We took part in ARCADE’s fourth session in Barcelona, Souvenir City, part of the first cycle Inhabiting the Boiling Point, alongside Jorge Dioni López and Mesura. The conversation explored the forces reshaping contemporary cities through tourism, and the role data plays in making these transformations legible. We reflected on how alternative data sources once made it possible to map and diagnose Barcelona’s rapid touristification when official information was absent or too slow to respond. Those tools helped describe a phenomenon that was transforming urban life faster than institutions could measure it. While public data has become more precise, many of those alternative traces have disappeared as tourism itself continues to evolve. This raises urgent questions: what role do we play in producing these cities? Can we imagine forms of tourism that do not dissolve the local? And how do we sustain permanence, belonging, and everyday life in places increasingly designed for the visitor?

We hosted the Fremtidens Bymidter 2026 conference, where we shared the experiences of the Cities@Heart network of cities, which we have supported in recent years in advancing more balanced, inclusive and resilient city centres. Building on the shared belief that together we can achieve more than any of us can alone, the conference brought together businesses, municipalities and civil society around a common perspective on the future development of urban centres when the event took place on Tuesday 21 April in Fredericia. As the Danish contact point for the European Urban Initiative, the conference was organised by the Dansk Byplanlaboratorium, Dansk Erhverv, Levende Bymidter, Danske Handelsbyer, MERK and Norlys, placing partnership as the central driver of more liveable and well-functioning city centres.

MADE ETSAV hosted the Symposium “Delta Systems”, an open-access event exploring intersections of systems thinking, design and architecture. Organized by Teresa Galí-Izard, Josep Lascurain, Montserrat Bonvehi and Lluís Ortega. During the symposium, the new master’s programme at ETSAV was presented in sessions that discussed its objectives, curriculum structure, and innovative approaches to integrating digital, ecological and systemic perspectives in architectural education.

On 4 and 6 November 2025, Fira de Barcelona hosted the Smart City Expo World Congress. Pablo Martínez and Mar Santamaría participated in round table discussions, sharing insights on urban innovation and smart city strategies. Their contributions highlighted the potential of data and technology to shape sustainable, efficient, and inclusive urban environments.

On 26 November 2025, the CITIC Cátedra INDITEX UDC at the University of A Coruña hosted the Symposium on Green Artificial Intelligence under the theme Vida entre algoritmos. Mar Santamaría and Pablo Martínez participated in the symposium, exploring how artificial intelligence can be applied responsibly to reduce environmental impact and promote sustainable computational practices.

On 5 November 2025, the Maison de la Chimie in Paris hosted the City Centre Forum session “Data-driven policy to revitalise European city centres.” Mar Santamaría and Pablo Martínez participated with a presentation examining how data can guide strategies to revitalise urban centres across Europe. The session highlighted the role of evidence-based approaches in contemporary urban policy and planning.

The “Madrid 2050 International Urban Forum 2025”, organized by Colegio Oficial de Arquitectos de Madrid (COAM), will take place on 9-11 December 2025 as part of the Madrid2050 initiative. The forum aims to turn Madrid into an “urban laboratory” to address the challenges posed by strong demographic growth, with projected addition of over one million inhabitants in the coming decades. Together with experts from OECD, Foretica and Madrid City Council, Mar Santamaria will participate in this roundtable, bringing her perspective from the standpoint of territorial analysis and sustainable planning.

On 12 March 2024, the Col·legi d’Arquitectes de Catalunya held the session “Artificios Inteligentes. Metodologías, Imaginaciones y Narrativas: IA y Arquitectura” in Barcelona, part of the cycle “La inteligencia artificial en la arquitectura: Nuevas herramientas para nuevas miradas de futuro”. Mar Santamaría and Pablo Martínez participated with a presentation entitled “Life Between Algorithms”, in which they explored how generative artificial intelligence, creative imitation, and precedent interrelate to shape new architectural imaginaries. They were joined by other speakers such as Mario Carpo, Lluís Nacenta, Ciro Najle, Julia Capomaggi, Nil Brullet, among others, and the session included debate on fundamental disciplinary issues: creativity, culture, project-methodologies, pedagogy, and architectural production.

On July 10, 2025, Mar Santamaría participated in the international conference "Cities in the City: Mobility, Proximity, and Quality of Life" at Forum Braga. This event organized by the Associação de Municípios Quadrilátero Urbano, focused on contemporary urban challenges and opportunities. It featured discussions on mobility, urban proximity, and enhancing quality of life in modern cities. The conference brought together European experts in mobility, urbanism, and quality of life, including: Pietro Elisei (URBASOFIA), Simone d’Antonio (URBACT), José Mendes (University of Minho) and Carlos Moreno (Sorbonne University)

Del 21 al 24 de noviembre, Bilbao será sede de unas jornadas dedicadas a explorar los nuevos espacios de actividades económicas en las ciudades. Este evento reunirá a urbanistas y profesionales del sector para analizar las transformaciones que están redefiniendo el entorno urbano en un contexto de rápida evolución social, económica y tecnológica. Además, acogerá las asambleas anuales de la European Council of Spatial Planners – Conseil Européen des Urbanistes (ECTP-CEU), de la Asociación Española de Técnicos Urbanistas (AETU) y de la Unión de Agrupaciones de Arquitectos Urbanistas (UAAU).El principal enfoque de estas jornadas es comprender cómo los espacios dedicados a actividades económicas están cambiando dentro de las ciudades, adaptándose a nuevas formas de habitar y de trabajo, comercio y producción. En un mundo donde la globalización y la digitalización están transformando las dinámicas urbanas, las ciudades deben adecuarse a los nuevos retos económicos.