On World Cities Day (October 31) GCH’s key partners in Geneva organized the webinar on “Empowering lives through people-centred smart cities” in the framework of the 9th United for Smart Sustainable Cities (U4SSC) meeting.
Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Secretary-general of ITU emphasized that digital transformation serves humanity and puts people in the center of joint action. By leveraging technology, we can advance people-centered development and make sure that people can live up to their full potential, leaving no one behind.
Paola Deda, Director of Forests, Land and Housing Division of UNECE underlined that sustainability and smartness of cities are more important than ever. Data-based decision-making helps city leaders harness digital technologies to improve their citizens’ quality of life. Local leaders engage with international organizations on this journey, using among others the KPI framework aligned with SDGs. Most recent examples are Almati and Montenegro.
Okan Geray, Chair of U4SSC elaborated on the collaborative work of UN agencies, LRGs and experts. The U4SSC is the United Nations’ premier platform for shaping the cities of the future—people-centered, digitally inclusive, climate-resilient, and sustainable. With support from 20 UN entities, U4SSC empowers local leaders to share, learn, and lead transformative change, including the use of AI and foresight. It translates global concepts to practical roadmaps and priorities reflecting local realities and needs.
This U4SSC session spotlighted three critical thematic threads shaping future cities: Artificial Intelligence in Cities, Future Foresight for Cities, and Digital Wellbeing. Experts presented the ongoing work including AI policy frameworks, scenario planning methods for urban resilience, and benchmarks for digital quality of life.
From digital public infrastructure (DPI) to sustainable digital transformation city governance, speakers shared insights on how cities can harness digital innovation to advance sustainability, resilience, and inclusion. The discussion highlighted how integrated approaches — combining technology and multilevel governance — are shaping the next generation of smart, sustainable, and people-centred cities.
Empowering lives through people-centred smart cities
The special webinar on “Empowering lives through people-centred smart cities” moderated by Graham Alabaster, Chief of UN-Habitat Geneva office put in the focus the people-centered approach shared by several UN agencies. It covered a range of issues from leveraging technology in an adequate way to developing a digital wellbeing framework concept for urban life and to contributing to citizens’ quality of life.
Participants of the session explored how to weave foresight, ethics, and human-centred design into city strategies to build resilient, inclusive, and thriving urban communities. Future foresight for cities encompasses anticipating and preparing for urban challenges and opportunities. It entails a forward-looking approach to envision potential futures and develop strategies to shape them.
One of the new areas disclosed was Agentic Artificial Intelligence for Cities. As autonomous systems capable of learning, adapting, and acting without direct human input, agentic AIs enhance urban management by analyzing vast data streams and making real-time decisions in areas like traffic control, energy use, public safety, and environmental monitoring. Agentic AI marks a radical shift: its proactive problem-solving and predictive capabilities allow cities to handle increasing population density and complexity with greater agility – while promoting sustainable urban growth and improving residents’ urban experience and quality of life.
Seizo Onoe, Director of Telecommunication Standardization Bureau of ITU encouraged cities and local government officials to join the work of U4SSC to turn technology and innovation into impact on the ground and better the life of their citizens.
The GCH is looking forward to continuing the discussion at the session on “Citiverse Rising: Virtual Worlds and AI Agents for Urban Transformation” which will take place on 4 November 2025 from 13:05-13:50 hours, in Barcelona at the Smart City Expo World Congress.