Experts Parag Khanna, Saskia Sassen, Carlo Ratti and Sameh Wabah, keynotes at Smart City Live

Among the experts that will analyze the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, how it has affected cities in particular and how metropolises are redefining themselves to adapt to this new scenario are Parag Khanna, Saskia Sassen, Carlo Ratti and Sameh Wabah.

Parag Khanna is one of the world’s leading geopolitical analyst specialized in the pivotal role of cities in the world and how hyperconnected metropolises, with an ever-growing demographic and economic power, are building a network of their own that might become the prime global driver in the near future. He is also Founder & Managing Partner of FutureMap, a data and scenario based strategic advisory firm-

The second speaker revealed is Saskia Sassen, the Robert S. Lynd Professor of Sociology at Columbia University and a Member of its Committee on Global Thought, which she chaired from 2009 till 2015. She is a student of cities, immigration, and states in the world economy, with inequality, gendering and digitization three key variables running though her work.

Carlo Ratti is the Director of the MIT’s Senseable City Lab and is a founding partner of the international design and innovation office Carlo Ratti Associati. World renown expert in smart cities, Carlo is currently serving as co-chair of the World Economic Forum Global Council on the Future of Cities and Urbanization and was included in Wired Magazine’s “Smart List: 50 people who will change the world.

Sameh Wahba is the Global Director for the World Bank’s Urban, Disaster Risk Management, Resilience and Land Global Practice, based in Washington, D.C. Trained in Urban planning and Architectural engineering, he worked at the Institute of Housing and Urban Development Studies in Rotterdam and at the Harvard Center for Urban Development Studies before joining the World Bank.

Speakers will also interact and answer the questions from SCL attendees and their keynotes will be stored and available for all registered users in the Tomorrow.City platform that Fira de Barcelona and Mediapro have jointly developed.

New two-day digital format

The new Smart City Live will gather the leading actors, institutions and international experts on smart cities in a new virtual and interactive format comprising two different blocks including a full-day live television show broadcasted on November 17 through the event’s website and social media, and second day program featuring online workshops and side events. The event will bring together key players and global institutions to discuss through digital workshops and roundtables the key challenges that cities are facing beyond the short-term context arisen by the pandemic, addressing urban changes in mobility, consumption and services, among other topics.