The Future of Smart Cities and the Metaverse

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue explores the potential implications and opportunities arising from the integration of smart cities and the metaverse, posited as a virtual world parallel to our physical world. As smart cities increasingly leverage digital technologies to improve the quality of life and well-being of citizens, the metaverse presents new avenues for virtual experiences, social interactions, and economic activities. This intersection also raises important questions related to privacy, security, and governance, as well as the potential for exacerbating existing inequalities and exclusions.

This Special Issue invites contributions from social scientists, urban planners, policymakers, designers, and technologists to examine the future of smart cities and the metaverse. We look forward to your submissions addressing the following topics:

1. Conceptualizing the relationship between smart cities and the metaverse;
2. The role of digital platforms in shaping the metaverse;
3. Implications of the metaverse for urban planning and design;
4. Social interactions and communities in the metaverse;
5. Economic opportunities and challenges in the metaverse;
6. The impact of the metaverse on physical and mental well-being;
7. Ethical and privacy considerations in the metaverse;
8. Digital citizenship and governance in the metaverse;
9. The potential for the metaverse to exacerbate existing inequalities and exclusions;
10. Future scenarios and policy recommendations for integrating smart cities and the metaverse.

Dr. Zaheer Allam
Prof. Dr. Ali Cheshmehzangi
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Smart Cities is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2000 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• smart cities
• metaverse
• virtual world
• urban digital twin
• augmented reality
• virtual reality
• Internet of Things
• artificial intelligence
• spatial data
• digital infrastructure