Barcelona once again discusses the future of cities, Kranj back on stage
Mayor Matjaž Rakovec was once again among the invited speakers at the largest and most influential event for smart cities, the Smart City Expo World Congress 2025, which was attended by more than 27,000 people from 143 countries over three days. He presented the experiences and goals of the European UrbanMind project, which Kranj is implementing in cooperation with the city of Pula and expert partners.
The mayor of the City of Kranj (CoK), Matjaž Rakovec, participated in one of the many round tables entitled "Decoding What Cities Really Need: A Data Revolution". Together with three other speakers – Ralf-Peter Schäfer from TomTom, Claire Piqueret, aconium GmbHT (Berlin) and Saleh Almekbel, iot squared (Saudi Arabia) – they discussed how cities can use data, advanced analytics and predictive models to better plan, anticipate change and build more resilient and sustainable communities.
The mayor presented the experiences and challenges of the 18-month European project UrbanMind, which Kranj is implementing in partnership with Pula and the companies Riko and 3fs as part of the European program Digital Europe (DS4SSCC– Data Space for Smart and Sustainable Cities and Communities). Its purpose is to develop a shared data space that helps cities securely collect, share, and use data to manage urban challenges more effectively.
The project focuses on two main use cases:
- Traffic prediction and sustainable mobility – deploying sensors and AI tools in Pula’s city center to monitor and forecast traffic, aiming to reduce congestion and emissions.
- Environmental monitoring – installing sensors on public buses to collect real-time data on air quality and other environmental factors, supporting better urban planning and cleaner living environments.
UrbanMind promotes smarter, data-driven decision-making for more efficient infrastructure, lower CO₂ emissions, improved air quality, and stronger citizen engagement. The long-term vision is to create a transferable model for sustainable digital transformation in European cities.
"This was already the fourth invitation to the City of Kranj to this truly world-class event, which certainly means a lot to us. It confirms that we are doing a good job in Kranj and developing a model of good practice for establishing sustainable and smart urban development that will also be useful to others: using data to increase the efficiency of urban systems, reduce CO₂ emissions, improve air quality, and provide access to useful data to everyone living in the city," said Mayor Rakovec.
In Kranj, city buses will be equipped with external sensors that will record environmental data (air quality, weather data, etc.) while driving. Based on the data and analysis, the city administration will be able to better plan the necessary infrastructure and ensure the quality of life of the population. Sensors will also be installed at all entry points to the old city center, which will enable the monitoring, planning, and forecasting of traffic flows in the city center, primarily using artificial intelligence to reduce congestion and pollution. The developed solutions will first be tested in Pula.
About the event
Since 2011, the Smart City Expo World Congress has been the world’s leading event for urban innovation, held annually in Barcelona. It brings together global leaders from business, government, and research to build more sustainable, efficient, and people-centered cities. This year’s edition, joined by Tomorrow.Mobility, Tomorrow.Building, and Tomorrow.Blue Economy congresses, strengthened its role as a key global platform for smart and sustainable city development. Over three days, the event hosted 27,104 attendees, 1,190 exhibitors from 143 countries, and 592 speakers across 359 sessions.