TEHRAN – The sixth Iran Smart City Exhibition and Conference will kick off tomorrow in Tehran and will wrap up on Friday.

With the theme of Iran’s smart cities and artificial intelligence, the event will be held on the occasion of the World Cities Day, aiming to promote innovation, develop smart city infrastructures, and share experiences between scientific, industrial, and management sectors, IRNA reported.

The exhibition section features a series of companies, organizations, municipalities, and technology institutions showcasing their latest products, designs, and achievements in fields related to smart cities and artificial intelligence.

It will focus on smart urban management systems and public services, data infrastructure, Internet of Things and big data analytics, smart transportation and clean energy, as well as new technologies in education, health, and urban environment.

The conference is organized by the Iranian Research Institute for Information Science and Technology, known as Irandoc.

The conference involves a series of expert panels, scientific meetings, and policy discussions that study the latest achievements and challenges in smart cities, urban data, artificial intelligence, and digital governance fields. Professors, managers, and experts in technology will share their views.

The main themes of the conference include smart governance and the role of data in urban decision-making, ethics and justice in using artificial intelligence (AI) in urban management, the role of AI in the sustainability of cities, and national capacity development for future smart cities.

It will bring together domestic and foreign scholars, practitioners, urban managers, industrialists, scholars, and experts, as well as knowledge-based companies, to share experiences and knowledge and accelerate the change to smart cities.

The conference will also provide an opportunity to display the latest achievements, scientific findings, technologies, techniques, and tools for implementing smart cities projects.

A highlight of this year’s conference is  ‘Iran smart city national award’, which aims to identify, evaluate, and honor the best designs and projects in urban smartness. It will be launched immediately after the end of the exhibition.

World Cities Day

The World Cities Day was marked in Tehran with the theme of Smart Cities, Sustainable Innovation, Green Buildings, Bright Future.

The event was held both in-person and online, bringing together relevant government organizations, academic institutions, professional bodies, the private sector, young innovators, city managers, students, and stakeholders.

Sharing expertise, showcasing innovative urban projects, and discussing the challenges and opportunities of sustainable urban development in the country and all over the world were among the main parts of the event, the UN Iran Habitat website reported.

The event was centered around smart cities, technological innovation, sustainable construction, urban resilience, and alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

World Cities Day is observed annually on 31 October, marking the conclusion of Urban October. First celebrated in 2014, the day features a global observance hosted by a different city each year and focuses on a specific theme.

The UN General Assembly (UNGA) declared the Day to promote interest in global urbanization and encourage cooperation among countries in addressing the challenges of urbanization and contributing to sustainable urban development around the world.

The Global Observance of World Cities Day 2025 took place in Bogotá, Colombia, under the topic of people-centred smart cities.

It showcases how data-driven decision-making, technology, and AI can be used to improve urban life and recover from current shocks and crises. It also focuses on promoting smart city initiatives centered on people.

This year’s theme reflects the growing recognition that the transformative power of digital technologies is reshaping urban life globally, offering profound opportunities to enhance how cities and human settlements are designed, planned, managed, and governed.

The theme aims to promote people-centred smart cities and demonstrate how crucial it is for smart cities to prioritize human needs, inclusivity, and accessibility.

Second, the observance will provide a platform for cities to exchange best practices, experiences, and strategies in implementing people-centred smart city initiatives globally, especially in addressing key challenges such as the global housing crisis.

Lastly, by increasing global awareness about the role of technology and innovation in advancing improved access to adequate housing and achieving urban development, the goal is to foster and encourage international cooperation and collaboration among all societal sectors on People-Centred Smart Cities.

MT/MG