Representatives of cities and leading organizations gathered in Barcelona, a leading tourism destination in Spain on Nov 29 to share their innovative ideas on building smart cities.

The four day event, named the Smart City Expo & World Congress, will run from Nov 29 to Dec 2. It will be the first of its kind in attracting public administrators, researchers, and entrepreneurs to discuss environmentally-friendly economic growth.

The event attracted leading multinationals in the sector of information technology and communication, such as Abertis, Siemens, IBM, Indra and Cisco Systems, as well as representatives from fifty cities, including Bangalore, Birmingham, Buenos Aires, Portland, Sydney, Seoul and Sao Paulo.

The expo displays cities' "smart" moves on implementing innovative solutions to improve their services, and hence offering a better quality of life to their citizens. Participants of the congress will discuss various topics including urban planning, ICT infrastructure, governance and funding, and do some case studies.

The official website of the events states that "the population density of cities demands actions to be taken to ensure sustainable and environmentally-friendly economic growth that is capable of improving the quality of life of their inhabitants. This is their main challenge and the reason why society is calling for more Smart Cities."

The event is co-organized by Fira Barcelona, a trade show organizer in Spain, and the Global Smart Cities Association. The organizers intend to make it an annual event.

For more information about the Smart City Expo & World Congress, please visit www.smartcityexpo.com