In 2021, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced its intention to invest $3.3 million to become the first city to fully enter the metaverse. Other cities are investing in much more immersive versions of the metaverse. Much of the metaverse will rely on the blockchain to facilitate smooth and transparent exchanges of information, and these cities are on the cutting edge of envisioning how the metaverse will work for them. Other cities, like Austin, Miami and Chandler, AZ, are investing in the blockchain for a range of uses, from securely storing medical records of unhoused residents to enabling residents to vote in local elections from their mobile devices. Orlando, Boston and Las Vegas have already created virtual replicas of their cities in the form of digital twins, online copies of their cities built to scale that allow local governments to play out hypothetical scenarios to anticipate specific impacts of new buildings, street changes or other land use decisions. Technologies like blockchain and the Internet of Things (IoT) are foundational to the metaverse, and city governments across the country are already using these technologies in innovative ways to streamline city processes, attract tourism and manage key resources. The brief provides an overview of what the metaverse is, its applications in cities today and how this technology might impact municipal governments in the future. The National League of Cities’ new resource, Cities and the Metaverse, helps local leaders get started in figuring that out. As city leaders plan for the future, they will need to consider how new technologies like the metaverse fit in and how they can serve cities. The integration of GPS with public transit means that riders now take for granted the ability to perfectly predict the moment their bus will arrive, and access to broadband has enabled residents to reliably connect to their jobs, schools or loved ones from their homes. When used well, new technologies can enhance urban life. We have seen that new technology can provide innovative solutions to better cities when local leaders plan for it, but can also be detrimental to cities when it arrives without foresight. It’s critical that cities are proactive in considering how the metaverse will impact them. For others, it is a shift in how people interact with their world, using technologies like 3D computing, augmented reality, virtual reality and blockchain to form new immersive virtual world experiences where digital information can be overlaid on our physical world. For some, it’s an online space that digitally recreates the real world. Generally speaking, the metaverse is the next evolution of the internet that will further integrate physical and digital experiences. While technology companies have brought the metaverse to prominence, it doesn’t have an agreed-upon definition and can be an illusive concept. The metaverse offers an answer to the imperfect experience of virtual communication. Platforms like Zoom, Facetime and Google chat became essential during the COVID-19 pandemic, but these technologies fall short in replicating the experience of real-life interaction. Virtual communication technology is constantly evolving to be more seamless and lifelike.
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