- The project, the result of a partnership between València Innovation Capital (VIC) and The Mother Trees (VLC City Lab) and developed by Grupo Simetría in collaboration with Fliwer, is being implemented on Almassora Street on a 1,680m² site.
- The initiative is part of Valencia’s Urban Sandbox, which transforms the city into a testing ground for innovative solutions aimed at improving public services and citizens’ quality of life
The Valencia City Council has launched a new pilot project for smart urban irrigation as part of the Urban Sandbox, a municipal initiative that facilitates the testing and validation of innovative technologies in real-world urban settings. The goal of this trial is to optimize water use, improve tree health, and generate knowledge that will enable progress toward more efficient and sustainable management of urban green spaces. The project is being carried out on Almassora Street, covering an area of approximately 1,680 square meters, and will serve to evaluate the effectiveness and scalability of this innovative solution under real-world operating conditions.
The project stems from the collaboration agreement signed between València Innovation Capital (VIC) and The Mother Trees (VLC City Lab), which aims to address urban challenges through collaborative projects between corporations and startups, in response to the first challenge launched: “Valencia, a city resilient to extreme weather events.” As a result of this challenge, the need to implement innovative solutions for efficient water management and the resilience of urban tree populations was identified, leading to the development of this pilot project in collaboration with Grupo Simetría and the technology company Fliwer.
The pilot project incorporates the Fliwer One solution, a platform based on the so-called “Internet of Things (IoT)” that enables the intelligent management of sprinkler and drip irrigation systems. By collecting and analyzing data in real time, the tool automatically adjusts the water requirements of green spaces, helping to reduce water consumption and improve the conditions for tree growth and maintenance.
Paula Llobet, the councilor for Innovation, emphasized that Valencia’s Urban Sandbox “allows us to turn the city into an open innovation laboratory where businesses, the government, and citizens collaborate to test solutions that can address major urban challenges. “This project is an example of how technological innovation can help us move toward more efficient water resource management and help our cities adapt to climate change.” “We want Valencia to be a leader in the application of technologies that improve public services and have a positive impact on people’s lives,” she noted.
As Paula Llobet has highlighted, “The Urban Sandbox reduces barriers to innovation and enables solutions developed by innovative companies to be tested in real-life environments before being deployed at a larger scale. It is a key tool for accelerating urban transformation while attracting talent and investment linked to innovation.”
Evaluation of the Pilot Program
The main phase of the pilot program will initially last three months, although it may be extended to a maximum of twelve months to obtain a more comprehensive assessment of the solution’s performance under different weather and operating conditions.
Throughout the project, indicators such as reduced water consumption, the system’s technical reliability, its ability to integrate with existing municipal infrastructure, and its impact on urban resilience will be analyzed. The results will make it possible to assess the potential for expanding this technology to other green spaces in the city.
Furthermore, the initiative will be carried out in compliance with applicable local and European regulations regarding security, confidentiality, and data protection. The project also includes various knowledge-sharing activities, such as the preparation of technical reports and outreach activities, with the aim of facilitating knowledge transfer, promoting the replicability of the solution, and supporting future municipal applications.
This pilot program joins the various initiatives launched through the Urban Sandbox to encourage urban experimentation, promote public-private collaboration, and establish Valencia as a leading environment for the development and validation of innovative solutions aimed at building a more sustainable, resilient, and smart city.