Smart lampposts in Cartagena to measure air quality and noise
In addition to having a rich past in historical and cultural heritage, Cartagena, southeast of Spain’s Mediterranean region, has focused on promoting the digitization of the city with a dozen European projects to shape its future.
Among them is Intersight, a project in which Libelium is a technological partner and provides a complete solution to the city at three levels:
- Sensors: Capture of air quality and noise data.
- Artificial Intelligence: Algorithmic modeling applied to air quality data with CHIMERE, using data from AEMET and the Surveillance Network
- Smart Cities platform: All the data and insight are transferred to the platform that brings together, in addition to the air quality and noise data, data from various data sources with which to continue enriching the algorithm.
Behind the change
Cartagena was selected for the Challenge of the 100 Smart Cities by the European Commission, which aims to combat climate change by improving the quality of life of its citizens.
In this context, one of the municipal strategic lines is to improve public lighting by optimizing energy efficiency, promoting habitability and connectivity of the city, as well as monitoring different data related to air quality, and, then, reporting to citizens about this data.
The Challenge: How a Smart City can combat Climate Change
Intersight is the alliance between Libelium and Signify, which was created to turn current public lighting into intelligent nodes that house state-of-the-art communication devices (5G/6G) and IoT technology for the management and development of smart cities.
By using lampposts as nodes, it is possible to protect the urban landscape (by not adding more visual noise to the existing one in the city) and to take advantage of the potential of these “smart poles” to which other technologies such as security cameras, sensors, etc. can be integrated.
This also helps achieve several of the local government’s aspirations:
- To have KPIs of goals that were difficult to measure in the past, such as air and noise pollution.
- To promote intelligent decision-making based on transparent data.
- To promote citizen participation by empowering their decision-making.
- To reuse existing elements of the city for more efficient use, since the technology uses the same energy supplied to the lamppost.
- The local government of Cartagena aims to contribute to these objectives by making the city more habitable, functional, competitive, and modern.
The Solution: An innovative Low Emission Zone policy
These lampposts combine Libelium’s Smart Cities solutions for measuring air quality and noise level with Signify’s lampposts that turn light sources into data points to connect more devices, places, and people.
Libelium’s technology has been integrated into 20 Signify lampposts, creating a network of air pollution and noise sensors that maps the city‘s air quality and noise levels, detecting the most sensitive areas for citizens’ well-being. The data is treated and integrated with Business Intelligence and Big Data systems to make it understandable and accessible to both citizens and decision-makers.
Beyond the Challenge - The result
The information provided by the solution allows the government to design and manage an innovative Low Emission Zone: “We have led one of the first LEZ regulations that is not restrictive or prohibitive but facilitates sustainable mobility, and we have been able to do so because the data supports it,” says Cristina Mora, Councilor for Sustainable Development and Environment of the Cartagena City Council.
With knowledge and innovation as fundamental pillars, this platform will allow Cartagena to leap into the future and lead the way toward a smarter and more connected city with its citizens.
In an increasingly connected world, our Internet of Things (IoT) technology is being used to create transformational change across cities. AWS’s scalable and secure infrastructure, combined with our cutting-edge IoT solutions, has empowered city administrators to improve infrastructure, enhance public services, and promote sustainable practices. Libelium’s partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS) enables cities to unlock the transformative power of the Internet of Things (IoT) and redefine what’s possible in urban living.
