BARCELONA, Spain, Sept. 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC), the leading international event on cities and smart urban solutions organized by Fira de Barcelona, will hold its 2026 edition from November 3 to 5 at Barcelona's Gran Via venue, bringing together 1,000 cities, more than 25,000 attendees, over 1,000 exhibitors and 600 speakers. Under the theme "Urban Solutions, Real Impact," this year's edition will place special focus on housing, one of the most pressing challenges facing cities worldwide, while showcasing technologies designed to deliver tangible, scalable impact.
The congress program is structured around seven tracks — Enabling Technologies, Energy & Environment, Mobility, Governance & Economy, Living & Inclusion, Infrastructure & Building, and Blue Economy — spanning digital transformation, artificial intelligence, green energy, governance and social equity.
Over 600 experts will take part in the sessions, including Nikolas Badminton, Chief Futurist and Think Tank leader at Futurist.com, who will share his vision on the future of cities. An artificial intelligence expert, Badminton helps companies and institutions build strategic foresight capabilities, identify the trends shaping the world, anticipate unforeseen risks, and prepare for complex, evolving environments through long-term thinking and scenario planning.
Ayumi Moore Aoki, founder of Women in Tech Global, will also participate in the congress. Her work focuses on the importance of diversity and inclusion as key drivers of innovation in the urban context. Moore Aoki underscores how inclusive leadership can support sustainable urban development at scale. The conference also features Bibiana Aido of UN Women, Bilel Jamoussi of the ITU, and Chiara Corazza of the Women's Economic Forum, among others.
SCEWC will host the first edition of HOWS Barcelona, a new housing world summit that will focus on topics such as urban planning and land policy, housing regulation, social and affordable housing, and building renovation and reuse, opening a debate on the foundations of a new residential paradigm.
The exhibition floor will host global companies including Google, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Dell Technologies and Deutsche Telekom IoT, alongside a wide range of country and city pavilions and the new "Terra50" showcase, unveiling the world's top 50 sustainability solutions in the urban field.
SCEWC 2026 will run jointly with Tomorrow.Mobility World Congress, Tomorrow.Blue Economy, HOWS Barcelona, Barcelona Deep Tech Summit, and Barcelona Cybersecurity Congress, consolidating Barcelona as a global meeting point for urban innovation this November.
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Smart City Expo 2026 speeds up towards urban solutions that yield real impact
Hong Kong Ceramic Artist Invited for the Second Consecutive Time to the World's Premier Celebration of High Craftsmanship in Venice
HONG KONG, Sept. 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Hong Kong–acclaimed ceramic artist Leo Wong is pleased to announce his return to Venice for the fourth edition of Homo Faber Biennial 2026: An Island of Light, the international celebration of contemporary craftsmanship.
Curated by the Michelangelo Foundation for Creativity and Craftsmanship, Homo Faber Biennial is the flagship event which champions exceptional artisans and the continued relevance of handmade work. Set within the historic Fondazione Giorgio Cini on Venice's island of San Giorgio Maggiore, the biennial brings together master artisans, emerging talents and designers from around the world.
Following his participation as Hong Kong's sole representative artist at Homo Faber 2024, Wong returns to present his work alongside more than 500 master artisans from over 70 countries. Homo Faber takes place from 1 to 30 September 2026.
Peony Rêverie — The Exhibited Work
Responding to the biennial's theme, An Island of Light, Wong will unveil a new white-porcelain sculpture, Peony Rêverie. The work explores an intimate dialogue between porcelain and light: its sculpted surfaces receive, diffuse, and transform shadow, inviting shifting encounters between material, craftsmanship, and perception. Through this meditative exploration of whiteness, translucency, and form, Peony Rêverie offers international audiences a contemporary expression of Asian ceramic aesthetics.
Comprising two groupings of white porcelain peonies, the sculpture is formed petal by petal from an exceptionally pure and highly translucent clay body. Through porcelain's inherent hardness, Wong evokes softness, movement, and warmth, creating an inspired quiet tension between permanence and fragility.
In the Artist's Words — Leo Wong in Conversation
"Peony Rêverie is dreamlike and otherworldly — white as snow, unified and pure. Through an exceptionally thin, semi-translucent body, I invite light to move among the petals — now luminous, now shadowed — as if quietly breathing."
"To represent Hong Kong again is a profound honour. Despite its scale, the city's cultural depth and East–West sensibility allow it to stand on the world stage. I hope to inspire a new generation of makers to create with conviction and continuity."
About Leo Wong
Leo Wong is a Hong Kong-based ceramic artist and founder of Leo Wong Atelier. Drawing on Eastern philosophy, Chinese craft traditions and more than two decades of experience as a certified arborist and landscape designer, he creates hand-sculpted porcelain flowers, botanical sculptures and large-scale installations.
Recognised for their exceptional delicacy and meditative quality, Wong's works transform the fleeting beauty of nature into luminous, lasting porcelain. His workshop has produced bespoke commissions for institutions, hospitality and prestigious houses such as Chanel, Van Cleef & Arpels, The Peninsula Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Palace Museum, Mandarin Oriental, Guerlain, Anne-Sophie Pic and Starbucks.
Leo Wong Atelier
https://www.la-ceramique.com
Instagram / Facebook: Leo Wong Ceramics
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Leo Wong Returns to Homo Faber 2026
Leo Wong Returns to Homo Faber 2026
Leo Wong Returns to Homo Faber 2026
