Santander is one of the Spanish cities with the highest development of smart city initiatives.
Santander, Spain, is working through its SmartSantader smart city program developed by the municipal government as part of the city’s strategic plan for 2010 to 2020.
The initiative was launched in September 2010, and was initially founded by the European Union and included the participation of private companies from Spain, Italy, Serbia, the United Kingdom, Germany, Greece, Denmark and Australia.
As part of the smart city program, Santander currently has nearly 20,000 devices deployed across the city. This includes static devices located at fixed points in the city utilizing different urban furniture. Collected data is processed in a management server for analysis by applications and tools to generate predictive models. An example of this type of device include sensors to detect available parking places. There are also dynamic devices installed in moving elements, such as public buses, vehicles, taxis and trash collection vehicles. These devices are designed to collect environmental and traffic information at several points within the city.
Local citizens can also participate by reporting incidents occurring in the city via a “City Pulse” application.
In terms of transport and mobility, initiatives include the deployment of sensors designed to measure traffic density. Additionally, panels have been installed along routes in the city center, which provide real-time parking information to drivers before they enter a street. The panels provide information about nearly 400 parking places. Tags or stickers installed at the city’s bus stops provide data on municipal bus service lines, stops and wait times.
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Also, five information panels have been installed at points in the city with real-time information about traffic on principal routes.
In the public safety sector, the municipal government has installed 157 security cameras that are managed by local police through a control center. The cameras are installed in 15 groups or systems corresponding to municipal buildings and infrastructures. Also, local taxis have panic buttons that can alert local police about incidents.
For environmental monitoring, Santander has completed the first phase of its smart water project, which included the installation of 1,000 remote domestic meter-reading devices, and network flow, water pressure and water level sensors in the main sewer. Also, a mobile application called “SmartWater,” allows users to access real-time information about their consumption, water quality and water pressure.
A solid waste project has deployed more than 3,000 devices set to provide real-time information on the state of waste disposal points. Moreover, volumetric sensors have been manufactured and installed in all recycling collection containers.