UN Virtual Worlds Day: AI and the Citiverse
- Viewed - 856
Description
UN Virtual Worlds Day: AI and the Citiverse
|
The 3rd UN Virtual Worlds Day will take place on 11–12 May 2026 at ITU Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Be there to contribute to turning AI, spatial intelligence, and the citiverse into trusted, people-centred outcomes for cities and communities worldwide. Discussions will explore how the convergence of artificial intelligence, immersive virtual environments, spatial intelligence, and other frontier technologies is reshaping urban governance and enabling new approaches to delivering public services, including emerging concepts such as the AI-enabled citiverse. |
|
Date: 11-12 May 2026
|
The keynote will highlight how recent advances in generative AI, agentic systems, and urban digital platforms are allowing cities to translate intelligence into tangible outcomes. It will present the Citiverse as a forward-looking vision where AI augments human decision-making, strengthens public institutions, and enables cities to deliver measurable societal impact.
The programme will also examine how these developments can help translate the Global Digital Compact into trusted, inclusive, and people-centred outcomes for cities and communities worldwide.
The Global Cities Hub is happy to see that discussions on the future of cities features the participation of mayors and civil servants of local and regional governments, including
- Vice-Mayor Christina Kitsos – City of Geneva (Switzerland),
- Mayor Manuel de Araújo – City of Quelimane (Mozambique),
- City of Durban (South Africa),
- City of Rotterdam (Netherlands),
- City of Valencia (Spain),
- City of ‘s-Hertogenbosch (Netherlands),
- City of Tampere (Finland).
The Global Cities Hub’s President, Ms. Christina Kitsos, will speak in the opening session of the UN Virtual Worlds Day 1 (11 May 2026). In addition, the GCH will moderate two sessions:
- Session 2: Housing, Energy and Climate: Building Resilient Communities with AI, Digital Twins, and Spatial Technologies
- Session 5: From Virtual Worlds to Baku: Setting the Urban AI Agenda for the World Urban Forum (WUF13)
The 3rd UN Virtual Worlds Day is co-organized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) together with ITCILO, FAO, UNDP, UNECA, UNECE, UNECLAC, UN Guatemala, UN-Habitat, UNICC, UNICEF, the UN Innovation Network, UNJSPF, UNRISD, UN Tourism, UNU-EGOV, the UN Futures Lab, the World Bank, WIPO, and WMO, in partnership with the Global Cities Hub.
Read more and register
Read our publication on “The Ethical Use of AI in Cities” (Oct. 2024). The policy paper argues that local and regional governments (LRGs) should deploy these technologies, but only when they contribute to LRGs’ public mission and enhance the quality of life and meet the needs of their citizens. The paper looks at the opportunities and challenges that the use of AI might pose in cities.
Read more about the event and register here.