NonA Weekly: FUTURE OF CITIES 🏙️
Image by @butler
Dear readers and friends,
We’re living through two historic transitions 📜: the ongoing global move into cities, and the accompanying worldwide development of the digital commons, known as the metaverse 🌐.
For some, the metaverse is the future of the internet, retail 🛍️, media 📀, and everything in between. For others, it’s distracting hype beset with risks. Whatever its eventual form turns out to be, the likelihood is that the metaverse is coming.
What will cites 🏙️ in the metaverse look like? Would that be ultra-futuristic cities, the fantasy world, or the digital copy of New York? One may wonder 🤔 what would be a reason for such cities to exist.
1. ARCHITECTURE 🏛️ DESIGNED BY ARTISTS IN THE METAVERSE
Designers have created several VIRTUAL buildings for the metaverse community The Row, including a giant statue turned into a house 🏠 designed by Daniel Arsham and a home that changes color during the day.
2. PLP ARCHITECTURE LAUNCHES 🚀 COLLECTION OF 5,000 SKYSCRAPER NFTS
The cadre of high-design firms 👷 creating on-demand virtual ARCHITECTURE in the metaverse has grown recently with the announcement of PLP’s upcoming 5,000-piece NFT skyscraper collection 🏙️, which they debuted earlier last month with help from VerseProp, a virtual property platform.
3. HOW THE METAVERSE COULD CHANGE THE PURPOSE AND FEEL 🏡 OF CITIES
As more of our daily activities take place online, we believe it’s time to consider how this may eventually play out; if tomorrow’s CITY dwellers prefer the metaverse 🤖 to brick-and-mortar stores and other urban amenities, what will it mean for cities and what purposes will cities ultimately serve?
4. CITIZENM TO BECOME THE “FIRST HOSPITALITY COMPANY TO BUILD 🏗️ IN THE METAVERSE”
Hotel developer CitizenM has announced plans to build a hotel 🏨 in the METAVERSE, which will be set in The Sandbox’s gaming world 🎮 and could eventually become a real-life location.
5. VIRTUAL REALITIES: HOW CITIES ARE MOVING INTO THE METAVERSE 🌐 AND BEYOND
A growing number of cities 📈 are testing ways that immersive experiences via the metaverse, virtual reality, and simulated CITIES known as “digital twins” can engage residents in new ways. What the pioneers are finding is that virtual worlds can have very real-world implications for how they lead their cities, solve problems, and serve residents 🧑🤝🧑.
6. SEOUL TO BECOME THE FIRST 🏆 CITY TO ENTER THE METAVERSE. WHAT WILL IT LOOK LIKE?
The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) announced it will be the first major city to enter the METAVERSE. Provisionally called ‘Metaverse Seoul’, it intends to create a virtual communication ecosystem for all areas of its municipal administration. This would include economic 💰, cultural 🏛️, tourism 📷, educational 📚, and civic service ⛪, in three stages from next year.
7. HOW SEOUL IS CREATING A METAVERSE FOR A SMARTER CITY 💡
The city of Seoul, South Korea, is planting the seeds for a metaverse ecosystem called “Metaverse Seoul” for all areas of its municipal administration ✍️. The effort combines digital twins, virtual reality (VR), and collaboration to improve CITY services as well as planning, administration, and support for virtual tourism.
Stay creative and see you all next week! 👋
Daniela
