Barcelona 5.0: from Knowledge to Smartness?

Resum

The role and relation of information and communication technologies -ICT- with urban political economic restructuring has been widely studied in the last decades. The academic literature has been increasingly aware of the great complexity, rhythms and intensities of the interrelation among urban ICT deployment and urban regeneration and competitiveness.
 
In the amalgam of concepts derived from this evolution, it has recently taken a growing importance the one of 'smart city'. Although its definition has remained quite fuzzy, this concept has been evolving from a very technocentred notion of cities and ICT towards a set of policy measures informed by economic, social and environmental goals and processes to achieve an optimal level of quality of life and urban sustainability.
 
This paper examines the emergence and evolution of the smart city concept and its strengths and weaknesses in explaining the present urban reality. To do so, it analyses Barcelona aims to become a smart city in terms of technical infrastructure, social inclusion and economic competitiveness.