These 3 cities already have their own metaverse

Does your city have its own metaverse yet? Nearly 700 cities will have some kind of metaverse infrastructure by 2030, according to a new report by technology intelligence firm ABI Research.

Some cities are already building a metaverse. If you live in Seoul, you can enter a digital copy of the city and see the sights, or file a civil complaint. One city in the United States is using it to cut crime and boost footfall.

And while some of these initiatives may not seem groundbreaking, the benefits of a city with metaverse infrastructure include cost savings related to the design, operation and maintenance of urban infrastructure. The metaverse could also help city leaders gain ‘political capital’ if the city’s population engages with the technology.

Here are three cities that are leading the way in the metaverse.

South Korea is planning on becoming the fifth-largest country in the global metaverse market by 2026, after committing around $180 million in 2022 to build a metaverse ecosystem.

Residents in Seoul can already download the world’s first urban metaverse app and use it to make certain tasks easier.

As well as playing games and experiencing Seoul’s most famous attractions, you can also utilize it to complete much more mundane tasks. You can file a civil complaint there, or receive advice on taxation and the platform supports all sorts of other functions in administration, education, tourism and civil affairs.

This is phase one of Metaverse Seoul. Phase two will bring in more services from 2024 that include connecting local industries with foreign investors, while the final phase will integrate virtual and augmented reality technology into the day-to-day running of the city’s infrastructure.

Dubai, UAE, has grown from a small fishing village to being ranked third in the world in the Economist’s Global Economic Performance Report. And by 2035, Dubai’s growth will push it into the top 100 cities in the world in terms of GDP.

As part of that economic growth, the city is aiming to become a top 10 metaverse economy, and a global hub for the metaverse community.

It aims to attract 1,000 companies from the blockchain and metaverse space, and support over 40,000 jobs by 2030.

How will the city achieve this? By fostering innovation, increasing research and development, while boosting talent and investment by helping developers, content creators and digital platform users to get support in education on all things metaverse.

Dubai will also develop Web3 technology and its applications to enhance new ways of working in certain important sectors, such as tourism, education, retail, healthcare and remote work.

FlickPlay is a social media app in which people can use NFTs – blockchain-based tokens that each represent a unique asset, such as a piece of art, digital content, or media – to create augmented reality films by unlocking them in the ‘real’ world.

And it's being used to cut crime in Santa Monica, the first city in the US to have access to the metaverse through its app.

“It has been proven that activating unused city spaces with art reduces crime rates,” says FlickPlay founder and CEO, Pierina Merino.

FlickPlay encourages people to walk through real places to find scarce digital tokens, which can be collected and then used to unlock videos with rare filters that you can show off to your friends. By moving people through parts of cities that are less travelled, FlickPlay can also create new economic activity while reducing crime.

As cities look to decarbonize, the World Economic Forum’s Social Implications of the Metaverse report says digital twin technologies can help by enhancing urban design through simulation, planification and optimization.