Bloomberg CityLab 2024: The world’s local leaders come to Mexico City

As more than 500 mayors, top urban thinkers, civic leaders, creatives, and innovators prepare to gather in Mexico City for the 11th Bloomberg CityLab next week, here’s everything you need to know about this year’s preeminent global cities summit, the local government challenges and solutions that will be spotlighted, and how to join in.

A global view of innovation in cities—with a special focus on Latin America.

When former Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum was sworn in as president of Mexico this month, the whole world saw the latest example of how a local leader who embraces innovation can guide an entire nation forward. Sheinbaum’s success as mayor both positioned CDMX as the digital capital of the Western Hemisphere and also helped set the stage for this year’s Bloomberg CityLab, which is organized by Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Aspen Institute, and will take place Oct. 14-16.  

This year’s event will particularly emphasize how Mexico City and other municipalities throughout  Latin America have made progress for their residents, from cutting-edge digitization to the reimagination of transportation, public spaces, economic development, climate mitigation, and youth engagement. Attendees will dive into game-changing solutions shaped by city halls in the region and elsewhere—and how their own cities can replicate that success. 

With panel discussions, interviews, interactive breakout sessions, artistic performances, and excursions across Mexico City, some of the challenges and solutions to be highlighted this year include:

• Addressing today’s fractured information landscape with cutting-edge practices that mayors can use to engage communities and deliver for residents.
• Taking responsible deployment of artificial intelligence to the next level with new skills and capacities for the innovators and other city leaders driving this work.
• Diving into Latin America’s vast and rapidly-evolving innovation ecosystem, from the creative use of data in tackling crises to the transformation of public space.
• Grappling with the challenges posed to democracy and how local leaders can serve as stewards of civic life regardless of the tenor of national and international politics.
• Uplifting the young people who are leading on climate change by simultaneously taking hyperlocal action and pushing their cities to be more ambitious.

Leading urban voices from across the world.

Bloomberg CityLab 2024 discussions next week will be led by some of the world’s most prominent city experts and leaders, including Michael R. Bloomberg, the 108th mayor of New York City and founder of Bloomberg L.P. and Bloomberg Philanthropies. Other speakers will include:

• Leaders from President Claudia Sheinbaum’s new administration, including José Antonio Peña Merino, who will discuss moving local digital innovation to the national level, and Foreign Secretary Juan Ramón de la Fuente, who will explore a range of issues, such as managing migration and climate change on the global stage.
• Youth climate activists including Darren Baine, Maddie Davidson, and Jessica Lima, who will highlight the wisdom of young people and their potential to be a game-changing source of ideas—and governance—for local action on this signature global challenge.
• Ekrem İmamoğlu, the mayor of Istanbul, who will speak up about the defense of democracy in cities across the world at a time of polarization and distrust that are often visible on city streets and throughout neighborhoods.
• Cruz Pérez Cuéllar, mayor of Juárez, Mexico, and Eric Enriquez, mayor of Las Cruces, New Mexico, who will discuss governing on both sides of the border and the opportunities their regional partnership brings.
• Sculptor Pedro Reyes and Enrique Norten, director and founder of TEN Arquitectos, who will spotlight the power of play in civic life.
• National Geographic Explorer and host of “Lost Cities Revealed” Albert Lin, who will showcase what we can learn from cities and civilizations of the past.

A complete list of Bloomberg CityLab 2024 speakers can be found here.

Join in and watch from anywhere.

Bloomberg CityLab 2024 will be laser-focused on local issues of global importance and what comes next for cities everywhere. Much of the conversation—including all of the mainstage events—will be available for everyone across the world to watch via livestream. That livestream will be available here beginning Tuesday, Oct. 15, at 11 AM EDT, and will be accompanied by a complete schedule of mainstage events. 

Also be sure to follow the action throughout the week by using the #CityLabCDMX hashtag and by following Bloomberg Cities on X, LinkedIn, and Instagram.