DEC 7,2022 KAYSHA

REEDER

BARCELONA:
46122313

A SMART-
SUSTAINABLE CITY

SMART CITY MODEL SUSTAINABLE URBAN FUTURE CITIES

DESIGN
22@Barcelona District How to integrate Smart City
Superblock Model strategies and sustainable
urban deisgn

Photo By: Dezeen, 2020

 Photo of
22@Barcelona, by
@22HQ
With cities facing global challenges
with urbanization, climate change,
and economic crisis, cities are
changing the way they are
managing, designing, and
developing their urban areas to
address the citizens’ health and well-
being, with a focus on achieving a
sustainable future. Moreover, cities
are searching for innovative solutions
to increase the citizens’ quality of life
in urban areas, as urban living is
associated with diverse physical and
mental health risk factors due to
poor transportation, noise pollution,
degraded air quality, waste
management, and lack of access to
open spaces, which are only a few
examples (Geropanta et al., 2021).
Introduction
Barcelona has transformed into a
leading metropolis in Europe, from a
traditional agglomeration, through
urban planning policies to address
these prevalent issues in cities. The
Smart City initiative has a big role in the
current urban policy of Barcelona and
its future orientation, and this case
study will focus on the emergence of
the Smart City Strategy, its main
components, an example of the Smart
City Strategy Implemented in a
different example of sustainable urban
development in a different form, and
future recommendations driven from
these two examples (Bakıcı et al., 2012).
1
 Photo of 22@Barcelona, by
Ziguart Global Institue of
Technology

BARCELONA: A SMART-
SUSTAINABLE CITY
WHAT ARE SMART CITIES?
With the lens of urbanization and which is troublesome as
the growing need for sustainability, improving one aspect of a city
the Smart City concept has been does not solve issues as a whole
gaining more interest from Europe and all aspects of the urban
and USA policymakers, as they environment are interconnected.
strive to be the most sustainable
city with new urban development Others define Smart City by
(Bakıcı et al., 2012). emphasizing how all the urban
aspects, including social,
Smart City is a concept that infrastructure, and institutional,
represents city management are interconnected. Nevertheless,
innovations with its infrastructures from both trends, it is noticeable
and management. A set definition that technology and
has not been established yet, but infrastructure are important
there are clear trends within the aspects of the Smart City concept
concept that helps distinguish the and these two are utilized to
term. solve urban problems, such as
those arising from climate
First, some definitions of Smart change and the need for
Cities emphasize one aspect of an sustainability and resilience
urban area, such as ecological or (Monzon, 2015).
technological,

2
 For technology-based solutions, Information and communication technologies
(ICT) have been the main force for urban economic growth, which has altered
the method of how cities compete. Smart Cities utilize Open Data and
encourage the development of clusters, and the development of living labs by
incorporating diverse stakeholders including citizens in order to produce smart
ideas in an open domain and to create services or products (Bakıcı et al., 2012).

Smart City is a concept that represents city management innovations with its
infrastructures and management. A set definition has not been established yet,
but there are clear trends within the concept that helps distinguish the term.
First, some definitions of Smart Cities emphasize one aspect of an urban area,
such as ecological or technological, which is troublesome as improving one
aspect of a city does not solve issues as a whole and all aspects of the urban
environment are interconnected. Others define Smart City by emphasizing how
all the urban aspects, including social, infrastructure, and institutional, are
interconnected.

Nevertheless, from both trends, it is noticeable that technology and

infrastructure are important aspects of the Smart City concept and these two
are utilized to solve urban problems, such as those arising from climate change
and the need for sustainability and resilience (Monzon, 2015).

For technology-based solutions,

Information and communication
technologies (ICT) have been the
main force for urban economic
growth, which has altered the
method of how cities compete.
Smart Cities utilize Open Data and
encourage the development of
clusters, and the development of
living labs by incorporating diverse
stakeholders including citizens in
order to produce smart ideas in an
open domain and to create services
or products (Bakıcı et al., 2012).

Figure showing the components

of ICT by Pratt, n.d.
BARCELONA AS A LEADING SMART CITY
Barcelona, the second largest city in
Spain, is the main port and a tourist
city with diverse industrial hubs. The
city is a pioneer of the Smart City and
has been successful in developing into
a Smart City with its diverse initiatives
and has been reconstructed to be a
knowledge-intensive city with its
infrastructures, urban design, and
policies (Bakıcı et al., 2012).
Barcelona has experienced urban
transformation since the 1980s, as it
developed into an outstanding
metropolis after being in an economic
crisis with a severe deficit in
infrastructure. The characteristics of
the city being highly urban, with
condensed infrastructures, and having
a close connection between
companies
Photo of Barcelona,
Spain, by Schrandt,
2020
and politicians, have impacted the
urbanization plan.
There were pronounced deficiencies in
the existing strategic planning during
the 1992 Olympics period, as the urban
planning was focused on internal
infrastructure and lacked focus on
environmental issues, water, housing,
energy, and transportation. To address
these deficiencies, the city hall has
implemented the use of ICT and
emphasized that all the city’s elements
should collaborate for common action.
This has led the city authorities as well
as other institutions and organizations
to implement the Smart City Strategic
plan in the 1990s with the objective to
develop Barcelona to become the
leading Smart City in Europe (Bakıcı et
al., 2012).
BARCELONA: A SMART-
SUSTAINABLE CITY
4
BARCELONA: A SMART-
SUSTAINABLE CITY

Key Concepts:
Barcelona's Smart-Sustainable
City Implementation

Barcelona has created the Smart City plan to connect the city
elements, people, and information through advanced and
high-tech intensive city development that incorporates new
technologies. By doing so, the city intends to generate a
greener and more sustainable city with improved quality of life
and innovative and competitive commerce that is combined
with transparent, effective, and efficient maintenance and
administration systems. Moreover, Barcelona’s Smart City
project aims to become an economic engine and urban
development reference programme as a synergetic movement
between government authorities, Barcelona residents,
corporations, and academic institutions (Bakıcı et al., 2012).
???

EXAMPLE OF THE SMART CITY

PROJECT: SMART DISTRICTS
Cover of Barcelona's
Barcelona has transformed some districts, which use to be
Smaart City Visions
document, by industrial, to house novel innovative companies in order to
Ferrer, 2017 become a sustainable and effective city, which is prominently
shown in the project in 22@Barcelona district, which is only
one of the diverse Smart City project Barcelona has
implemented (Bakıcı et al., 2012).

5
 BARCELONA: A SMART-
SUSTAINABLE CITY

The 22@Barcelona innovation district was created to

increase the international community and the
institution and local firms’ interaction in Barcelona,
which was lacking and sought as a mere “stopping
point” for business persons to reach advancement.
The project was started in 2000 as a government
initiative to transform the former Sant Martí
dilapidated historic cotton district into a flourishing
knowledge center.

The 22@District has become a model for innovative

urban planning and design and has incorporated over
114,000 m^2 of new greenspaces and created new
employment with 7,000 businesses, shops, and
companies by 2010, and half of them translocated to
the area after the project started in 2000. Moreover,
new housing and live-work spaces have been created.
Residents in the district have grown 23% and there
are now approximately 90,000 employees in the area.

The growth in the 22@Barcelona project was

accompanied by five knowledge-intensive clusters,
??? which are Media, energy, Bio-Medical, Design, and
information and Computer Technology (ITC). These
five clusters are placed near the city center and are
located strategically near each other, and the
interactions between them are fostered by the
proximity between clusters as well as the city center
to the clusters, leading to larger-scale opportunities
for interaction between the companies as well as
residents (ECPA Urban Planning, n.d.).

6
Photos of the
22@Barcelonadistrict,
by Scott, 2021
The innovation district 22@Barcelona
incorporates the fundamental features
listed below:

To favour knowledge-intensive activities

in order to sustain the territory’s
productive character

Support the creation and installation of

knowledge centers, including
universities and research centers. Figure that shows the rise
of the innovation districts,
by 22@Network BCN
With mixed land use, seek to develop a
complex and compact city model, which
includes citizen services, housing, green
areas, and business development.

Forge and consolidate the district as an

advanced tertiary land by implementing
an infrastructure plan by including
district heating, service networks,
pneumatic waste collection, redundant
power grid, advanced mobility solutions
and more on.
Photo that shows the
Ensure the preservation of the industrial innovation district's
universities, by More Thana
and architectural heritage of the district.
Green

Support an open ecosystem of

innovation by enhancing the conditions BARCELONA: A SMART-
SUSTAINABLE CITY

for development (El Districte 22@, n.d.).

7
 Photo ofthe
This innovation district has helps the district to meet their 22@Barcelona
encaptured the standards of a goal to sustain locations for Network website
Smart City with green collaborations with institutes and banner
infrastructure, economics, companies for urban
science and tech, inclusiveness, management and product
mobility, housing, identity, and development.
quality of life, and supports
projects that increase the value The 22@Barcelona district also
of cities and companies. An generates space for personal
example of a project is the relationships. To sustain and
Barcelona Uran Innovation further develop this district, the
Lab&Dev (BUILD) programme, city hall implemented programs,
which is intertwined with the for example, the agora
Smart City model development. programme and the digital
BUILD targets to promote the district programme, 22@
development the participation Barcelona Network, and other
of the innovative product’s related spaces to develop and
private sector and urban space sustain the district and to provide
management improvement space for both professionals and
services. The 22@District residents for initiatives and
incorporated urban research communication; the district also
and novel working spaces in creates proudful sensations to
several areas in the district, work and live in the district
BARCELONA: A SMART-
SUSTAINABLE CITY

including the Barcelona City (Bakıcı et al., 2012).

Hall, and the city council
supplies tools and human
resources to support research
on urban space and e-Services
smart management, which

8
The aspects of sustainability are well saving, generation of new green space,
incorporated within the 22@Barcelona waste management, and sustainable
project and are illustrated in the objectives. mobility. As shown in the table below,
Six major objectives were identified for the which summarizes the six objectives’
project, which are related to labour market impact intensities on and off the site,
relaunch, enterprise attraction, policies objective 6 had the most positive
regarding social inclusion, foreign impacts with a significant focus on
population integration, repurposing renewable energy production,
brownfield sites, and the project’s sustainable mobility, and waste
environmental sustainability. management in the area. Objective 5
had highly positive impacts as well, as
Environmental sustainability is mainly the majority of the area in
incorporated in repurposing brownfield 22@Barcelona was entirely
sites (objective 5), which highlights the transformed by repurposing industrial
limiting new land consumption and the areas (Bottero et al., 2020).
sustainability of transformation with new
green and public areas within the
transformed areas, and the project’s
environmental sustainability (objective 6),
which focuses on the promotion of energy

9
Table summarizing the six objectives’ impact
intensities on and off the site, by Bottero et al.,2020
 Photo of Barcelona
Superblocks by
Postari, 2021
EXAMPLE OF A SUSTAINABLE
CITY DESIGN PROJECT: SUPERBLOCKS
The pilot project, Superblocks
Programme 2016-2019, is located in
the Poblenou neighbourhood in
Barcelona and promotes
sustainable modes of transportation
with pedestrian surfaces, bike lanes,
and rapid bus lane networks, which
aids in car use reduction. Poblenou
Superblock consists of big blocks,
400 x 400 m units, that incorporate
nine housing blocks within them
and are now famous for their lively
and vibrant streets and peaceful
and relaxing atmosphere. The roads
located within the Superblocks
have been reshaped to only be
occupied by bikes and pedestrians
majorly, as seen in the figure on
page 11 (Na, 2018; Postaria, 2021; 10
Of the Best Sustainable City Plans in
the World, 2021).
Within the Superblocks, car traffic is
restricted to 10 kilometres an hour
BARCELONA: A SMART-
SUSTAINABLE CITY
and vehicles are allowed essentially
for public transport, emergency
vehicles, accessing residences, and
recreational bicycle uses only; cyclists
are also required to abide the 10km/hr
speed limit within the Superblocks.
These restrictions within the
Superblocks have allowed the public
spaces to become more safe and
open and accommodate various uses.
The main goal of the urban design
concept of Superblocks is to increase
biodiversity, sustainable mobility (and
to reduce pollution caused by
vehicles), community space, and
social cohesion.
The Superblocks became a famous
urban development as they have high
accessibility to diverse amenities,
prioritize people over cars, and go in
accordance with the community
participation rulebook.
10
With such a success, the Barcelona council is planning to expand the
Superblock model to other areas such as in the L’Eixample district
(Postaria, 2021). Such ambitions are also illustrated in the 2024 Urban

BARCELONA: A SMART-
SUSTAINABLE CITY
Mobility Plan, where the city states its vision of implementing 503
superblocks around the city in the coming years (Initial Approval for the
2024 Urban Mobility Plan, 2021).

Barcelona’s Superblock was first introduced in 1993 in the neighbourhood

of El Born, a historical neighbourhood, and two more superblocks were
established in Gràcia. The Superblocks Programme began in 2014, which
has led to a pedestrian trip increase of 10 %, which is 2,01,843 trips annually,
and cyclist trips increased by 30%. Six fully functioning Superblocks have
been implemented in Barcelona since 2016 and diverse stakeholders,
including residents, private companies, non-governmental organizations,
city councils, district organizations, expert institutions, and universities,
have been involved. Even though there were concerns by the local shop
owners during the pilot run, they worry that the project will push out
current residents due to gentrification and reduced customer assess
through less vehicle space. However, the city has addressed these
concerns by implementing social housing in the Superblocks and
increasing off-street parking areas, with statistics that show that the
customers that access the commercial areas only constitute 5%. Moreover,
the city council has addressed equality issues by implementing green and
open public spaces in the real estate market, which aids in reducing the
localization and concentration of greenspaces in particular areas (Postaria,
2021).

Figure of the 11
Superblocks
model by
SuiteLife
 Future
Smart-
Sustainable
Cities
Both the Smart City Model, which
focuses on technology and
infrastructure for solutions, and
the Superblock model, which is
creating big blocks to increase
accessibility and reduce vehicular
traffic, are great models that can
increase the sustainability and
resilience of an area and enhance
the citizen’s well being at the
same time. As the urban
challenges will continue globally,
the need for sustainable
development will continue or
even increase over the years,
there is a need for constant
monitoring and further
development of the existing
models and even creating new
models will be needed. With the
two examples studied above,
integrating the Smart City model
and Superblock model may be a
potential approach to improve
the existing models.
An ideal example may be to link
the Smart City Model’s ICT, in
particular technologies regarding
Photo by: ITUWRC
environmental parameters, mobility patterns,
and occupancy data, to the Superblocks
project in order to increase safety, efficacy,
quality of life, socioeconomic
competitiveness, and welfare.
Superblocks have been successful in
increasing the citizens’ daily physical activity,
such as walking and cycling, and the
discouragement of car use has led to lower
car accident risks and increased safety in the
whole city. Smart City applications can
further enhance these benefits the
Superblocks supply, with technological
applications such as “Senti lo” and “Smart
Citizen”. Moreover, specific indicators to
measure and analyze the success of urban
development projects are needed.
Senti lo, which is an open-source innovative
software platform, can help Barcelona to
collect and depict information on public
buildings’ energy consumption, urban noise,
pollution levels, temperature, as well as the
12
However, whether the superblocks with
the Smart City technology can be
located outside of Barcelona and
successfully achieve similar
sustainability outcomes is a different
issue. It is found that some other cities
with a similar form and layout as
Barcelona may be able to incorporate
the model with ease, and the major
indicators are the city grid pattern,
population density, and existing
transportation structures. For example,
Mexico City can transform 40% of the
city into Superblocks with minimal
traffic disruption. Another example of a
feasible city includes Tokyo, as it has a
dense population and public
transportation that is efficient while not
having a regular grid.
However, cities that have low
population densities and not a regular
grid, such s Atlanta, are not suitable for
Superblocks, or only a small fraction of
the city is suitable. It is apparent that
sprawling neighbourhoods that are
composed of majorly single-family
houses, which is the case in Atlanta and
diverse American cities, are not suitable
for the Superblock Model, as it will not
accommodate the characteristics of
increased accessibility with sustainable
modes of transportation and reduced
vehicular traffic, even if they have an
ideal street grid (Eggimann, 2022).
However, cities that are anticipating
rapid urbanization and an increase in
population density may successfully
incorporate the Superblocks and Smart
City model in their new urban
development to accommodate
the new populations and to
increase the quality of life for
the existing populations.
More studies are needed to
access if it is worth transforming
the urban environment for areas
that are not experiencing urban
growth or population increases,
as the development cost and
environmental damage that the
new development generates
may not outweigh the
environmental and quality of life
benefits. Other alternative urban
design or management may be
BARCELONA: A SMART-
suitable in these contexts,
SUSTAINABLE CITY
potentially with a focus on
retaining and increasing
greenspace, such as utilizing the
vacant lots, especially for
declining cities (Ferrer, 2017;
Scott, 2021; 22@Barcelona | the
Innovation District, 2020).
Photo of a green
vacant lot, by open
lands
13
References
10 of the best sustainable city plans in the world. (2021, September). Sempergreen.
https://www.sempergreen.com/en/about-us/news/10-of-the-best-sustainable-city-
plans-in-the-world

@22 - The Heart Of Barcelona’s Innovation District. . .. (n.d.). @22HQ.

https://www.22hq.es/location

22@Barcelona | the innovation district. (2020, May 7). More Than Green.
https://www.morethangreen.es/en/22barcelona-the-innovation-district/

Bakıcı, T., Almirall, E., & Wareham, J. (2012). A Smart City Initiative: the Case of
Barcelona. Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 4(2), 135–148.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s13132-012-0084-9

Bottero, M., Bragaglia, F., Caruso, N., Datola, G., & Dell’Anna, F. (2020).
Experimenting community impact evaluation (CIE) for assessing urban
regeneration programmes: The case study of the area 22@ Barcelona. Cities, 99,
102464. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2019.102464

Crook, L. (2022, October 12). Barcelona to convert a third of central streets into car-
free green spaces. Dezeen. https://www.dezeen.com/2020/11/19/barcelona-
eixample-masterplan-streets-green-space/

ECPA Urban Planning. (n.d.). Case Study: 22@ Barcelona Innovation District. Smart
Cities Dive. Retrieved December 7, 2022, from
https://www.smartcitiesdive.com/ex/sustainablecitiescollective/case-study-22-
barcelona-innovation-district/27601/

Eggimann, S. (2022). The potential of implementing superblocks for

multifunctional street use in cities. Nature Sustainability, 5(5), 406–414.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-022-00855-2

El Districte 22@. (n.d.). 22@NETWORKBCN. Retrieved December 7, 2022, from

https://www.22network.net/districte-22/?lang=en

Geropanta, V., Karagianni, A., Mavroudi, S., & Parthenios, P. (2021). Exploring the
relationship between the smart-sustainable city, well-being, and urban planning:
An analysis of current approaches in Europe. Smart Cities and the Un SDGs, 143–
161. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-323-85151-0.00010-5
14
References
Initial approval for the 2024 Urban Mobility Plan. (2021, February 5). Mobility and
Transport. https://www.barcelona.cat/mobilitat/en/news-and-documents/initial-
approval-2024-urban-mobility-plan

ITU-T, Smart Sustainable Cities at a Glance. (n.d.). ITU. https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-

T/ssc/Pages/info-ssc.aspx

Josep-Ramon Ferrer. (2017). Barcelona’s Smart City vision: an opportunity for

transformation. Field Actions Science Reports. The Journal of Field Actions, 70–75.

Monzon, A. (2015). Smart Cities Concept and Challenges: Bases for the Assessment
of Smart City Projects. Communications in Computer and Information Science, 17–
31. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-27753-0_2

Na, M. (2018, September 4). Barcelona Smart City strategy: an ever evolving plan.
Suitelife. https://suitelife.com/barcelona-real-estate/barcelona-smart-city-strategy/

Postaria. (2021, May). Superblock (Superilla) Barcelona—a city redefined. Cities

Forum. https://www.citiesforum.org/news/superblock-superilla-barcelona-a-city-
redefined/

Pratt, M. K. (2019, July 26). ICT (information and communications technology, or

technologies). CIO. https://www.techtarget.com/searchcio/definition/ICT-
information-and-communications-technology-or-technologies

Schrandt, L., & Schrandt, L. (2020, May 6). Explore beautiful Barcelona on this photo
tour. 10Best. https://www.10best.com/interests/explore/see-barcelona-spain-on-
stunning-photo-tour/

Zigurat Global Institute of Technology. (2019, February 7). Smart City Series: the
Barcelona Experience. Engineers & Architects. https://www.e-
zigurat.com/blog/en/smart-city-barcelona-experience/

Scott, (2021, March 9). What is Barcelona’s 22@ District? ShBarcelona.

https://www.shbarcelona.com/blog/en/barcelona-22/

15