Summary of the LIALC Santander Conference

It is no coincidence that Santander is hosting the first session of the “International Forum of the Human Smart City”. A pioneering city, recognized by many as a benchmark in the world of Smart Cities, there, specifically in the Magdalena Palace, the “Living in a Living City” conference took place on January 21 and focused the attention of the entire sector throughout the day. Here is a summary with the highlights:

Carlos Moreno, President of the Scientific Committee of the “Live in a Living City” Forum:
“Knowledge networks and human excellence are very important for urban innovation.”

Carlo Ratti, Director of the “Sensitive City Lab” at MIT in Boston: “We are facing a great opportunity. For the first time, cities are presented as the origin of innovations and the generation of opportunities.”

Iñigo De la Serna, Mayor of Santander: “A smart city must be able to react, learn and predict what is going to happen.”

Aníbal Gaviria, Mayor of Medellín: “Medellín’s challenge first of all was how to establish itself as a city oriented to life from equity.” “Investing 40% of the budget in education has been the best way to grow. The key is in educational policy.”

Francisco Jódar, Mayor of Lorca: “The SGE2 APP allowed to improve reactivity against the 2012 floods.” “The legal regulation is not aligned with resilience.” “It is of little use to have intelligent buildings if the context is not.”

Pilar Conesa, Director of the Smart City World Congress: “In LATAm, additional challenges are added: such as managing growth and equity”

Pablo Sánchez Chillón, Strategic Consultant in Urban Planning: “It is important to distinguish between “Pixel Citizen” and “Participatory Citizen”

Carmen Santana, architect and co-founder of Archikubik: “Architectural interventions should be more flexible and adaptable. Think of them as more strategic and more practical, capable of adapting to changing contexts.”