Metaverse solutions to shape future city living

A new global initiative has been launched that will define norms and principles to guide the governance of metaverse solutions in cities for areas such as urban planning, education, and municipal services.

The Global Initiative on Virtual Worlds – Discovering the CitiVerse and led by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the UN International Computing Centre, and Digital Dubai, will drive capacity development, facilitate sharing of best practices, and develop a sandbox environment for cities to simulate virtual world scenarios.

“The metaverse, a virtual shared space created by the convergence of virtually enhanced physical reality and physically persistent virtual reality, offers numerous compelling opportunities to support smart cities,” Cristina Bueti, Counsellor on Metaverse & Smart Cities at ITU, told Cities Today.

She listed eight key areas where the metaverse can play a significant role including urban planning, public services, education, economic development, tourism, mobility, sustainability, and healthcare. And that CitiVerse provides city leaders the opportunity to simulate their innovations before implementation at scale. A virtual city space can also advance education and training, improve access to public services, and support participatory governance.

“The interest and involvement of cities in the metaverse are rapidly evolving, with leading cities setting the pace and others keenly observing and beginning to explore potential applications,” she said. “The trend indicates a growing recognition of the metaverse as a valuable tool in the toolkit for building smarter, more efficient, and more inclusive urban environments.”

Cities taking a leading role in utilising the opportunities of the metaverse include Seoul, Dubai, Shanghai, Tampere, Tokyo, and New York, among others.

The new initiative builds on the work of ITU’s Focus Group on metaverse, which has laid the groundwork for international standards to support an open, inclusive metaverse that drives progress towards the sustainable development goals.

The next stages of the CitiVerse will focus on:

• Bringing the CitiVerse to life: Developing expert guidance, raising awareness around CitiVerse opportunities and challenges, and developing and adopting key performance indicators.
• Connecting cities with the virtual and real worlds: Advancing cities’ integration of emerging technologies, curating CitiVerse use cases, and developing a sandbox environment and related technical tools.
• Tunnelling the CitiVerse: Fostering a community of practice to encourage collaboration among cities, organising urban problem-solving competitions, and implementing training programmes to boost expertise.

Bueti added: “This ground-breaking initiative marks the first-ever effort to shape the global agenda of cities for years to come, pioneering the integration of metaverse technologies into urban development on an unprecedented scale.”

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