6th OECD Roundtable on Smart Cities and Inclusive Growth

This scene-setting session sets the strategic context for the overall Roundtable by exploring the shift from AI adoption to the systemic integration of AI across sectors. It will examine what distinguishes an AI city from a city that simply implements multiple AI projects, highlighting the institutional, technical and organisational conditions required to embed AI across functions, sectors and levels of government. The discussion will also take stock of where cities stand today on their journey towards AI-enabled urban transformation.

Questions for discussion:

• What is the most advanced example of cross-sector AI initiative in your city (or a city you know) and what has enabled it?
• What distinguishes an AI city from a city that has simply deployed numerous AI applications?
• What are the main barriers preventing cities from achieving a more integrated and strategic use of AI?

While cities are expanding their use of AI, ensuring they deliver tangible and lasting value requires assessing cities’ readiness to adopt and scale AI responsibly, alongside monitoring and evaluation systems to gauge AI’s economic, social, environmental and governance impacts throughout its lifecycle. Drawing on the draft OECD AI readiness self-assessment tool and insights from its pilot-testing in selected cities, this session will explore how cities can strengthen evidence-based decision making through indicator frameworks, data governance  practices and co‑ordination mechanisms across levels of government. It will also examine how monitoring and evaluation can foster organisational learning, improve accountability and support the continuous adaptation of AI‑enabled urban policies and services.

Questions for discussion:

• How do cities assess their institutional, technical and governance readiness to deploy and scale AI responsibly?
• How do cities monitor and evaluate the impacts of AI systems (whether intended or unintended) across economic, social, environmental and governance dimensions? How can cities identify and respond to unintended consequences or emerging risks from AI in a timely manner?
• What indicators or evidence are most useful for determining whether AI is delivering measurable public value?

Urban digital twin initiatives are evolving from monitoring and visualisation tools towards strategic capabilities that can support prediction, simulation, and increasingly proactive urban management. While cities are progressing at different speeds, advancements in AI are enabling digital twins to combine real-time data, generate predictive insights and inform more adaptive and responsive urban decision-making. Bringing together diverse experiences from across OECD countries and cities at different stages of development, this session will explore how AI is reshaping the next generation of urban digital twins and discuss the key challenges and opportunities in unlocking their full potential for more integrated, evidence-based and forward-looking urban management.

Questions for discussion:

• What unique public value do urban digital twins provide beyond existing geospatial platforms, data infrastructure and decision‑support systems?
• How is AI transforming the role of urban digital twins, particularly in areas such as prediction, simulation, optimisation and operational decision support, and where do you see the greatest potential for future applications?
• What are the key enablers for scaling AI-enabled urban digital twins, including in terms of data sharing, skills, trust and institutional capacity? 

The decisions cities make today on AI governance, investment and institutional capacity will shape the trajectory of urban AI for decades to come. Rather than converging towards a single model, cities are likely to follow different development pathways – from increasingly autonomous urban systems that optimise services in real time, to human-centred approaches that enhance public decision-making while safeguarding transparency, participation and accountability; or more fragmented trajectories, where uneven adoption, weak governance and disconnected systems deepen social and territorial inequalities. Drawing on foresight analysis, this closing session will examine these alternative futures, explore the trade-offs they entail and identify the strategic actions needed today to steer cities towards more inclusive, resilient and human-centred AI futures.

Questions for discussion:

• Based on current policies and investment decisions, which AI development pathway are cities most likely to follow over the next 10‑20 years? What are the key signals or trends that suggest cities are moving in that direction?
• Which policy choices made today will have the greatest influence on shaping a more inclusive, resilient and human-centred AI future?
• What governance capacities will cities need to remain adaptive as AI technologies and societal expectations continue to evolve?