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Salou City Council uses one smart camera system to control the capacity of the beaches of the municipality Thanks to this service, the public can consult the state of occupation of the beaches from any device and in real time, planning their visits.
The solution makes it possible to face the challenge of managing the capacity of public spaces in security situations, avoiding crowds, ensuring the maintenance of safety distances and guaranteeing that citizens can enjoy a safe and comfortable experience.
It is an innovative initiative documented in theDigiCanvis Observatory.
Com funciona?
The service is based on a monitoring system made up of 22 smart cameras, distributed throughout the municipality's beaches, which estimate in real time the number of people on the sand.
- The cameras use artificial intelligence to calculate the number of people located in a specific area by analyzing movement, shapes and other parameters (volume recognition).
- Thanks to technology deep learning, the cameras are "trained" and learn to more accurately identify and differentiate people from other objects.
- The longer beaches are divided into virtual zones, to be able to monitor occupation by sector and make estimates about the capacity.
The data are transmitted by means of wireless technology, also in real time, to the city council's information systems where they are integrated into a Geographical Information System (GIS) accessible through the Beaches website from any device.
The information is displayed clearly and simply by means of a map and a colored legend that indicates in green if the capacity is low, in orange if it is starting to be high or in red if it can no longer be accessed. In this way, anyone can know in advance the capacity of the beaches and decide which area they can go to.
The system also sends SMS and email alerts to the Local Police, Civil Protection and Rescue when there are changes in the occupancy status of the beaches, allowing an immediate response.
What are the advantages for the local body?
- Improve efficiency. Automating people estimation minimizes the possibility of errors.
- Improve response time. Beach occupancy data is transmitted in real time to the Local Police and Civil Protection, so that they can activate their action protocols immediately in the event of reaching the maximum allowed capacity.
- Support in decision-making. The system makes it possible to know the behavior of bathers on the municipality's beaches (days and time slots of greatest and least occupation) and to design policies and plans accordingly, such as encouraging the rational use of public spaces.
The system has been in operation at Salou City Council since July 2020 and can be replicated by any city council that has a sufficient and sustainable demand for the data generated.
If you want to know all the key aspects to implement this initiative, such as the legal and technological aspects to take into account or the associated costs, you can consult the fact sheet Beach capacity control system.
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