Madrid, Spain, May 22, 2013 - The branch office will focus on monitoring and exporting the technological innovations that have made the Catalan capital a standard-bearer among smart cities.

The future of cities lies in their intelligence, and Barcelona wants to make itself the emblem for smart cities. The use of new technologies allows smart cities to improve and increase the efficiency and sustainability of the services they offer, such as lighting, traffic management, water and waste treatment and medical services.

This is why the Mayor of Barcelona, Xavier Trias, has signed a memorandum of understanding at the World Bank headquarters in Washington that establishes a World Bank office in the city. This will be sited in properties owned by the City Council of Barcelona, and several employees of this international financial body will be posted there to help carry out new technology projects.

“The World Bank has recognised the hard work that Barcelona has done to be an emblem of innovation”, said Trias, adding that the city “is already a leader in mobile telephony” and that it is now looking to establish itself as an example of a smart city.

“We want to focus on the example that Barcelona is setting and advise other cities about how to launch their own model”, said the World Bank’s Vice President of Sustainable Development, Rachel Kyte. ”This is the reason why we have established this partnership with a city that is developing itself as a global brand in innovation as a smart city", she added, saying that providing basic services in a smart way is “the future of development” for cities all over the planet.

“We don’t want to compete with other cities. We want to find synergies and opportunities to collaborate with them, and this is why we are embarking on this close cooperation with the World Bank”, said the Mayor, who said it is “senseless” being a smart city if the point is not "to improve people’s lives".

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