Writing the Rules for Smart Cities

BARCELONA – City Councilor Manel Sanroma likes to take visitors to the oldest part of this Mediterranean port city for a local tradition called the human tower, or castell, where white-shirted Catalans with red waistbands climb atop each other up to 50 feet high. A leader with a clipboard choreographs the participants according to size and weight and optimal supporting position. Music builds to a crescendo to let those at the bottom know the tower has been completed, as a young child stands at the pinnacle with triumphant outstretched arms.

Earnest, passionate, and friendly, a kind of Spanish version of Michael Caine, Sanroma likens the intricate exercise to cities finding their way in the 21st century: knowing what works, having a plan, but making last-minute adjustments as necessary. He and some 200 others from academia, nonprofits, cities, and industry gathered in Barcelona last week for an intensive four-day workshop to establish the City Protocol, a framework of principles, guidelines and best practices in the burgeoning smart cities movement.