SMART CITY EXPO 2026

Attendees, exhibitors & solutions

Who this event is for

New this edition

• 1

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  Recent editions have run related mobility and building programmes alongside the main Smart City Expo halls on the same Gran Via site, letting transport and built-environment buyers move between them on one badge. Confirm the 2026 co-located line-up on the official schedule before planning meetings.

• 2

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  Recent congress programmes have added sessions on how city administrations govern AI, share data across departments and use digital twins for planning decisions. Track names and room allocations change each year, so check the 2026 schedule for exact titles.

• 3

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  The organiser app is linked from the official site and carries the agenda, the speaker list and practical event information. It is the primary channel exhibitors and visitors use to track programme changes during the show.

Industry trends

Key trends shaping this market and its wider industry.

Market news

Latest updates from across the market.

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Frequently asked

Glossary

1

Smart city

An urban area that coordinates infrastructure, mobility, energy, waste and public services through connected sensors, data platforms and digital services, with the aim of measurable efficiency, safety and climate gains. At Smart City Expo the term covers both municipal deployments and the vendor technology behind them.

2

IoT sensor network

Arrays of low-power devices measuring air quality, noise, traffic flow, bin fill level, water pressure or parking occupancy, feeding a city dashboard or operations centre. Hardware, connectivity and analytics vendors for these networks are a core exhibitor group at the Gran Via halls.

3

Digital twin

A data-driven virtual replica of a district, building, road network or utility system used to simulate planning scenarios, stress-test infrastructure and visualise operations before physical investment. City planning departments evaluate digital twin platforms at this show.

4

Open data portal

A municipal publication of transport, mapping, budget, environmental and permit datasets under open licences so that startups, researchers and other departments can reuse them. Open data policy sits alongside data governance and privacy on the congress agenda.

5

Mobility as a Service (MaaS)

Integrated journey planning and ticketing that combines metro, bus, bike-share, scooter, car-share and ride-hail into a single account or app. MaaS is a recurring theme for transport authorities and operators visiting Barcelona.

6

Smart grid and demand response

Electricity networks with metering, sensing and control that shift consumption, absorb rooftop solar generation and schedule electric vehicle charging. Utility and energy exhibitors show metering, storage and grid-balancing products.

7

LPWAN, LoRaWAN and NB-IoT

Low-power wide-area radio networks used for city-scale sensor deployments where Wi-Fi range or cellular subscription cost would be prohibitive. Choosing a connectivity standard is a common procurement decision for municipal IoT teams.

8

Edge computing

Processing data at the street cabinet, camera, gateway or vehicle rather than sending everything to a central cloud, to cut latency and bandwidth for real-time services such as incident detection or adaptive signalling.

9

Adaptive traffic management

Signal control driven by camera, radar and sensor data that adjusts timings in response to live demand, reducing congestion, idling and emissions. Traffic technology suppliers and city transport departments meet around this topic.

10

Smart lighting

Street lighting with presence detection, dimming and fault reporting, frequently the first large-scale IoT network a city deploys and a gateway to further sensor use cases on the same poles.

11

Urban resilience and climate adaptation

Planning and engineering responses to heatwaves, flooding, drought and coastal risk, including cool roofs, permeable surfaces, green corridors, shade structures and early-warning systems. Adaptation finance and insurance are part of the discussion.

12

Electric vehicle charging and V2G

Kerbside, depot and fleet charging infrastructure, plus vehicle-to-grid pilots in which parked electric vehicles help balance the grid. Charging operators, utilities and fleet managers are regular attendees.

13

Civic tech and smart governance

Digital platforms for participatory budgeting, permit and licence digitisation, service request tracking and citizen reporting of street-level issues. Procurement, accessibility and data protection shape which tools cities adopt.

14

Circular economy in cities

Reuse, repair, refurbishment and material-recovery schemes applied to construction, organic waste, water and public assets, often measured through municipal circularity indicators rather than single projects.

15

15-minute city

A planning model in which most daily needs such as schools, shops, health services and green space sit within a short walk or cycle of housing, used to frame transport, land-use and public-space investment decisions.