Digitization of commercial walks with traffic and noise measurement in Zaragoza

Shopping malls are catalytic poles of a city’s economy: they trigger other sectors, such as logistics or local industry, they provide service and work for their citizens and they are points of tourist interest. But they also have their downside: traffic and noise can be disturbing for neighbors.

A smart city must satisfy the needs of both retailers and neighborhood associations, and IoT technology is an ally. In Zaragoza, Libelium has installed fifty devices in two of the city’s most commercial areas: Calle Alfonso and its surroundings, at downtown; and Calle Delicias, in the district of the same name.

Two charming streets in Zaragoza to apply IoT technology

Calle Alfonso is one of the streets leading to the Basílica del Pilar, which makes it one of the busiest: an average of 8,000 people pass through it every day. Along its 450 meters there are some 70 very diverse commercial establishments, ranging from franchises to traditional businesses, restaurants and tourist flats.

Calle Delicias is an outstanding commercial hub in the most densely populated district of Zaragoza. It was one of the first streets to be pedestrianized and receives half a million visitors a month.

Commercial Walks, an initiative from the City Council to digitize the city of Zaragoza

The “Paseos Comerciales de Zaragoza” (Zaragoza Commercial Walks) is a digitization initiative promoted by the City Council seeks to capitalize on the main shopping streets of the Aragonese capital it wants to count on local companies.

The project to digitize Zaragoza’s 12 shopping streets is divided into 7 actions:

1. Measurement of air quality
2. Noise measurement and sensorization
3. Measuring public street capacity and occupation
4. Gamified leisure and gymkhana in the shopping area
5. Hybrid art and cultural experience
6. Outdoor hyperreality
7. Loyalty programs

How to digitize urban areas to improve user experience and citizens’ quality of life

Libelium has placed half a hundred Plug & Sense! devices to measure noise levels and the influx of people on lampposts in Calle Alfonso and Calle Delicias.

The aim is to digitize urban roads, collect data in real time and use Big Data and Artificial Intelligence to improve the experience of both citizens and retailers.

ℹBehind the change: How do we do it?

The Class 2 Sound Level meter detects a range between 45 dB and 115 dB, with an accuracy of 95%. The Plug & Sense! Smart City PRO has a built-in red pilot light that emits a light signal when the decibel level exceeds the WHO limit. This is intended to raise awareness among pedestrians of the importance of maintaining a respectful and healthy volume on public roads and to build a smarter and more liveable city among all parties involved.

The crowd control solution, on the other hand, detects WiFi and Bluetooth signals from smartphones performing an effective and anonymous count of people.

The collected data is processed with mathematical models of Artificial Intelligence to, for example, detect patterns or create automatic alerts for users. The visualization is done in real time and the data can be filtered by time, to make historic queries.

✅ Beyond the challenge: What do we get in the future?

The use of data will allow citizens to make more informed decisions for your users:

1. Design loyalty campaigns and targeted offers.
2. Calculate the transaction or recurrence rate in shops.
3. Establish a system of notifications, alerts and direct contact with the authorities.
4. Make walking more comfortable for pedestrians.
5. Raise awareness about the noise generated for the well-being of neighbors.
6. Provide information for public use related to forecasting traffic flows of people or behavioral patterns for the design of apps and platforms.
7. Establish contingency plans to protect street safety and address actions to increase loyalty and consumption in shops.
8. Providing Local government with traffic information to redesign the urban planning of the area, reinforce security, etc.

Libelium facilitates the visualization of the information in real time and the indicators correlated by the Artificial Intelligence layer, making it possible to see predictions of future events, risk situations and establish alerts.

“When you want to do something in your city you have to answer for every euro you invest, so you have to do two things: first minimize the risk and then do it with people with solvency who know how to give you confidence and who knows a thousand times more than you and who will never let you down”, said Carmen Herrarte, Zaragoza City Councillor for Economy, Innovation and Employment.

First results obtained that improve decision-making based on real data

After an initial analysis, we already now know that, since its implementation, the flow of people access Delicias street mostly (61% of the accesses) from Madrid Avenue, while 49% did so from Duquesa Villahermosa.

Slightly more than half of the visits occur during the weekend, 25% throughout the week and only 18% do so on weekends. And by time, the greatest influx of visits is between 9:00 and 13:00 in the morning, and between 16:00 and 20:00 in the afternoon. Being the night time and the early morning when less traffic has the pedestrian street.

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.