Club GLOBALS at Smart City Expo 2025
Barcelona once again took center stage for global innovation as it hosted Smart City Expo World Congress 2025 from November 4–6 at Fira de Barcelona’s Gran Via venue. This year’s edition didn’t just talk about urban transformation, it pushed cities to lead it. With record-breaking participation and a bold theme, “The Time for Cities,” the congress showed how urban hubs are stepping up as global change-makers, powered by AI, data, and collaboration.
Under this theme, the focus was clear: cities are no longer passive backdrops for innovation. They are platforms, where public leadership, technology, and citizens meet to design the next chapter of urban life. As we revisit the highlights of this year’s congress, we invite you to check out our recap content capturing the best moments of #SCEWC25, the buzzing exhibition floor, insightful talks, and the powerful sense of community driving smarter, more human-centric cities.
A Global Gathering of Visionaries
The atmosphere at SCEWC25 was intense in the best possible way. Over 27,000 attendees from 143 countries gathered in Barcelona, turning the Gran Via venue into a live lab of urban innovation.
Everywhere you turned, there were conversations between mayors, city CIOs, founders, investors, and tech giants, each bringing a different angle on how to make cities more sustainable, efficient, and inclusive. With 1,190 exhibitors on site, from global names like Google, Microsoft, Nvidia, Dell, Dassault Systèmes, Veolia, Axis Communications, and Deloitte, the expo floor offered a snapshot of how fast urban-tech is evolving across mobility, energy, circular economy, infrastructure, and digital governance.
On the content side, more than 600 international experts, including Nikki Greenberg, Kate O’Neill, and Carlo Ratti, shared their perspectives on the future of urban living, governance, and mobility, giving attendees tangible strategies to bring back home.
Exploring the Themes That Matter in 2025
This year’s theme, “The Time for Cities,” urged cities to actively lead their own transformation, not just adopt trendy technologies.
Panels focused on four core axes:
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Enabling tech: AI, data platforms and IoT powering smarter services
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Energy & environment: decarbonisation and resilient, circular systems
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Mobility: integrated, multimodal, people-centric travel
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Governance & inclusion: participation, transparency and fair access
There is no one-size-fits-all “smart city model”, only shared tools and principles that each city adapts to its own context.
Innovation, Startups & the AI-Enabled City
One of the standout shifts this year was the debut of the AI-enabled cities area, showcasing how AI is already reshaping urban systems, from operations and mobility to citizen services and climate resilience. As SCEWC Director Ugo Valenti noted, AI is now a critical tool for accelerating metropolitan transformation, as long as cities lead with purpose and accountability. In parallel, the Innovation Playground gathered investors, research centres, and nearly 350 startups, highlighting how fast solutions like climate-tech, digital twins, mobility-as-a-service and citizen-engagement platforms can advance when public and private actors truly collaborate.
Recognizing Excellence in Urban Innovation
The World Smart City Awards once again celebrated global urban leadership: Rome was named “Smart City of 2025” for its forward-looking smart city model, while Maimunah Mohd Sharif, Mayor of Kuala Lumpur and former UN-Habitat Executive Director, was honoured for her role in shaping new urban paradigms worldwide, reminding everyone that real innovation is driven by vision, governance, and long-term commitment.
Experience LIVE #SCEWC25
Once again, SCEWC25 was seamlessly co-located with Tomorrow.Mobility World Congress, Tomorrow.Building, Tomorrow.Blue Economy, and the Barcelona Deep Tech Summit, delivering a 360º view of the urban future, from how we move and build, to how we harness oceans and deep-tech breakthroughs for city life. If you couldn’t be there in person (or simply want to relive it), make sure to watch our social media recaps and highlight clips from the expo floor and check out sessions and talks available via the official Smart City Expo and Tomorrow.City channels. It’s the fastest way to tap into the ideas, faces, and use-cases that will be shaping city strategies over the next few years.
Whats next?
Reflecting on SCEW24 achievements, we look forward to furthering the journey at #GSTF25, where tech leaders, entrepreneurs, and investors will come together once again to share actionable insights, foster meaningful connections, and drive global innovation.
Ready to join the next wave of tech growth? Club GLOBALS connects you with exclusive events, resources, and a forward-thinking network of tech leaders, all designed to help you grow your business and thrive in a dynamic tech landscape. Let’s shape the future of technology together, with collaboration and sustainability at the core. You can join us as a Partner, Member or meet us in our next event.
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