Smart Cities MIAMI Conference – Bringing relevant trending topics to the table

The University of Miami School of Architecture and Frost Institute for Data Science and Computing presented the 9th annual Smart Cities MIAMI Conference on Thursday and Friday, April 3+4, 2025. The conference theme “Equitable Urban Futures” explored data and design innovations for shaping more equitable, human-centric, and agile smart cities.

The two-day event, held on the University’s Coral Gables campus, brought together leading scholars, designers, and policymakers to explore how urban technology, data, and design can be combined to create more agile, human-centered, and sustainable cities. The main event was Day 1 followed by a by-invitation workshop on Day. In case you missed it, watch all the Day 1 videos on YouTube (Full Playlist).

DAY ONE

The Conference began with opening remarks from Rodolphe el-Khoury, Dean of the School of Architecture, and Sarbeswar Praharaj, Conference Chair and Director of UM’s Urban Sustainability and Resilience Program.

The opening keynotes were delivered by Jennifer Clark, Professor and Head of the City and Regional Planning Section at the Knowlton School of Ohio State University, and Nathalie Crutzen, a professor of Management Science and Director of Smart City Institute at the University of Liège in Belgium.

Clark urged attendees to rethink their approach to smart cities, asking, “Why the city?” instead of “Why the technology?” Drawing on over two decades of research practice, she unveiled a model for cities as platforms for technology diffusion and experimentation. She also invited the participants to reflect on five key premises behind contemporary urban innovation processes based on her award-winning book, “Uneven Innovation: The Work of Smart Cities.”

Crutzen, while arguing “What is a Smart City?,” submitted that smart cities are multi-stakeholder ecosystems involving local governments, citizen associations, businesses, universities, and international organizations—all working together and using digital technologies as tools to achieve sustainable economic, social, and environmental outcomes. Crutzen promoted vital lessons for urban practitioners for shaping context-specific smart city strategies that can boost entrepreneurial ecosystems.

Conference attendees also enjoyed captivating talks by Fabio Duarte from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Anthony Townsend from the Urban Tech Hub at Cornell Tech.

Duarte demonstrated how urban data science can be leveraged to tap into cell phone data for mapping social behavior and uncovering the spatial structures of human mobility, thereby optimizing municipal services and infrastructure.

Townsend elevated the discussions with solutions to “how AI can build a brighter urban future”, examining community resilience and autonomous decision-making with AI. He forecasts that the generative design tools will enable the public to craft their own visions of urban resilience.

The Conference hosted panel discussions with local government and industry leaders in South Florida. Session 2 Panel’s City of Coral Gables Chief Innovation Officer Raimundo Rodulfo and Session 3’s Paula Christina Viala, City of Pompano Beach Sustainability Coordinator and a UM alumnus, both discussed ways that city councils are engaging with urban technologies to enhance quality of life. Industry veterans such as NVIDIA were also involved in grounding the conversations in impactful ways.

DAY TWO

The second day of the Conference brought together a select group of international experts for a scientific workshop. Participants engaged in collaborative brainstorming to develop a special issue of the Journal of Urban Technology, furthering the Conference’s mission of linking research, practice, and policy to build smarter and more sustainable cities. Martin de Jong, a professor and visiting delegate from Erasmus University Rotterdam, said: “Engaging with cross-cutting scholars and professionals at the Conference opens new possibilities for all of us for shaping collectively fresh ideas that can inspire local and global action for urban futures where digital technologies can enable broad-based prosperity.”

Reflecting on the impact of the two-day event, Conference Chair Sarbeswar Praharaj concluded “The quality and scientific rigor of the presentations, vibrant audience engagement, and tangible scholarly outcomes from the Conference are consistent with our vision to provide a platform for debate on cities and technology and make progress on some of the most complex issues facing humanity.”

ORIGINAL STORY: NEWS@TheU “Smart Cities Miami Conference Explores Equitable Urban Futures” by Madison Brinnon | April 7, 2025

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Message from the Conference Chair

Sarbeswar Praharaj Day One was held at the University of Miami Coral Gables campus Lakeside Village Expo Center.

The Day Two Workshop gathered a by-invitation group of international experts for a brainstorming session to develop a collection of articles for a special issue to be published in the Journal of Urban Technology. More details on the JUT special issue “Promoting Digital Access in Smart Cities” is available at this link.

CONFERENCE Day 1 April 3, 2025 Lakeside Village Expo Center, 1280 Stanford Drive, Coral Gables, FL 33146 | Exhibits were Day 1 ONLY

WORKSHOP Day 2 April 4, 2025 Newman Alumni Center Tower Room (4th Floor), 6200 San Amaro Drive, Coral Gables, FL 33146

Sponsorship Opportunities and limited free Exhibitor Spaces for 2026 are available. For more information, please call 305/ 243.4962 or email idsc@miami.edu.

2025 Agenda:
[8:30 am-9:00 am]	Registration
[9:00 am-9:10 am]	Introduction and Welcome Opening Remarks: Dean Rodolphe el-Khoury, PhD Conference Chair Remarks: Sarbeswar Praharaj, PhD
Session 1: Keynote Presentation
[9:10 am-9:40 am]	Keynote 1: Jennifer Clark, PhD Professor and Head, City and Regional Planning The Ohio State University
[9:40 am-10:10 am]	Keynote 2 : Nathalie Crutzen, PhD Founder/Director, HEC Smart City Institute University of Liège, Belgium
[10:10 am-10:30 am]	Break / Expo Center
Session 2: Data & Urban Tech for Designing Equitable Smart Cities
[10:30 am-11:30 am]	Session 2 Presentations: Speaker 1: Fábio Duarte, PhD Associate Director of Research & Design, MIT Senseable City Lab Massachusetts Institute of Technology Speaker 2: Anthony Townsend, PhD Senior Research Associate at Jacbos Urban Tech Hub Cornell Tech
[11:30 am-12:00 pm]	Panel Discussion: Raimundo Rodulfo, Director/CIO of Innnovation & Technology, City of Coral Gables Florence M. Chee, PhD, Associate Professor & Director, Center for Digital Ethics & Policy, School of Communication, Loyola University Chicago Fábio Duarte, PhD, Associate Director, MIT Senseable City Lab Anthony Townsend, PhD, Senior Research Associate at Jacobs Urban Tech Hub, Cornell Tech Moderator: Dean Rodolphe el-Khoury, PhD, University of Miami School of Architecture
[12:00 pm-1:30 pm]	Networking Lunch with Exhibits
Session 3: Innovating Agile and Humane Smart Cities
[1:30 pm-2:30 pm]	Session 3 Presentations: Speaker 1: Yan Wang, PhD Assistant Professor and Director of Urban Agility and Resilience Lab College of Design, Construction and Planning, University of Florida Speaker 2: Eduardo Costa, PhD Professor of Knowledge Management Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil
[2:30pm -3:00 pm]	Panel Discussion: Christina Viala, Sustainability Coordinator, City of Pompano Beach Masahiko Haraguchi, PhD, Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health Yan Wang, PhD, Assistant Professor and Director of Urban Agility and Resilience Lab, University of Florida Eduardo Costa, PhD, Professor of Knowledge Management, Federal University of Santa Catarina Moderator: Nicholas Tsinoremas, PhD, Director, University of Miami Frost Institute for Data Science and Computing
[3:00 pm-3:15 pm]	Coffee and Networking at Exhibits
[3:15 pm-4:00 pm]	Industry Panel Jayson Dunn, Sr. Business Manager – State and Local Government, NVIDIA Fredrik Wannius, Co-Founder and Chief Executive, 1Print Victor Dover, Founding Principal, Dover, Kohl & Partners Town Planning Tony Garcia, Co-Founder and Principal, Street Plans Matthieu Merchadou, Co-Founder & CEO, Magma Moderator: Anna Queiroz, PhD, Associate Professor, University of Miami School of Communication
[4:00 pm-5:00 pm]	Closing Keynote Martin de Jong, PhD Professor and Director of the Dynamics of Inclusive Prosperity Rotterdam School of Management. Erasmus University, Netherlands Nora Noori, PhD Digital Transformation Advisor Erasmus University, Netherlands
[5:00 pm]	Closing Remarks Conference Chair, Sarbeswar Praharaj, PhD

Featured Speakers
	Jennifer Clark, PhD Professor and Head, City and Regional Planning Section The Ohio State University
	Nathalie Crutzen, PhD Founder/Director HEC Smart City Institute University of Liège, Belgium
	Martin de Jong, PhD Professor and Director of the Dynamics of Inclusive Prosperity Rotterdam School of Management. Erasmus University, Netherlands
	Fábio Duarte, PhD Associate Director of Research & Design, MIT Senseable City Lab Massachusetts Institute of Technology
	Anthony Townsend, PhD Senior Research Associate at the Jacobs Urban Tech Hub Cornell Tech
	Yan Wang, PhD Assistant Professor and Director of Urban Agility and Resilience Lab College of Design, Construction and Planning, University of Florida
	Eduardo M. Costa, PhD Professor of Knowledge Management Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil
	Masahiko Haraguchi, PhD Harvard University T. H. Chan School of Public Health
	Dean Rodolphe el-Khoury, PhD University of Miami School of Architecture
	Sarbeswar Praharaj, PhD Conference Chair Assistant Professor and Director, Urban Sustainability & Resilience Program, University of Miami
	Nick Tsinoremas, PhD Director, University of Miami Frost Institute for Data Science and Computing
	Fredrik Wannius C0Founder and Chief Executive, 1Print
	Florence M. Chee, PhD Associate Professor & Director, Center for Digital Ethics and Policy, School of Communication, Loyola University Chicago
	Victor Dover Founding Principal, Dover, Kohl, & Partners Town Planning
	Jayson Dunn Sr. Business Manager – State and Local Government, NVIDIA
	Tony Garcia Co-Founder and Principal, Street Plans
	Matthieu Merchadou Co-Founder & CEO, Magma
	Nora Noori, PhD Digital Transformation Advisor Erasmus University, Netherlands
	Anna Carolina Queiroz, PhD Associate Professor, University of Miami School of Communication
	Raimundo Rodulfo Director/CIO of Innovation & Technology, City of Coral Gables
	Christina Viala Sustainability Coordinator, City of Pompano Beach