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CityLab 2026 in Madrid announces new speakers
The cities summit, organised by Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Aspen Institute, will convene more than 1,000 mayors, policymakers, innovators, and creatives.
At a glance
Who: Bloomberg Philanthropies; Aspen Institute.
What: Bloomberg and Aspen Institute have announced new speakers and agenda for CityLab 2026, which will convene more than 1,000 mayors, policymakers, innovators, and creatives.
Why: To strengthen local alliances and reinforce the role of mayors in surfacing solutions to shared challenges.
When: The twelfth CityLab takes place 27-29 April at various venues across Madrid.
Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Aspen Institute have announced new speakers and agenda for CityLab 2026 (27-29 April) in Madrid, Spain.
The 12th CityLab will convene more than 1,000 mayors, policymakers, innovators, and creatives with a view to strengthening local alliances and reinforcing the role of mayors in surfacing solutions to shared challenges.
Expanding housing supply
Together, they will examine how leaders across Europe and around the world are tackling real-life challenges including: accelerating AI to improve services; preparing workers for what’s next; responding to rising heat; expanding housing supply; and bringing people back into public life.
Through dynamic conversations, interactive sessions, and experiences across Madrid, the summit will examine what is taking hold, where progress is being made, and the officials making it happen.
New featured speakers include Carlos Cuerpo Caballero, deputy prime minister and minister of economy, trade and business, government of Spain; mayor Sadiq Khan, London; Anne Hidalgo, former mayor of Paris; Es Devlin, artist; Daniel Ramot, co-founder and CEO of Via Transportation; and Yasmin Green, CEO of Jigsaw (incubator within Google).
Through dynamic conversations, interactive sessions, and experiences across Madrid, the summit will examine what is taking hold, where progress is being made, and the officials making it happen
Previously announced speakers include: Michael Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg and Bloomberg Philanthropies, mayor of New York City (2002-2013); Nadia Calviño, president of the European Investment Bank; and Norman Foster, architect and founder of Foster + Partners.
The full speaker list and agenda can be found here.
The summit will be hosted at various notable venues throughout the city, including Teatro Real, Real Teatro de Retiro, the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, and the historic Palace hotel.
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Participants will also experience Madrid through field visits showcasing some of the city’s most innovative municipal projects – “from the playful to the practical”.
Attendees may choose to visit Madrid Río, a linear park that was created by burying a major highway and now stretches along the Manzanares River; CaixaForum, a former power station that has been transformed into a cultural centre; Madrid in Game, an incubator that provides training and support to entrepreneurs and developers to position the city a leader in the field of video games; or Valdemingómez Technology Park, a facility where the city converts urban waste into enough energy to power 550 buses and 35,000 homes.
For more than a decade, CityLab summits have convened the most influential mayors and voices from hundreds of cities worldwide. Past CityLab conferences have been hosted in New York, Los Angeles, London, Miami, Paris, Detroit, Washington DC, Mexico City, and Amsterdam.
Why not try these links to see what our SmartCitiesWorld AI can tell you.
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How can AI improve municipal service delivery without increasing operational costs?How could cities expand affordable housing supply through public-private partnerships?How can urban heat resilience be scaled using green infrastructure retrofits?How can workforce training programs prepare workers for AI-driven municipal jobs?How can waste-to-energy facilities reduce carbon emissions while powering city transit?AI and Machine Learningclimate actionClimate change/ResilienceConnectivity & Dataeconomic developmentEnergy & EnvironmentGovernance and CitizenhousingMadridPeople and SkillsPolicy Makingurban space
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