The four-day event, World Cities Expo Istanbul, started today at the Haliç Congress Center. The event is set to bring together leading institutions, organizations and country representatives from around the world, who are leading the city model of the future by carrying the integration of technology and city planning into metropolises, to hold comprehensive discussions on the transformation of urban centers into smart cities.World Cities Expo Istanbul will bring together leading institutions, organizations and experts from around the world on carrying today's smart cities in to the future with a vision of sustainable life. World-renowned technology futurist and an Intellectual Ventures inventor Pablos Holman will deliver speech during the event where international participants helping shape the futures of smart cities will attend.As a part of the Big Smart Istanbul project, the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) has introduced the World Cities Expo Istanbul'17 to bring together nearly 3,000 businesspeople and more than 300 international and national members of the press as well as over 10,000 professionals. More than 100 global and local companies will attend the event with nearly 10 national pavilions to underline the "Smart Cities" concept.The Big Smart Istanbul project has been introduced by the city's municipality to offer innovative solutions for Istanbulites in the fields of transportation, energy and environment. The project will be brought to an international level with the World Cities Expo.Speaking at the issue, IBB Secretary General Hayri Baraçlı underlined that municipalities all around the world are expected to spend more money so as to turn their cities into smart cities and ease the life of citizens. "Today global cities are projected to allocate $1.5 trillion in resources by 2021 on the path toward becoming smart cities," said Baraçlı, adding that "Smart cities are expected to provide $22 trillion in savings by 2050 with big initiatives such as public transportation systems and energy-saving buildings.""We all have a very important role to play in these efforts. These duties primarily include the exchange of knowledge and experience between countries and cities. It is necessary to expand smart city practices to all cities in the world. It is also crucial to raise awareness among city residents. With this in mind, we, as the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, are organizing World Cities Expo Istanbul," he explained.The concept of "the Smart City" integrates sustainable solutions offered by new-generation technologies into all urban management processes to solve the major problems facing metropolises. Urban life is changing and developing in line with global trends and is supported by intelligent systems, as a more modern city life is sought with fast, user-friendly, accessible and human-oriented rational approaches. World Cities Expo Istanbul, which is organized on the basis of the globally dominant approach toward smart cities, aims to contribute to making cities "smart" by bringing together the technology experts changing and transforming modern life.World Cities Expo Istanbul will focus on the issues of entrepreneurship and economic development, innovation and technology, large data and urban management, energy, transport and communities within the framework of smart cities. A hub of experience will be created during the international organization, which will bring together companies with smart urban transformation visions. Opinion leaders will hold conferences and synergy-based, efficient business and network meetings during the event.While the most popular metropolises in the world such as Istanbul are being transformed into smart cities with developing technology, the forerunners of this change will readdress the concept of "the Smart City" at World Cities Expo Istanbul in light of different experiences and perspectives. The three-day event will include various important sessions and panel discussions on the future of intelligent urbanism.Various topics such as Technology and Innovation, Environment and Healthy Living, Smart Vehicles, Energy, Urban Transformation, Big Data Analysis, Cyber Security and Smart City Strategies, which make up the concept of smart city planning, will be addressed during sessions and panel discussions.Technology giants in IstanbulThe giant organization, which will be held in Turkey for the first time, will bring together many global and local companies. More than 3,000 businessmen and more than 300 global and local press members will be following World Cities Expo Istanbul, with more than 10,000 professionals expected to visit the event.The World Cities Expo's participant profile includes international and local public institutions and organizations, leading urban technology companies, national pavilions, sectoral nongovernmental organizations, smart home platform providers, educational institutions, healthcare providers, insurance companies, sectoral publications and media outlets, municipalities , mayors and managers, technoparks, city managers, telecom operators, city technology ministers, urban planning ministers and technology providers.