Smart City Expo 2026 speeds up towards urban solutions that yield real impact

BARCELONA, Spain, Sept. 7, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC), the leading international event on cities and smart urban solutions organized by Fira de Barcelona, will hold its 2026 edition from November 3 to 5 at Barcelona's Gran Via venue, bringing together 1,000 cities, more than 25,000 attendees, over 1,000 exhibitors and 600 speakers. Under the theme "Urban Solutions, Real Impact," this year's edition will place special focus on housing, one of the most pressing challenges facing cities worldwide, while showcasing technologies designed to deliver tangible, scalable impact.

The congress program is structured around seven tracks — Enabling Technologies, Energy & Environment, Mobility, Governance & Economy, Living & Inclusion, Infrastructure & Building, and Blue Economy — spanning digital transformation, artificial intelligence, green energy, governance and social equity.

Over 600 experts will take part in the sessions, including Nikolas Badminton, Chief Futurist and Think Tank leader at Futurist.com, who will share his vision on the future of cities. An artificial intelligence expert, Badminton helps companies and institutions build strategic foresight capabilities, identify the trends shaping the world, anticipate unforeseen risks, and prepare for complex, evolving environments through long-term thinking and scenario planning.

Ayumi Moore Aoki, founder of Women in Tech Global, will also participate in the congress. Her work focuses on the importance of diversity and inclusion as key drivers of innovation in the urban context. Moore Aoki underscores how inclusive leadership can support sustainable urban development at scale. The conference also features Bibiana Aido of UN Women, Bilel Jamoussi of the ITU, and Chiara Corazza of the Women's Economic Forum, among others.

SCEWC will host the first edition of HOWS Barcelona, a new housing world summit that will focus on topics such as urban planning and land policy, housing regulation, social and affordable housing, and building renovation and reuse, opening a debate on the foundations of a new residential paradigm.

The exhibition floor will host global companies including Google, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Dell Technologies and Deutsche Telekom IoT, alongside a wide range of country and city pavilions and the new "Terra50" showcase, unveiling the world's top 50 sustainability solutions in the urban field.

SCEWC 2026 will run jointly with Tomorrow.Mobility World Congress, Tomorrow.Blue Economy, HOWS Barcelona, Barcelona Deep Tech Summit, and Barcelona Cybersecurity Congress, consolidating Barcelona as a global meeting point for urban innovation this November.