In this episode of Citizen One: Exploring Our Urban Future, an urbanNext original podcast series, host Douglas Stuart McDaniel sits down with leading thinkers at the intersection of digital urbanism, cinematic worldbuilding, and metaverse technologies to examine how the metaverse is reshaping city-making.

Guests include:

* Firas Safieddine, architect, urbanist, and author of Metaverse Urbanism: Spatialization Takes Command, (Actar Publishing) who explores how cities evolve with dense digital and virtual infrastructures.

* Judd Payne, president of IDEA Studios, bringing Hollywood’s worldbuilding expertise into large-scale urban projects, including NEOM.

* David Watters, co-founder of Cavrnus, a leader in collaborative metaverse platform technologies, and a former NVIDIA executive, where he worked on hyper-realistic digital twins.

Key Topics Explored

* Defining Metaverse Urbanism Firas introduces the concept of metaverse urbanism as the urbanism of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, where biological, digital, and physical systems converge. He explains how cities are moving from data-driven sensing to fully immersive digital experiences.

* Cinematic Worldbuilding Meets Smart Cities:Judd discusses the transition from designing fictional worlds in film to real-world cities. Drawing from his work on NEOM’s The Line, he highlights how Hollywood storytelling tools are shaping futuristic urban environments.

* Digital Twins and Spatial Computing:David explains how metaverse technologies accelerate urban planning, reducing iteration cycles in design and construction. He underscores how AI, digital twins, and immersive visualization allow cities to simulate and refine urban experiences before they are built.

* From Digital Twins to Live Metaverse Cities:The panel debates the next evolution of digital twins, moving from static representations to dynamic, interactive virtual cityscapes. They explore how cities will function when their digital counterparts are as vital as their physical infrastructure.

* Democratizing Design & Urban Co-Presence:A discussion unfolds on open vs. closed platforms in the metaverse. While high-fidelity digital experiences are valuable for architects and planners, mass adoption may favor more accessible, lower-fidelity, user-driven platforms like Roblox and Minecraft.

* AI, Automation, and the Future of Work in City Design:The panel touches on how AI is reshaping creative roles in architecture, urban planning, and worldbuilding, reducing manual design tasks while enhancing iteration speed and decision-making.

* Metaverse Economics and New Digital Public Spaces:Firas emphasizes that the internet is already replacing traditional public spaces. Just as town squares were once centers of civic life, platforms like Discord and decentralized digital worlds may redefine where and how communities interact.

Closing Thoughts

Doug and his guests reflect on the blurring boundaries between digital and physical cities, the challenges of governance, security, and accessibility, and the exciting future of participatory metaverse urbanism. As AI, neural interfaces, and immersive spatial design evolve, the built environment will increasingly merge with digital layers of identity, ownership, and interactivity.

Stay tuned for future episodes as Citizen One continues to explore the ideas shaping the cities of tomorrow!

Chapters

00:00 Defining Metaverse Cities

10:23 Creating Real and Digital Worlds

14:20 Technological Infrastructure in Urban Development

18:56 The Future of Collaborative Design

24:04 The Intersection of Urbanism and Digital Spaces

29:54 Democratization of Design and Digital Twins

39:14 Metaverse Cities: Learning from Virtual and Physical Worlds

45:36 Densification of Digital Layers in Urban Design

50:06 AI and Simulation: Transforming Urban Planning

55:02 The Role of AI in Urban Simulation

01:00:42 Job Creation and the Future of Work in Metaverse Urbanism

01:05:46 AI's Impact on Design and Content Creation

01:11:11 Infinite Content and the Future of Spatial Experiences

01:13:02 Engagement and Community Building