Eight Chinese Cities Seek Smart Urban Solutions and Ideas at Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona
BARCELONA, July 25, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --
The Red Dragon sets off to conquer a smarter future
2012 set a critical milestone for China: For the first time, the People's Republic of China became a mostly urban society with a urban population of 712 million or 52.6% of the total. To efficiently absorb the new citizens, the Eastern Giant must adapt the existing cities and build new ones capable of managing resources and people's needs in more efficient ways. Eight Chinese cities will look for urban solutions in Barcelona from November 19th to 21st at Smart City Expo World Congress 2013, the world's leading event on smart cities.
Beijing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Taiyuan, Wuhai and Wuxi have already confirmed their attendance and over 100 representatives will comprise the mission, including both institutional and technical envoys. The Public sector will not travel alone and China will also have a Pavilion within the exhibition area of Smart City Expo. Hosted by the China Communications Industry Association, it will spread over 100 m2 and will comprise up to 10 companies within the ICT industry.
China already has several cities with over 10M people -Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Tianjin- and is building several more. The existing megacities will need "retrofitting" to become more efficient from a natural resources and energy management perspective and also smart solutions that apply holistic approaches to planning and building. With an economic growth rate of 7.8% and an investment of 9% of its GDP in infrastructure in 2012, China's latest Five-Year Plan focused on sustainability and the improvement of people's lives.
World-class speakers
Smart City Expo will bring together the world's leading experts and thinkers to tackle the challenges that cities are facing, among them Amory Lovins, environmental scientist and chief researcher at the Rocky Mountain Institute; Kent Larson, Director of the Changing Places research group and co-director of the City Science Initiative at the MIT Media Lab; Anthony Townsend, research director at the Institute for the Future; and economist and urban development expert, Richard Florida.
Organized by Fira de Barcelona, Smart City Expo World Congress is the world leading event about smart cities. Its last edition featured over 250 speakers and gathered 100 cities and more than 7.000 visitors from 82 countries.
Folc Lecha
flecha@firabarcelona.com
+34932333555
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