The event will focus on how AI and new technologies can revamp cities
Smart City Expo 2025 urges cities to become drivers of change in its largest edition
Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC), the leading international event on cities and smart urban solutions organized by Fira de Barcelona will hold its largest edition ever in 2025. From November 4-6 and under the theme “The Time for Cities” the show and congress aims to seize the full potential of technologies to transform the urban landscape gathering 1,000 exhibitors, 25,000 attendees and growing its exhibition floorspace exceeding last year’s record-breaking edition.
The event, held at Fira’s Gran Via venue, will focus on strategies to transform current metropolises into more sustainable, efficient, and livable spaces and will give a central role to Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a key asset capable of accelerating a much-needed push towards more efficient and sustainable cities. To do so, SCEWC will host the new “AI-enabled cities” where attendees will be able to learn how this technology can improve and speed up urban transformation projects worldwide.
This new area will add to an exhibition floor space that will bring together leading companies from around the world to showcase the latest solutions and technologies. Among them are Axis Communications, Bentley, Dahua Technology, Dassault Systèmes, Dell, Deloitte, iotsquared, Microsoft, Nvidia, Spie, Urbaser and Veolia. In addition to companies, the event will also house a large number of country pavilions including those from Argentina, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, Nordics, United Kingdom and the USA.
The event’s director, Ugo Valenti, said that “Twenty-five years into this new millennium we know that cities are more than clusters of infrastructure; they are dynamic systems built around the lives of millions and our greatest asset to curb climate change and secure a better future for millions of people around the world. Smart City Expo is the place where companies, experts and government officials act in this common goal and share strategies, technologies and projects that speed the process.”
The Capital of Urban Knowledge
Along these lines, SCEWC will gather over 600 speakers and international experts in its congress to share the latest experiences and breakthroughs in urban transformation in a conference program structured around eight main tracks: Enabling Technologies, Energy & Environment, Mobility, Governance & Economy, Living & Inclusion, Infrastructure & Building, and Blue Economy.
Among the confirmed speakers are Nikki Greenberg, CEO of Real Estate of the future and a globally recognized futurist and strategic advisor with over two decades of experience in real estate development, urban innovation and technology-driven transformation; and Kate O’Neill, Founder and CEO of KO Insights, a renowned digital innovator focused on enhancing human experiences at scale through data-driven and AI-led interactions, who has worked with companies Google, IBM, Microsoft, and the United Nations.
The Global Hub of Innovation
In 2025, SCEWC will also focus on the potential of startups as a driving force capable of developing new solutions in the urban transformation field. To achieve this goal, the event will reprise its Innovation Playground, a space to connect the main players of the global urban innovation ecosystem including investors, research centers and 80 startups. This will rise the number of young innovative companies at the show to almost 350 when adding those present at other areas of SCEWC.
To strengthen the role of SCEWC as the global hub of urban innovation, the summit will host again the joint celebration of Tomorrow.Mobility World Congress, organized by Fira de Barcelona and EIT Urban Mobility and aimed at developing a new and sustainable urban mobility paradigm; and the third editions of Tomorrow Building, focused on innovative construction, and Tomorrow.Blue Economy, aimed at using the full potential of ocean resources for a sustainable economic growth. To round off this unmatchable offer, SCEWC will also host the fourth edition of the Barcelona Deep Tech Summit, an event organized by Barcelona Activa focused on scientific tech entrepreneurship and university spin-offs.
