Last week in Santiago de Chile, our founder and CEO Marta Rofin shared an inspiring vision at the Smart City Expo 2025: one where cities serve not only as places to live, but as tools to actively promote human health and well-being.
In her keynote presentation, “La ciudad como herramienta de salud” (“The City as a Tool for Health”), Marta explored how urban environments can be designed to support healthier lifestyles.
Drawing from evidence that nearly 90% of our health is determined by factors outside the healthcare system, she showed how the design of mobility, public space, and housing directly influences how we move, breathe, rest, and connect with others. In other words, our physical, mental, social, and environmental health is profoundly shaped by our urban surroundings.
Marta’s talk helped to set the tone for the event, taking a more people-centred approach to smart city discussions. From technical solutions to policy approaches, health and well-being remained a common thread throughout.
Following her keynote, Marta joined a roundtable with mayors and urban leaders to explore “El desafío de recuperar la ciudad para las personas” (The Challenge of Recovering the City for People). This session addressed how decades of car-centric, expansionist urban development have sidelined public space and fragmented communities.
The discussion highlighted strategies for humanising the urban fabric through walkable neighbourhoods, reactivated public spaces, and community-driven planning. Marta’s contribution focused on how integrating health into these strategies can ensure cities become not only more sustainable but also more equitable and liveable.
Beyond the conference halls, Marta’s message resonated in the national media. She gave four interviews with Chilean television and radio outlets, including Radio ADN, where she spoke about the broader meaning of health and why it’s essential to view urban environments as part of the healthcare system. Listeners were reminded that health isn’t confined to clinics or hospitals, it lives in the streets, parks, and homes of our cities.
What stood out most at this year’s Smart City Expo Santiago was the human-centred spirit of the event. While technology had its place, the dominant message was clear: smart cities must be about people first. From citizen engagement booths to panels on inclusive urban development, the focus remained on creating cities that serve the needs of their residents.
We’re proud to see Healthy Cities at the forefront of this conversation and grateful to Fira Barcelona, Interexpo, Gobierno Regional Metropolitano de Santiago, and Consejo Regional Metropolitano for making this event a space where technology, policy, and community come together for healthier urban futures.
Stay tuned for more updates as we continue collaborating across borders to make health a central pillar of city-making.
