. Reg Stud 45(5):597–608
Giffinger R, Fertner C, Kramar H, Kalasek R, Pichler-Milanovic N, Meijers E (2007) Smart cities: ranking of European medium-sized cities. Vienna: Centre of Regional Science. http://www.smart-cities.eu/download/smart_cities_final_report.pdf. Accessed 20 May 2011
González S (2011) Bilbao and Barcelona ‘in motion’. How urban regeneration ‘models’ travel and mutate in the global flows of policy tourism. Urban Stud 48(7):1397–1418
Graham S, Marvin S (2001) Splintering urbanism: networked infrastructures, technological mobilities and the urban condition. Routledge, London
Hall RE (2000) The vision of a smart city. (Brookhaven National Laboratory, USA), 2nd International Life Extension Technology Workshop, Paris, 28 September
Hollands RG (2008) Will the real smart city please stand up? City 12(3):303–320
Hospers GJ (2003) Creative cities in Europe: urban competitiveness in the knowledge economy. Intereconomics 38(5):260–269
Leon N (2008) Attract and connect: the 22@Barcelona innovation district and the internationalization of Barcelona business. Innovation: Manag Policy Pract 10:235–246
Majoor STJ (2009) The disconnected innovation of new urbanity in Zuidas Amsterdam, Ørestad Copenhagen and Forum Barcelona. Eur Plan Stud 17(9)
Marshall T (2000) Urban planning and governance: is there a Barcelona model? Int Plan Stud 5(3):299
Marshall T (2004) Transforming Barcelona: the renewal of a European metropolis. Routledge, London, p 288
Mascaro J (2002) Two low income social housings: a comparative study of the environmental behaviour. Manag Environ Qual 13(4):357–365
Mazzoleni C (2010) Space of the city in reconstruction: the lawscapes of Barcelona and Berlin. Int J Law Context, Suppl Law, Mov, Space 6(3):199–242
McCrone D (2000) Urban change and the European left: tales from the new Barcelona. Urban Stud 37(8):1461
O’Connell L (2008) Exploring the social roots of smart growth policy adoption. Soc Sci Q 89(5):1356–1372
Stern BB (1998) Representing consumers: voices, views and visions. Routledge, New York
UN (2008) World urbanization prospects: the 2007 revision population database
Villalba G, Gemechu ED (2011) Estimating GHG emissions of marine ports—the case of Barcelona. Energy Policy 39(3):1363–1368
Yin RK (2003) Case study research: design and methods, 3rd edn. Sage, London
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bakıcı, T., Almirall, E. & Wareham, J. A Smart City Initiative: the Case of Barcelona. J Knowl Econ 4, 135–148 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13132-012-0084-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13132-012-0084-9