Smart Cities in Spain – Policy, Sustainability, and the National Plan

Abstract

According to the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro in 2012, half of humanity lives in cities. The urban population has increased from 750 million people in 1950 to 3,600 million in 2011. It is estimated that by 2030 almost 60% of the population world will reside in urban areas. In Spain already does more than 80%. This will lead to significant growth in the coming years, and cities must be prepared to serve new services on a sustainable way: from meeting the needs of potable water or clean air transport will be a challenge of extraordinary magnitude and an opportunity for the industry. The Spanish National Plan for Smart Cities is a continuation of different initiatives proposing to do a set of new political measures that involve the mobilization of resources that will put special emphasis on sustainability.

The Role of Internet of Things (IoT) in Smart Cities: Technology Roadmap-oriented Approaches

“…First, because the majority of new jobs are being created in urban areas, the expansion of such areas is accelerating [4]. Second, to enrich the educational opportunities for their children, a large number of families in rural regions are moving to urban areas.…”

Smart destination: Tourism, innovation, entrepreneurship, challenges

“…"Akıllı şehir" kavramı, internet, iletişim sistem ve ağları, teknolojik yenilikler, veri yönetim ve işleme sistemleri ve ekolojik yönetim sistemlerinin bir araya gelerek oluşturduğu, sorumlu, sezgisel, sosyal, yüksek kaliteli, temiz; hemşerileri, ziyaretçileri ve turistleri için ileri düzeyde deneyimler sağlayabilen, bunları sağlarken doğal kaynakların da akıllıca yönetimi gerçekleştirebilen bir şehri tanımlar (Nijman, 2011;Colldahl, Sonya, & Kelemen, 2013;Vaquero & Saiz-Alvarez, 2016;Merli & Bonollo, 2014;Couzineau-Zegwaard, Barabel, & Meier, 2013).…”

“…It is the "Smart City" technology and applications which makes a destination "smart". The concept of "smart city" is the responsible, intuitive, social, high-quality, clean; formed by bringing together the internet, communication systems and networks, technological innovations, data management and processing systems and environmental management systems; defines a city capable of providing advanced experiences for their countrymen, visitors and tourists by providing wise management of natural resources (Nijman, 2011;Colldahl, Sonya, & Kelemen, 2013;Vaquero & Saiz-Alvarez, 2016;Merli & Bonollo, 2014;Couzineau-Zegwaard, Barabel, & Meier, 2013). Today, the concept of a smart city is often characterized by higher economic benefits, better management, more efficient energy usage, natural resources, and space utilization.…”