The keynote speaker, Ben Wilson, has mastered the topic of smart urban planning by exploring the history of cities. Why is smart urban living the best solution for everyone? How to create a smart environment and community? What are the biggest challenges for urban planners in making cities liveable places for the next generation and competitive with other cities?

Ben Wilson (UK) is a historian, The Times reporter and author of five critically acclaimed books, including “What Price Liberty?”. He received the Somerset Maugham Award for the Sunday Times bestseller “Empire of the Deep” and, most recently, “Heyday: The Dawn of the Global Age”. Born in London in 1980, he has worked in television, broadcast on the radio in several countries, and writes regularly for publications such as The Times, Daily Telegraph and Prospect.