Smart-city expos attract city officials (mayors, municipal planners, public procurement folks), large institutional stakeholders, and private sector partners who are looking for solutions to urban challenges. Exhibiting gives direct face time with people who may have budgets or authority to adopt your product/service.

Being at a major expo shows that your organization is serious, active, and innovative. You can position your brand as a market leader or thought-leader in urban / smart technology space. It helps build credibility.

The expo floor is a place to generate qualified leads: companies and governments who are in the market for what you offer. The environment is more conducive to connections that could turn into contracts.

You meet others who are working in related domains — tech providers, infrastructure firms, startups, NGOs, academics. Possible partners for collaborations, joint ventures, or integrations.

You can show your product in action, test live demos, engage directly with users to collect feedback. That’s much more convincing than online or brochure-based pitches. Helps refine your offering. (Implicit from many exhibitor-benefit pages.)