On November 6, the side event on Citiverse of the 12th session of the World Urban Forum was held in Cairo, Egypt. Co-organized by the Guangzhou Institute for Urban Innovation, the University of Manchester and the London South Bank University, this event is themed “Co-creating Collective Urban Intelligence with the Citiverse Lab Platform and ‘Pathways’ Toolkit”. Global urban planners, policymakers, scholars and business representatives gathered to explore and share how to leverage digital technologies to address the multiple challenges of global urbanization.

Approaches to Globalization and Multiple Challenges

Cities around the world are facing multiple challenges, including accelerated urbanization, resource constraints, environmental pollution and climate change. As an exploration to address these challenges, this side event introduced the “Citiverse Lab” platform and “Pathways” toolkit, offering participants new perspectives and tools. As an urban metaverse laboratory, the “Citiverse Lab” is dedicated to promoting the deep integration of digital technology with urban planning and governance. Meanwhile, the “Pathways” toolkit offers tools for foresight and collaboration in exploring future development paths. The combination of these two aims to help participants better understand the patterns and trends of urban development, inspire innovative thinking, and support cities in advancing towards being smarter, greener, and more human-centered.

Focusing on the Practice and Application of the Citiverse Lab

During the event, the organizer introduced the core concepts of the “Citiverse Lab” and “Co-creating Collective Urban Intelligence” to the participants, and gave an in-depth explanation of the “Citiverse Lab” and “Pathways” toolkit. Participants learned that the “Citiverse Lab” platform is not only a design solution for human-digital interaction but also a diverse interactive mechanism that integrates policies, businesses, and civil society. The organizer then demonstrated, through real-life examples, how the Pathways toolkit could assist stakeholders in urban governance, analysis and planning, and inspire them to think about the future of cities.

Participants engaged in heated discussions on topics such as “Problem Definition and Stakeholder Analysis”, “Exploration of Future Trends and Changes”, “Common Goals and Potential Exploration”, and “Strategy and Path Formulation for Achieving Goals.” Through practical exercises, they analyzed and planned real cases using the “Citiverse Lab” platform and “Pathways” toolkit.

Promoting Urban Intelligence and Cooperation

A number of internationally renowned scholars and institutions involved in these talks including Jordi Vaquer, Secretary General of Metropolis; Nicholas You, Executive Director of the Guangzhou Institute for Urban Innovation, Joe Ravetz, Co-Director of Centre for Urban Resilience & Energy at Manchester University; Lucy Natarajan, Assistant Professor, University College London, UK; Edmundo de Werna, Professor, London South Bank University, and Milou Henrica Gerardina Jansen, Project Coordinator International Guidelines, UN-Habitat, United Nations Human Settlements Programme. In addition, planners, academics and city representatives from around the world joined together for an in-depth exchange of ideas on how to achieve sustainable urban development through technology and innovation.

The World Urban Forum (WUF), established by the United Nations in 2001, is the premier global conference on sustainable urbanization. The Forum brings together participants from around the world to discuss the major urban challenges nowadays. The twelfth World Urban Forum (WUF12) was held in Cairo, Egypt, from November 4th to 8th, 2024, entitled ‘It All Starts at Home: Local Actions for Sustainable Cities and Communities’, focusing on building strong coalitions to address key global challenges posed by the global housing crisis and climate change.