o Street light

LED-based lighting system solution has helped Barcelona to become more energy
efficient and reduces the heat produced by the old lamps thus leading to cost savings
for the city. With the help of the sensors, the system also receives information
regarding the pollution, humidity, temperature, the presence of people, and noise.

o Waste Disposal

The use of smart bins that use a vacuum and suck the waste into underground
storage helps to reduce the smell of trash waiting to be fetched and the noise
pollution from collection vehicles.

It also enables the city to detect the level of waste that comes from different places
and optimize the collection of waste, which decreases both the resources and time
needed for this service. Meanwhile, the incineration of waste is used afterwards to
produce energy for heating systems.

o City Bike System

After many years of public bicycle sharing it might seem just another service, but back
in the day Barcelona was one of the first and largest cities to implement the system .
This initiative is aimed at reducing the number of cars circulating in the city. Despite
occasional controversies, Bicing can still be considered a success with its over
120,000 users.

o Bus Transit System

The bus transit system stands out for sustainable mobility and decreasing
emissions with the help of hybrid buses. This system also has smart bus shelters
utilizing solar panels to provide energy for the screens that show waiting times.

o Noise Sensors

The residents of Barcelona’s Plaza de Sol, who had complained about the nighttime
noise for decades, used low-cost and easy-to-use sensors that can detect air
pollution, noise levels, humidity and temperature to detect and prove that the noise
levels were almost 100 decibels which were beyond the recommendations of the
WHO. Armed with this information, the residents went to the city council, pressing
them to rethink the use of the plaza.

o Irrigation System

Various sensors in the ground offer live data on humidity, temperature, wind velocity,
sunlight, and atmospheric pressure. That means, for example, that gardeners can
decide what the plants need based on that data and adapt their schedule to avoid
overwatering. It was estimated that the city will earn back its initial investment in
 building the first phase of the system in one year when they cut water usage by about
one quarter.

o Fab Lab

Barcelona was the first city in the world to have a public network of fab labs, small-
scale workshop offering (personal) digital fabrication. The premise of this enterprise
was simple: “ no smart city without smart citizens ”. Citizens play a key role in the
development of smart cities, therefore it is important that they can participate in the
changes at grassroots level.