Track: Governance & Economy

When buses, rail, micromobility, freight and cars share one network, technical integration outpaces institutional coordination. This session confronts the governance question: who holds decision rights, how data and authority are shared across operators and cities, and what keeps networks resilient when disruptions cross modal and jurisdictional boundaries. And how do we incorporate users in a fair and effective way?

Conversación de alto nivel sobre la colaboración entre startups, scaleups y gobiernos como vía para acelerar la innovación pública. ¿qQué se necesita para que una startup pueda colaborar de forma efectiva con una administración pública y generar impacto real?

Centrándonos en las condiciones de confianza, validación, compra pública, escalabilidad y acompañamiento que permiten que una solución innovadora encuentre encaje en el sector público.

This session explores how smart city initiatives move from pilot to scalable solutions in emerging cities, drawing on JICA’s experience in Siem Reap, Cambodia and beyond. Through an interactive dialogue among public authorities, development partners, and private sector, it highlights practical approaches to roadmap, PPP-based implementation, and data-driven governance. Participants gain insights into scalable solutions and collaboration models.

Cities' Challenges brings together cities and public authorities seeking innovative solutions to urban challenges with companies and startups that can help shape the cities of the future through technology, collaboration, and innovation.

Cities, citizens and investors all want a thriving, sustainable future. What is missing are the conditions that make acting on that care possible. Drawing on the Lisbon Council’s Sustainable Cities Lab, this session explores how cooperation, investment, citizen engagement and cross-sector alliances can help build sustainable cities people trust, use and love

Privacy, connectivity and non-discrimination are no longer optional features of city life, they are foundational rights that deserve the same status in city governance as roads or water. This session makes the political case for embedding digital rights at the heart of municipal strategy, and illustrates what that commitment looks like in practice.

Explore how robotics, AI and robot-avatar technologies are transforming industries, cities and society, while accelerating innovation through collaboration between startups, corporations, research centers and public institutions. Featuring insights from Japan and Catalonia, the session will conclude with elevator pitches from three Catalan startups showcasing innovative solutions with global market potential.

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.

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.

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.

This discussion focuses on the central role of finance and investment in enabling urban transformation and supporting the progress cities need across the world. Looking at climate finance, partnership schemes, and global funding mechanisms, the session examines how these models contribute to sustainable urban development and are gaining relevance within the global urban agenda, especially where access to resources determines cities’ ability to move from ambition to implementation. Lastly, it questions how financing and investment approaches may evolve in the years ahead to address existing challenges and respond to growing priorities.

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

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