Airbnb and FC Barcelona among the brands taking to the big Smart City stage in Barcelona in November

Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC), the international event on cities and smart urban solutions organised by Fira de Barcelona will become the stage where global organisations such as Airbnb and FC Barcelona, among others, unveil their urban future plans.

From 7 to 9 November, the urban summit will bring together over 1,000 exhibitors and representatives from 800 cities – its largest edition to date, willing to share their projects and solutions to the over 25,000 delegates expected.

Among the highlights of SCEWC are the keynotes from the co-founder and chief strategy officer of Airbnb, Nathan Blecharczyk, who will discuss how the company faces the future, and FC Barcelona, whose representatives will explain how the football club is leading the urban transformation of the surroundings of its stadium.

Airbnb says it wants to help tackle overtourism, and has launched new features to help disperse guests and benefits across Europe. Nathan Blecharczyk, will unveil how the company wants to work with cities and governments to support sustainable travel.

The construction of the new Spotify Camp Nou, as part of the Espai Barça project, is set to catalyse a profound urban transformation in its surrounding area.

Other keynote speakers include computer scientist and expert in algorithmic bias Margaret Mitchell, AI-specialised lawyer Micaela Mantegna, and sustainable development expert Claire O’Neill, the former UK minister for energy and clean growth.

In addition to the conferences, SCEWC will feature a fully-booked floorspace, with companies such as AWS, Aramco, Axis, Cisco, Dassault Systemes, Dell, Deloitte, FCC, Honeywell, Microsoft, Nvidia, PWC, Roshn, Siemens, Smart Ports: Piers of the Future, and Veolia. The event will also include pavilions from countries and cities from around the world including Brazil, China, Estonia, France, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Nordics, Poland, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, and USA, among others.