Urban areas represent about 2% of the planet; however, cities generate more than 80% of global GDP. With the opportunities offered by technology, the Smart City Expo World Congress aims to turn this engine of the world into a network of smart cities, capable of amplifying the changes demanded by the challenges of the future.
Organized by Fira de Barcelona, the congress will be held again from November 4 to 6 at Fira de Barcelona's Gran Via venue. Under the title The time for cities, the event will position cities as engines of global change and as key spaces to face current climatic, social and technological challenges, with an eye already on the future.
The congress will bring together more than 1,100 exhibitors, with whom it expects to mobilize more than 25,000 visitors, surpassing last year's figures. In the exhibition area, in addition, there will not only be companies, but also international pavilions, such as those of Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, the United States and the United Kingdom, which will join companies such as Microsoft, Nvidia, Dell, Dassault Systèmes and Deloitte.
This year's edition also lands in the city with novelties, such as the premiere of the AI-enabled Cities area, which will explore how artificial intelligence can accelerate the transformation of metropolises towards more sustainable, inclusive and efficient models.
"Cities are dynamic systems built around the lives of millions of people and our greatest asset to curb climate change and ensure a better future," defends the event director, Ugo Valenti.
With this vision, the congress will bring together more than 600 international experts in a conference program structured around eight main thematic axes: enabling technologies, energy and environment, mobility, governance and economy, life and inclusion, infrastructure and construction, and blue economy.
Among the featured speakers who will participate in the event are Nikki Greenberg, CEO of Real Estate of the Future; Kate O'Neill, founder of KO Insights and specialist in AI applied to human experiences, and Carlo Ratti, architect and director of the MIT Senseable City Lab, a benchmark in urban design and innovation.
In addition, the event will once again reserve a prominent space for startups that are called to be protagonists in the urban innovation ecosystem. Specifically, 80 emerging companies will participate in the Innovation Playground space, which will connect startups with investors and research centers.
The congress, which will once again host the World Smart City Awards in what will be its largest edition, will also serve as a global platform for urban innovation, through the Tomorrow.Mobility World Congress, Tomorrow.Building and Tomorrow.Blue Economy, which will focus on transformative innovation in mobility, construction and the blue economy.
With this combination of knowledge, technology and a human perspective, Smart City Expo 2025 aims to reaffirm Barcelona as the global epicenter of the debate on the cities of the future, where technology and sustainability come together to rethink how we live, move and coexist in the city.