On 24 October, the Global Cities Hub and the International Telecommunication Union will organize the webinar “What is a citiverse? And how can it contribute to sustainable city development?”
If there’s more than one metaverse, there will obviously be more than one citiverse. How can we anticipate which might be the most useful one for Local and Regional Governments (LRGs)?
Local leaders and urban planners face complex, future-oriented challenges related to social and economic development – including the issue of density, urban sprawl connectivity or limited sustainability in the city. Citiverses might be gamechangers for LRGs to successfully and sustainably accomplish people-centered city-development for a smarter future.
Digital transformation, smart city development, emerging technologies like the metaverse and citiverse are crucial areas for LRGs. Strategically assembled, properly regulated and efficiently managed people-centered citiverses have the potential to answer the challenges of rapid urbanization and can contribute to the development of cities as agents of solutions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The rapid growth of cities across the globe represents a challenge and tests the limit of infrastructure development and equitable delivery of services. Planning future needs and designing inclusive, resilient and sustainable cities requires complex approaches that might be well supported by digital technologies. United Nations agencies like the International Telecommunication Union is key in ensuring that cities play a central role not only in accelerating digital transformation but also in leveraging technologies to achieve the targets enshrined in the SDGs. UN-HABITAT focuses on people-centered smart city development from the perspective of urbanization.
The event aims to discuss the potential role of citiverses – taking into account different social and economic aspects – and identify areas of collaboration between relevant International Organizations and LRGs. It will provide an insight into the necessity of an inclusive multistakeholder approach to actively listen to the needs of LRGs and share views, insights, and guidance on the very principles to follow when shaping a citiverse. It elaborates its potential contribution to LRGs’ delivering sustainable services, thus achieving 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Experts will elaborate on the concept, reveal their suggestions on necessary technical standards, as well as relevant policies and regulations in developing open, interoperable, secure, and inclusive citiverses.
You can already register to participate online. The exact time of the event will be communicated prior to the date.