Productive, Smart & Connected

This factsheet explores how cities can strengthen their international reputation and attract investment through targeted city-branding strategies. Drawing on experiences from Warsaw, Nagoya and Melbourne, it highlights digital campaigns, stakeholder partnerships and flagship events as practical tools for ecosystem promotion. It also shows how branding is most effective when paired with financial incentives, corporate matchmaking and soft-landing support for incoming businesses.

Digital transformation is about far more than adopting new technologies, it requires the governance, infrastructure and institutional coordination to turn data into better public services. During an IURC Community of Practice session, representatives from the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB), Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ) and Kaohsiung showcased different approaches to building data-driven cities that are ready for the next generation of AI-enabled services.

How can cities unlock the full potential of data, artificial intelligence and digital twins? This question was explored during an IURC Community of Practice deep-dive session, where Hamburg and Osaka shared complementary approaches to building the governance, infrastructure and organisational capacity needed for data-driven city management.

 

Artificial intelligence, digital twins and data spaces are becoming essential tools for managing increasingly complex urban mobility systems. During an IURC Community of Practice 2 session, experts from Turin and Rotterdam shared how their cities are using digital technologies to improve traffic management, support sustainable mobility and make better-informed planning decisions.

Supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to expand internationally was the focus of an IURC Community of Practice 12 technical deep dive, where Espoo and Melbourne presented two successful but complementary approaches to helping local businesses access overseas markets. The session explored how cities can play an active role in reducing barriers to internationalisation while strengthening local innovation ecosystems.

This factsheet examines two complementary approaches to sustainable urban mobility through case studies from Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and Seoul, Republic of Korea. It compares Rotterdam’s data-driven regulation of urban freight and construction logistics with Seoul’s incentive-based Climate Card, illustrating how cities are advancing cleaner and more efficient transport systems.

Zoom Metropolitano is a geographic information platform for the Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara (AMG), developed by Imeplan to make urban and territorial data accessible to both citizens and decision-makers without requiring specialized technical knowledge. Users can access more than 700 layers of verified, standardized, and up-to-date information, organized around metropolitan priorities: land-use planning, environmental sustainability, mobility, and resilience.

The Digital Innovation Lab is a public innovation and digital transformation initiative in Mendoza, Argentina. Its main purpose is to help companies — especially SMEs — adopt digital technologies and move toward Industry 5.0, combining digitalisation, sustainability, resilience, and human-centred innovation.

Read the Article: https://www.iurc.eu/2026/05/21/1st-city-business-talk-webinar-shimla-city-showcases-smart-parking-success/ 

This factsheet was developed from the IURC City–Business Talk: Smart Parking Solutions, highlighting lessons learned from the collaboration between Shimla Municipal Corporation and Cocoparks.

As the first session of the new IURC City–Business Talk series, the discussion brought together cities and solution providers to address concrete urban challenges, with participation from Shimla, Leh, Jabalpur, and other cities.

The factsheet presents key insights on implementing modular and scalable digital parking solutions, emphasising the importance of flexibility, local context, and openness to innovation for successful replication.

Digital & Ai deployment within existing companies Livestream via Zoom Registration link: https://iges-jp.zoom.us/.../reg.../WN_sUkf7rwGRae4r2dqKi245g Date: Tuesday May 26th, 2026 Time: 9:00-11:00 (CEST) Venue: online (zoom), Hybrid event (tbc) Language: English (simultaneous interpretation in English and Japanese) This webinar, organized under the International Urban and Regional Cooperation (IURC) Programme, brings together policymakers, industry representatives, researchers, and innovation actors from Europe and Japan. It aims to share practical experiences and proven approaches to AI deployment in existing companies, bridging the gap between research and...

Rome’s urban periphery and near areas contains several degrades, abandoned or informally occupied public land. This fragmented governance left citizen-led urban regeneration initiatives without support, threatening their sustainability and limiting their potential to revitalize neglected public spaces. On top of this, citizen-led community gardens lacked institutional recognition or proper organization, plus the skills to mediate between community members and authorities.

Rio de Janeiro faces several risks due to its unique geography. Located between the mountains and the sea, the city is particularly vulnerable to landslides, flooding, sea level rise, and heat waves. In response, the city hall created the Rio Operations Centre, dedicated to crisis management, urban monitoring, mobility, weather conditions and major events.

The Horizon Europe programme offers possibilities to promote the pilot actions identified in the city-to-city and region-to-region cooperation between EU-and non-EU partners. The session will be taught by Thomas Jacob, Senior Expert from the IURC team, who will provide an overview of Horizon Europe programme and will guide through the identification of relevant calls and partners, including case studies. The coach will also explore with participants their interest in cooperating on concrete upcoming calls and discuss next steps for participation of...