| SMART CITY EXPO WORLD CONGRESS |

Welcome to our 2026 edition – the global stage where urban innovation comes to life. This opening session sets the tone for an exciting journey ahead, with a warm welcome from Smart City Expo director Ugo Valenti and Tomorrow.Mobility president Marc Rozendal. Joining them are high-level representatives who will share how territories around the world are becoming better places to live and thrive. Get ready for three action-packed days of bold ideas and groundbreaking strategies from around the globe.

What does it take to make AI work for a city, and for its residents? City leaders and NVIDIA discuss the public services they aim to improve, the decisions behind their AI plans and projects, and the obstacles around trust, skills and cost. The panel will examine how cities can measure outcomes, address unresolved challenges, and build the local expertise needed to sustain progress.

As cities adapt to growing pressures such as climate change and population growth, urban leaders must rethink infrastructure, buildings, and energy systems to build safer, more sustainable, and future-ready urban environments. Built on today’s breakthroughs and tomorrow’s innovations, what lies ahead is both ambitious and fast approaching. Yet making this vision a reality will require the right funding models and strategic partnerships. This plenary explores what resilient urban infrastructure could look like by 2050, and how AI, energy systems, adaptive design principles, and new models of collaboration may reshape the future of urban life.

Building resilient cities requires new approaches that connect infrastructure investment, energy systems, and long-term urban development strategies. This session will explore how cities and industry leaders can collaborate to accelerate the delivery of future-ready infrastructure while balancing economic growth, sustainability, and operational efficiency. From investment models and energy transition pathways to public–private partnerships that enable scalable solutions. Strengthening coordination across sectors will be essential to creating resilient, investable, and economically sustainable urban ecosystems.

Urban regeneration is no longer only about renewing buildings or infrastructure, but about reshaping everyday life in the city. This session will explore how cities can reclaim and redesign neighborhoods and public spaces to make them more livable, inclusive, safe and resilient, bringing together governance, planning, design, investment and innovation to create lasting public value.

From algorithms that suggest to systems that decide and execute. What autonomous AI agents are already doing in the real world, and what it means for cities.

Cities don't have a talent shortage so much as a time shortage — expertise trapped in legacy systems and retiring minds. This keynote shows how agentic AI captures institutional knowledge, absorbs routine casework, and puts the right insight at the moment of decision, so every employee works faster, smarter, and closer to the mission.

What happens when trusted, federated data infrastructure meets agentic AI? This session explores how the Dutch DMI ecosystem and its Products & Data eXchange (PDX) enable organisations to share and use data while maintaining trust, control and data sovereignty. Caspar de Jonge and Lars van Vianen show how AI agents can connect data, organisations and expertise, turning intelligence into action—and pointing towards a federated European ecosystem for smarter cities and regions.

AI is moving beyond generating insights or supporting decisions, executing tasks, and interacting with complex environments with increasing autonomy. This session inquiries into what that shift means in practice, examining examples of how agentic AI systems are already being deployed across real-world settings and what their growing capabilities could mean for cities, institutions, and urban services. From autonomous systems, algorithms, LLMs, VLMs, to emerging forms of machine reasoning, the conversation will consider both the opportunities and the implications of AI that does not only assist but increasingly acts.

Tech sovereignty is becoming a defining consideration in the roll-out of AI solutions across cities. As local governments accelerate AI adoption, they face growing challenges around regulatory compliance, resource allocation, citizen trust, and integration in the existing infrastructure. This session will explore how cities are balancing innovation and AI while navigating an evolving geopolitical landscape, where questions of societal impact, strategic autonomy and control over sensitive infrastructure and technologies are becoming increasingly pressing.

Reliable, high-capacity connectivity is now a critical foundation for smarter urban services, real-time data use, and more connected public infrastructure. This roundtable discusses where cities stand in the deployment of IoT, specifically 5G, Wi-Fi 6, and smart networks, while considering the coverage, integration, and performance challenges that still need to be addressed to create digital infrastructure that is resilient, dependable, and prepared for future demands.

Artificial intelligence is becoming a defining force in the evolution of smart cities, reshaping how urban environments are understood, managed, and experienced. As AI moves from experimentation to large-scale implementation, cities are entering a new phase of transformation driven by data, automation, and predictive capabilities. Beyond efficiency and optimization, AI is also redefining the relationship between technology, governance, and society, raising important questions around trust, inclusion, transparency, and public value. This session explores how to harness AI not only to improve urban performance, but to build more resilient, sustainable, and human-centered futures.

Governments are using data, AI and automation to modernize institutions, deliver better public services and transform the way they operate – from the inside out.

The conversation explores the intersection of efficiency, citizen experience and societal impact by examining how technological innovation is helping governments become more agile, systematic, and responsive. Highlighting new opportunities for automation, streamlined workflows, reduced operational burdens, and stronger coordination across departments, the session will consider how these shifts are reshaping the way public administrations operate and deliver services. Building on this, practical applications and key challenges can be identified and examined to inform future action.

Cities are moving from digital ambition to real-world impact. This session explores how AI and digital technologies can support inclusive, sustainable and resilient urban development through practical city experiences and implementation pathways. It will show how people-centred principles can become scalable strategies and solutions, while gathering insights for the U4SSC People-Centred Smart Cities Toolbox to help cities leave no one behind.

The way cities design, build and manage their built environment has changed forever. Digital tools are driving efficiency, reducing waste and unlocking new levels of coordination across the entire development lifecycle

Digital tools are fundamentally changing how cities conceive, deliver, and operate the built environment. What was once a fragmented process is evolving into a more connected, intelligent, and data-driven ecosystem, where design, construction, and operations are increasingly linked across the full lifecycle. This session examines how technologies such as BIM, digital twins, advanced simulation, and automation are transforming the way urban assets are planned, delivered, and managed, opening new possibilities for efficiency, coordination, and performance. In doing so, it reflects on how buildtech is contributing to a more sustainable, resilient, and future-ready urban environment.

Cities are rethinking how urban spaces are designed, built, and maintained in response to growing environmental, social, and economic pressures. Innovation in infrastructure, construction, and urban planning is driving a shift toward more sustainable, resilient, and adaptable urban environments. As cities expand and transform, the focus is moving beyond growth alone to creating spaces that improve quality of life, optimize resources, and respond to future challenges. The next generation of urban development will depend on integrated approaches that combine sustainability, efficiency, technology, and human-centered design to shape smarter and more livable cities.

Renewables, decentralization, geography and long-term resilience: how cities and regions are making the defining energy choices of our time.

As cities and regions confront rising demand, rapidly changing global contexts, and decarbonization goals, energy sovereignty has become a defining urban priority. This conversation explores what are the different possibilities when designing an efficient energy mix through renewables, decentralized systems, and context-specific strategies shaped by geography, resources, and long-term resilience. With a focus on energy security, new energy models, investment, and the clean transition, the conversation shows why there is no single path forward, but rather a need for diversified, reliable, and future-ready solutions.

How cities are anticipating, preparing for and absorbing escalating climate impacts: from extreme weather events to infrastructure stress and social vulnerability.

With increasingly complex shocks and stresses, cities must strengthen their capacity not only to respond and adapt to disruption, but to anticipate them. This session questions how urban areas are preparing for extreme weather events, infrastructure stress, and growing social vulnerability through more resilient planning, risk management, and coordinated emergency response. The discussion also explores how urban environments can mitigate negative effects of climate change, build resilience amid uncertainty, enhance coordinated emergency response and protect long-term urban prosperity.

Connecting AI and sustainability can help create greener, more livable cities, but scaling impact responsibly remains a challenge. The session explores how cities can use AI sustainably and equitably by addressing topics such as governance, partnerships, business models, data, carbon footprint, and accountability, while identifying the enabling conditions needed to build resilient, carbon-neutral and inclusive cities by 2030.

Cities today stand at a turning point, where climate change, rapid urban growth, and environmental shifts are reshaping how urban areas function and evolve. These changes go beyond daily experience, influencing the very foundations and systems that support urban life. As cities adapt to increasing uncertainty and more complex challenges, the need for innovative, adaptive and resilient solutions becomes more urgent. This session brings together cutting-edge and practical solutions that help cities adapt, transform, and stay ahead of emerging challenges, paving the way toward more resilient, sustainable, and livable urban futures.

Human-centered design, accessible public spaces and everyday services are not just amenities – they are the building blocks of belonging. How do cities create places where people genuinely want to live?

Future Urban Health Culture calls for a shift from designing livable cities to creating places that actively support human health and societal resilience. This requires a new planning mindset—more interdisciplinary, cross-sectoral, and holistic—where health, sustainability, equity, and quality of life are addressed together. By balancing the needs of people with broader societal agendas, we can shape a shared vision for healthier, more future-ready cities.

A city starts to feel like home in the small, everyday moments: walking down a street, sitting in a square, running errands close by. These experiences depend greatly on how public spaces are designed, managed, and cared for. When people come first, these spaces become more than functional; they foster connection, safety, and a shared sense of belonging. Increasingly, cities are rethinking how public space is planned and maintained, from accessibility and inclusion to the role communities can play in shaping and sustaining it. Creating places that feel welcoming, lived-in, and meaningful is essential to building urban environments that people genuinely value.

Smart cities must focus on people and be as human as those who inhabit them. Integrating a child-centered approach—addressing the needs and voices of children and adolescents through their participation—improves responses to challenges such as climate, mobility, and housing. UNICEF promotes a rights-based approach, with global standards and participation, to achieve more accessible, sustainable, and inclusive cities.

Urban health systems, social services and age-friendly strategies are redefining what it means to live well in a city – for children, aging populations and everyone in between.

Wellbeing in city is shaped not only by access to services, but by how care is woven into the fabric of everyday life. As populations age and social needs become more complex, cities are moving beyond isolated systems toward more connected approaches that link health, social services, housing, and community networks. This shift places greater emphasis on prevention, inclusion, and proximity, ensuring support is accessible across all stages of life. From child-friendly environments to age-inclusive strategies, the focus is on creating conditions that enable independence, connection, and dignity, while strengthening the social and economic foundations that underpin long-term urban wellbeing.

A livable city is one that enables people to move, access services, care and be cared for safely and independently. Co-organized by CAF and UN Women, this session will explore how gender perspectives can be integrated into urban planning through safer and more inclusive mobility, care infrastructure, and the right to time, while addressing the inequalities that limit women’s autonomy and economic opportunities. It will also examine how investment can help scale solutions that make cities more inclusive and livable for all.

Urban livability is shaped by a wide range of cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors, making each city experience unique, constantly evolving. What defines a “good place to live” can vary significantly, yet there are shared approaches that help improve quality of life across different contexts. Taking a comprehensive view of society, addressing the needs of diverse groups across multiple dimensions, from accessibility and equity to public space and daily well-being. This session presents practical case studies and tangible approaches aimed at enhancing everyday urban living conditions.

This co-organized session presents the CEMR–28DIGITAL programme “Empowering Local Leaders Through AI” and its AI training for local and regional governments’ leaders. By bringing together politicians and partners to discuss the importance of local leaders’ AI literacy for improving governance, and the need to scale practical capacity-building efforts to support cities and regions across Europe.

Agentic AI is redefining the relationship between digital technologies and urban and institutional systems, moving beyond decision support toward autonomous execution and coordination. Its adoption is transforming service delivery, infrastructure management, and operational models across both public and private sectors. With recent breakthroughs from leading technology innovators, cities and institutions now have the tools to turn this potential into real, measurable progress. As these systems become embedded in everyday processes, the challenge, and the opportunity, will be to deploy them responsibly at scale, ensuring safety, accountability, interoperability, and lasting public value. The path forward starts with deploying these technologies responsibly, building cities and institutions that are more resilient, efficient, and adaptive for the communities they serve.

Urban Tech, Smart Infrastructure, AI for Cities, Data Platforms, Digital Twins, IoT, Blue Economy

How are Latin American cities scaling digital transformation? This co-organized brings together representatives from municipalities across the region to share lessons on governance, financing, and institutional design. Through practical experiences, the session will explore how cities are moving from innovation pilots to develop sustainable urban digital policies, strengthen institutional capacity and ensure long-term impact.

This interview brings together Hiroshi Ishiguro and Hiroyuki Suzuki to explore how robotics, Avatar Science, and innovation are reshaping the future of society. With Ishiguro, we will discuss the profound questions at the heart of his work: What is life? What does it mean to be human? And how can technology expand human presence beyond the limits of the physical body? Suzuki will offer a complementary perspective on how Japan is preparing for these transformations through innovation, entrepreneurship, and the development of the Kyoto and Keihanna innovation ecosystem. Together, they will reflect on the technological, cultural, and social challenges that will shape the future of humanity.

Cities are becoming the new engines of inclusive prosperity. As affordability, wellbeing and social cohesion become defining urban challenges, livability is emerging as the new frontier of competitiveness. This high-level roundtable will explore how cities can design economies, services and policies around people’s everyday lives and needs, turning inclusion into growth, public space into connection and quality of life into a strategic asset. Because the most successful cities will not only attract investment and talent; they will make people want to stay, belong and thrive.

AI is rapidly becoming a new operating system for cities, shaping how governments anticipate needs, design services, allocate resources and engage with citizens. As it becomes embedded in urban decision-making, cities must ask who designs these systems, who can access the opportunities they create and who benefits. From GovTech innovation to inclusive skills and accountable leadership, how can cities ensure the AI transition works for everyone?

Artificial intelligence is redefining the future of cities and communities. The convergence of AI, digital twins, spatial intelligence, robotics, and the AI-enabled Citiverse is creating a new generation of places that are increasingly intelligent, adaptive, and autonomous. As local and regional governments face growing challenges from housing and urban planning to climate resilience, mobility, and public service delivery, the opportunity is to harness these technologies to build more inclusive, sustainable, and prosperous communities. Realizing this vision requires international interoperable standards, forward-looking governance, sustainable digital infrastructure, and global collaboration to ensure that innovation delivers lasting public value and improves quality of life for all.

This panel explores how digital urban prototypes can move from one-off pilots to projects that are ready to finance, scale and deliver real impact. Led by the IDB Group, the session brings together IDB Cities LAB, the Costa Rican Electricity Institute and the City of Vitória, Brazil, to discuss how public and private capital can share risk and return, align investment with urban priorities, and turn bold ideas into deployable solutions.

How city governments are embedding AI into their operations – for prediction, resource allocation and sustainable urban development. Real deployments, real outcomes.

The challenge for cities is no longer simply collecting data but making it useful. This keynote shows an AI-powered platform turning fragmented data into actionable intelligence. By integrating urban domains and enabling teams to interact with data through a conversational AI interface, users can obtain insights, explore information and generate dashboards instantly. The session shows how this approach can reduce barriers to data analysis, empower non-technical users and accelerate evidence-based decision-making.

As cities seek to become more efficient, sustainable, and responsive, AI is emerging as a powerful tool to support better urban decision-making. City governments are integrating AI into their operations to improve forecasting, optimize resource allocation, and strengthen planning across key areas of urban management. The discussion explores how municipalities are turning data into practical action and measurable outcomes for better city governance, while also reflecting on the new opportunities AI creates for public decision-making, as well as the institutional and operational challenges involved in embedding these technologies into the structures of public administration.

How real-time monitoring, predictive analytics and connected infrastructure are redefining urban safety and resilience – and the cybersecurity challenges they bring.

Cities are adopting more connected and intelligent systems to monitor and anticipate risks, improve coordination and strengthen their capacity to respond in real time. This session explores how technologies such as IoT sensing, predictive analytics, and integrated safety systems are helping cities detect threats earlier, improve emergency response, strengthen cybersecurity, and build greater urban resilience. As public safety becomes increasingly linked to data, connectivity, and cross-sector coordination, the discussion will examine how cities can better protect people, infrastructure, and essential services in a more complex and rapidly changing urban environment.

Emerging technologies and AI-driven innovations are accelerating a new phase of urban transformation, redefining how cities operate, evolve, and interact with citizens. As innovation moves faster than ever, cities are becoming testing grounds for new models of governance, connectivity, sustainability, and urban experience. The challenge is no longer only technological adoption, but the ability to translate innovation into meaningful impact and long-term public value. This session examines how new technological solutions, powered by AI and innovation, are being applied through projects designed to improve cities and enhance urban life.

Behind every smart city is a material backbone: data centers, sensors, networks and devices. Exploring the physical infrastructure that makes urban connectivity possible – and vulnerable.

How can cities build resilient digital infrastructure while integrating AI and the digital economy from day one? Alatau City, Kazakhstan, presents its vision for an AI-native smart city built on core digital infrastructure, including data centers, IoT sensors, communication networks, and unified data platforms. The session explores how this physical and digital backbone enables urban digital twins, AI-driven city management, and tokenization by default, while supporting infrastructure resilience, sustainable urban development, and new investment opportunities.

Most of what makes a smart city work isn’t visible. It sits in the background: networks, sensors, data centers, and devices quietly enabling all aspects of urban life. As cities rely more on real-time data and AI, this underlying infrastructure is under growing pressure to deliver faster, more reliable performance. That shift is driving innovation, while making issues such as cybersecurity, long-term maintenance, and the resilience of critical infrastructure in the face of disruptions and emerging threats increasingly important. Getting this foundation right is key to keeping urban systems running smoothly, securely, and at scale.

By 2030, data centers will account for 8.6% of global energy demand. As capacity triples in Europe and sprawl accelerates in North America, cities face unprecedented pressure on land and resources. This session addresses how strategic land-use policy and zoning can transition these facilities from isolated, resource-heavy sites into integrated, dense, and climate-aligned urban infrastructure.

Beyond access and literacy, this session argues for a genuine digital understanding: the ability of every citizen to navigate the digital world critically, distinguish reliable information from manipulation, and make informed, mindful choices about personal data and attention. It calls for a sustained civic commitment to building a digitally mature society and nurturing a shared digital culture.

In the digital age, opportunity is unevenly distributed. Addressing the divides in access, literacy and rights that define who benefits from urban innovation and who gets left behind.

In increasingly digital cities, opportunity is shaped by more than connectivity—it depends on who has the access, skills, and rights to participate fully. While digital technologies are transforming economies and public services, they also risk deepening existing inequalities if inclusion is not addressed from the outset. Cities are beginning to take a more holistic approach, combining infrastructure, education, and rights-based frameworks to expand access to digital opportunity. As AI reshapes the workforce and decision-making systems, the challenge is not only to bridge divides, but to build inclusive digital ecosystems where innovation supports social equity, economic participation, and individual empowerment.

Next-generation lighting, from energy-efficient street lighting to smart integrated infrastructures, is quietly transforming safety, emissions and the experience of public space.

As cities grow and diversify, the quality of urban life after dark is becoming a key challenge for city leaders. Drawing on the experience of Montpellier, this session explores how lighting can go beyond safety and visibility to shape more livable, inclusive and sustainable public spaces. From energy transition and smart control systems to biodiversity protection and “dark infrastructures”, it will showcase how integrated lighting strategies can enhance urban identity, improve wellbeing and create better nighttime environments.

Urban lighting is a strategic service that shapes how cities function after dark. This session unveils how next-generation lighting systems, from energy-efficient street lighting to connected and integrated infrastructure, are improving public space, reducing emissions, supporting safer urban environments. How cities can use light more intelligently to enhance urban experience, optimize operations, and deliver more responsive, sustainable, and people-centered services?

Discover how plug-and-play AI and digital solutions can help create thriving, future-ready communities. This session highlights affordable, open-source innovations that empower small and medium size municipalities and cities in the Global South alike. By focusing on flexible interoperability, we will explore how cities can adopt affordable, sustainable technology, collaborate across platforms, and build resilient urban futures on their own terms.

Smart grids, storage systems, electrification and integrated management platforms – the tools that turn energy ambition into operational reality.

Turning clean energy goals into everyday urban reality requires a new generation of technologies capable of making energy systems smarter, more flexible, and more efficient. This session showcases the innovations supporting that shift, from smart grids to electrification, AI, digital tools, and integrated management platforms. By bringing together practical perspectives from different solutions and areas of expertise, the discussion highlights how more adaptive, intelligent, and efficient energy systems are reshaping the way cities manage energy and accelerate the transition.

Barcelona Smart Silver presents innovative housing models for active ageing. This panel brings together leading stakeholders, developers, operators, investors and providers of disruptive solutions to explore scalable alternatives in response to demographic change. Concrete case studies will show how cities can promote quality housing, community-based services and new business models for older people.

This session is organised by Barcelona Smart Silver by Fira.

How are cities turning innovation into real impact? Join RECI and Red Innpulso for a conversation with three cities showcasing projects, partnerships and strategies driving urban innovation. From digitalization and clean mobility to energy, housing, inclusion and governance, discover what works, the challenges ahead, and lessons for more sustainable, resilient and people-centred cities.

Large-scale urban transformation requires bold financing. Exploring the innovative models, international funds & publicprivate strategies that are making ambitious cities possible.

No city solves alone. Cross-sector alliances, city-to-city cooperation and multi-stakeholder partnerships are emerging as the most effective response to shared urban challenges.

Digital transformation requires networks and partnerships that help cities turn ambition into implementation. Moderated by IDB Cities LAB, this interactive discussion brings together representatives from Brazil’s Ministry of Cities and Spain’s Smart Cities Network (RECI) to explore how national programs and city networks accelerate innovation, strengthen local capacities, and scale knowledge exchange.

At a time of growing urban complexity, collaboration is more essential than ever. This session showcases joint projects and alliances that demonstrate how partnerships can build capacity, accelerate action, and amplify impact. Emphasizing also the importance of multi-level collaboration, not only between cities and territories, but also among stakeholders within the same city. Through concrete examples, the session illustrates why cooperation matters and how stronger coordination can help address shared challenges in a more inclusive and effective way.

A relaxed moment to have a drink and mingle with other attendees at the venue’s main entrance after the World Smart City Awards gala.

What makes a city a place to belong—and a source of possibilities no one has yet imagined? GS E&C introduces Life Weaver, a vision for connecting the spaces we build with richer everyday lives. From a private's perspective, this keynote explores how thoughtful design, research and partnerships can set the stage for people to shape what comes next: a city whose possibilities keep unfolding, beyond the original plan.

Cities face an enormous need for new infrastructure, with significant private capital looking for opportunities to invest. Yet too many projects still struggle to move from ambition to investment and delivery. The challenge is not simply the availability of capital, but creating a stronger pipeline of investable projects with the right commercial structures, allocation of risk and delivery capability. Drawing on emerging findings from new KPMG and World Economic Forum research and perspectives from leaders across the infrastructure and investment community, this discussion will explore how greater collaboration between governments, investors and industry can build confidence, improve investability and ultimately accelerate infrastructure delivery.

As cities face more frequent climate shocks, public health threats, and emergency response demands, local governments are using data to anticipate risks before they escalate. This panel explores how strong data practices help cities shift from reactive to proactive risk mitigation, enabling more targeted interventions and earlier action.

Smart City Expo is an ongoing conversation, with different editions taking around the world throughout the year. The ideas, discussions, meetings, and business opportunities happening in Barcelona this week will continue and expand with abroad editions that will take root in their own local contexts. This session brings together hosts of upcoming editions to share how they’re turning ideas into action, using their events to spark innovation and drive real impact in their cities.

Mapping AI’s boundaries – and what comes next. An honest look at current constraints and the emerging technologies that could overcome them.

Europe’s AI sovereignty will not come from autarky, but from strategic control. From chips and models to AI Factories and Gigafactories, this talk shows how Europe can build a resilient AI ecosystem: choosing what to own, where to partner, and how to manage dependencies, allies and trade-offs.

AI capabilities continue to evolve, but so do the technical, financial, and operational constraints that shape what these systems can realistically achieve. This session takes an honest look at the current boundaries of AI, from latency and computing power to data storage, infrastructure, access to investment, and deployment constraints, while also showcasing the emerging technologies that may help overcome them. Looking beyond today’s barriers, it will offer insight into what comes next and how future advances in AI could shape the development of technologies and cities.

Digital twins, simulation environments and integrated city platforms are turning urban complexity into something manageable and predictable. The building blocks of tomorrow are already here.

Urban digital platforms are increasingly being used to navigate the complexity of urban environments, helping cities better understand how they function and evolve. By enabling data-driven decision-making and scenario exploration, these tools support more effective and forward-looking planning. This session explores the role of simulations within these platforms—what they can currently offer, from predictive insights to scenario testing, and what possibilities they open for the future of urban digital systems, while also examining how governments are adopting these tools in practice and the challenges involved in developing, financing, and translating them into meaningful outcomes for urban planning.

Education, civic life, creative industries and responsible tourism are not the backdrop to urban development. They are its engine. How cultural ecosystems build identity, care and quality of life from within.

Tourism can energize cities, but its future increasingly depends on how well cities connect their cultural identity, innovative solutions and local quality of life. Through the experiences of Medellín and Dubrovnik, this conversation explores how data, digital tools and governance can support more thoughtful tourism strategies, improve accessibility and visitor management, strengthen cultural identity and contribute to more sustainable urban development.

Culture shapes not only how cities are experienced, but how they are lived and understood by the people who call them home. Through education, creative expression, and everyday participation in urban life, culture helps build identity, strengthen belonging, and deepen the relationship between communities and their surroundings. The challenge lies in supporting this vibrancy while maintaining authenticity, accessibility, and balance. As cultural activity drives economic value and social cohesion, cities are exploring more integrated approaches that connect culture with planning, community life, and local economies, ensuring it remains a living, inclusive force that evolves from within rather than being imposed.

From accessibility and public services to safety and community wellbeing, cities face challenges that directly shape people’s everyday lives. The technological revolution is opening new possibilities to respond to these needs in practical and inclusive ways. This session showcases solutions that combine innovation with a people-centred approach, exploring through real-world cases how technology can improve urban experiences and respond to diverse needs across the city.

Designing greener cities is not simply an environmental ambition, but a practical urban priority tied to resilience, public health, and quality of life. This session explores how cities are moving from vision to implementation through parks, urban forests, green corridors, and other nature-based solutions, while addressing the governance, financing, and delivery challenges that often shape their impact. Bringing together case-based experiences, the discussion will look at what is working, how cities are embedding green infrastructure into broader urban strategies, and what it takes to scale these interventions in ways that deliver tangible benefits for both people and the urban environment.

Rethinking water and waste management as a critical asset for public health, environmental protection and the quality of urban life.

The Tijuana Clean City Program is advancing a more efficient, safer and more livable urban environment through improvements in lighting, waste management, roads and public safety. Aligned with the 2025–2027 Municipal Development Plan, the initiative brings together government, the private sector, academia and civil society to strengthen infrastructure, improve public spaces and deliver cleaner, safer streets.

Water and waste management are no longer just basic urban services, but essential pillars of environmental stewardship, urban quality of life, and public health. This session explores how cities are managing these systems through more circular, efficient, and integrated approaches that reduce waste, protect water resources, and improve service delivery. Highlighting innovative models and practical strategies that help turn resource management into a driver of resilience, livability, and urban sustainability.

Tourism, commerce, talent, startups, knowledge industries: the forces shaping urban competitiveness. How are cities attracting what they need to thrive in a changing global economy?