Water, a factor for intelligent growth

©Jenny Levine. Mexico City

There are no intelligent cities without intelligent water and vice versa. The conference SmartWater, SmartCities organised by the We Are Water Foundation, will get to the very heart of two key scenarios to understand the present and to divine the future of water: the Latin American cities and the tourist destinations. A debate open to the public, this event will be one of the highlights of iWater, the first congress organised by Fira de Barcelona on water management.

The relationship between cities and water is essential for our society: it is intense and it needs to be “intelligent.” It is not possible to address the urbanisation without dealing with a sustainable management of water. The development of this “intelligence” is essential for our society, and not only in regard to technology, it is necessary to develop an entire culture in which architecture, urban planning, design and tourist planning are taken into consideration.

This issue will be addressed at the conference SmartWater, SmartCities which will be one of the highlights of iWater, the first show hosted by Fira de Barcelona with the aim of moving forward in the knowledge of the management of the integral water cycle.

It will take place on Tuesday, November 15th, between 4 pm and 6.30 pm, when the We Are Water Foundation will gather different experts on the value chain of water at the Gran Vía premises, who will present their projects and opinions on architecture, urban planning and the development of tourism, a key sector without which it is not possible to understand the future of water.

The speakers will discuss these issues with the audience, emphasizing the experience in Latin America, an area that centres the attention of those searching for sustainability models in the face of a growing urban expansion and the development of the tourist industry. Both sectors are threatened by the uncontrolled population growth and climate change, two factors that need specific and coordinated answers from architecture, urban planning and tourist planning, sectors that need to see water as a factor of economic growth. This is the great challenge that affects us all, as we face the threat of the shortness and pollution of water.

SmartWater SmartCities provides continuity to the conferences SmartWater SmartDestinations organised by the We Are Water Foundation in Mexico in 2014 and 2015. Both conferences constitute a reference of the integration of water in the development of the tourist sector, an experience that is now taken up by iWater, fully embracing the concept of city.

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