Just a few weeks ago, residents of South Korea’s capital got an impressive bragging rights about their city. The City of Seoul has officially launched the Metaverse Seoul Project, which allows access to city services in a virtual setting. Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said on January 16th that the first phase of Metaverse Seoul will be open to the public, and that the second phase (including making Metaverse Seoul more accessible to the increasing number of senior citizens) will begin soon. announced. In addition to creating virtual, digital, and immersive ways for citizens to interact with city officials, the project will support the business sector and provide virtual tourism routes for both Koreans and foreigners. I am even aiming to In the announcement, the mayor defined the project as a virtual space that will act as a “place for citizens to communicate” in the capital, allowing them to virtually visit many of Seoul’s attractions, browse official documents, and discuss specific concerns. and help with filing city tax returns.

Now, when the word “metaverse” pops into my head, I doubt my next thought has anything to do with filing formal paperwork with the local government. Chances are you’re thinking about cryptocurrencies, blockchain, AR technology, or, since you’re reading this here, the highly speculative world of Metaverse real estate. Between layers of tech marketing hype, the metaverse is often structured as an exciting alternate digital reality, not necessarily a means to complete one’s mundane errands in the real world. . But the Metaverse is still new technology, and for Seoul citizens, especially those who have difficulty going directly to City Hall (not to mention tourists who can easily get lost in the streets of Seoul), the Metaverse is a reality. You can improve life in the world. city ​​function. Moreover, Seoul isn’t the only city making strategies for leveraging virtual worlds.

China’s latest major

Last summer, the Shanghai government released a policy document detailing its development plans for the Metaverse economy. $52 billion At a press conference announcing the plan, Wu Jincheng, director of Shanghai’s Economic and Information Technology Commission, said the city intends to develop at least 10 cutting-edge industry-leading enterprises and 100 small and medium-sized enterprises in the metaverse sector. announced that it was It provides technologies related to the metaverse, all of which have a global presence. To do this, the policy paper proposes several actions, including the creation of virtual enterprises, the use of virtual reality in education, and the integration of technology into tourism and entertainment.

Despite its notorious crypto aversion, Shanghai’s investment in the Metaverse shows that China is betting big on the Metaverse and hopes it will boost the Chinese economy.Shanghai is a political powerhouse and an economic trendsetter in the rest of the country, the city’s move to step into the metaverse was intended to aid future development and speed up the pace of recovery across the economy. It was a strategic move.

Soon after Shanghai’s announcement, many other Chinese cities began following suit with their own Metaverse initiatives. Metaverse development plans have been announced by the provinces of Zhejiang, Henan, Beijing, Guangzhou, Chongqing and Jinan. Recently, the city of Suzhou, a city of 12 million people located in Jiangsu province on the east coast, has established itself as a center of research and development for the Metaverse, with the aim of attracting more than 200 companies involved in the virtual reality technology sector. announced a strategy for By 2025. official announcement (Certainly written entirely in Wu language) Suzhou aims to build 30 model metaverse application scenarios by 2025, focusing on local government, tourism, healthcare, and education sectors. It explains in detail that What wasn’t shared in the announcement, and not yet made public to the public, is how much money the city plans to spend on this venture.

Meanwhile, the precedent set by Shanghai’s Metaverse Goals has spilled over to Chinese academics as well. The School of Future Technology at the Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology in Nanjing, Jiangsu made headlines last September by establishing China’s first (and frankly, the world’s first) Metaverse major. . Not only that, the university renamed the Department of Information Engineering to the Department of Metaverse Engineering. To further support the integration of education and production, the new division will also work closely with companies associated with the Metaverse. In addition, the department plans to train fellow students for master’s, doctoral and postdoctoral degrees in collaboration with the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Dubai’s latest industry

Just two weeks after Shanghai launched its Metaverse plan, Dubai is making waves with its own plan.of Dubai Metaverse Strategy plans to bring over 1,000 blockchain, cryptocurrency, and metaverse companies to the city, supporting over 40,000 virtual job opportunities by 2030. and Digital Salesperson are just a few examples of the variety of roles you may need.

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Dubai’s plans to tap into virtual worlds came after the establishment of the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) and the announcement of the Virtual Assets Act earlier this year. It will also follow the opening of the new Digital Economic Court at the DIFC Court, which will handle disputes related to current and emerging technologies such as blockchain, artificial intelligence and cloud services at the national and international level. In addition, Dubai’s Metaverse Strategy creates a global standard for creating a safe and secure platform for users, the Metaverse infrastructure and rules to facilitate the adoption of these technologies to manage Dubai’s physical infrastructure. It is intended to

Dubai’s Metaverse push is set to have a major impact on real estate deals as well. Property developers to increase buyers’ knowledge of the benefits of using Metaverse by scheduling virtual tours, booking online, land registry, and getting faster and better his 24/7 service via chatbots. I can. The Dubai Metaverse Plan is poised to increase transparency in the real estate industry and ensure the highest level of security for investors’ funds. At least, that’s the marketing pitch.

The city’s metaverse strategy also focuses on enhancing Dubai’s smart city capabilities. One of the key pillars of Dubai’s Metaverse Action Plan includes expanding the reach of 5G organizations to enable edge processing and provide on-demand PC system resources. Data can be collected, processed and stored locally through smart devices and local networks, rather than being sent to the cloud.

The Metaverse is an entirely new concept, and plans for cities to use it are evolving rapidly, and its potential applications in urban planning and management are still being explored. It highlights how this technology can be leveraged to streamline administration. Then there is the added value that the metaverse adds to smart city management. Dubai’s Metaverse Strategy highlights how to make the most of the Metaverse as a digital extension of the smart city.

We don’t know exactly what the city’s metaverse will look like, but a look at the Shanghai initiative says the metaverse offers unlimited economic potential and a significant addition to urban planning and management. Not even. Looking to the Eastern Hemisphere, how city leaders can deploy Metaverse technology to more effectively manage public services, engage residents, and facilitate engagement with businesses and downtown areas. It turns out that it can affect the Done right, the Metaverse blends the physical and virtual worlds to enrich the value of both. Done carelessly, they are marketing ploys, little understood, and he is only one of the Digital City services actually used.