The Congress, hosted by Mr. Kadir Topbaş, Mayor of Istanbul, was started in Haliç Congress Center on Wednesday, 1 July 2016 and welcomed many visitors from the world. Together with Kadir Topbaş, Mayor of Istanbul, the event also welcomed Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, former Prime Minister of Spain, Aisa Kirabo Kacyira, Assistant to Habitat Secretary General, and Mehmet Duman, UCLG-MEWA Secretary General and many mayors alongside technology firms from Turkey and around the world.