Navigating AI and the Digital Transition
Based on insights from the World Cities Culture Report Survey and City Projects
Cities around the world are adapting to rapid technological change and reshaping cultural policy and practice. As digital innovation accelerates, cultural policymakers and practitioners are navigating both the potential and the complex challenges of emerging technologies, data governance and artificial intelligence (AI).
Currently, 55% of our cities from Milan to Toronto are developing or implementing policies and projects related to digital technology. This trend is particularly strong in East Asia, where cities are using technology to support the cultural sector, alongside broader urban development goals. Guangzhou places digital innovation at the heart of its ambition to become a global technology hub, with culture driving economic transformation. Chengdu has established a digital creative start-ups incubator, alongside investing in gaming and esports. Nanjing is using immersive digital technology to bring to life classic Chinese literature, connecting new and younger audiences with literary heritage.
New cultural infrastructure is reimagining how cities support digital innovation and creativity. The Latin American Centre for Experimental Hypermedia (CheLA) in Buenos Aires is a pioneering research centre supporting cross-disciplinary projects that unite technology, arts, and community. In Bengaluru, India’s first Museum of Innovation, Start-Up and Technology will use immersive ‘phygital’ experiences to celebrate the city’s role as a global tech hub.
For many cities, however, digitalisation and AI remains a challenge. Cultural teams across several cities highlight a need for expertise to help the cultural sector adapt effectively and sustainably to new technologies and digital trends, in particular AI.
The integration of emerging technologies – especially AI – into cultural policies remains in its early stages. This is partly due to the rapid rate of change but also because of the need for greater knowledge and relevant skills within cultural policy teams.
Despite this, several cities are leading the way and are exploring AI’s creative and civic potential. Barcelona’s Synthetic Memories public programme explores data and memory through AI-driven artistic projects. In Los Angeles, the 2025 Arts Datathon helped artists and cultural organisations build practical, ethical knowledge and understanding of generative AI tools. Bogotá has also begun using AI in policymaking to analyse interviews with residents and identify common themes (source: World Cities Culture Forum, Creatividad, Cultura e Innovación en Ciudades Iberoamericanas (World Cities Culture Forum, 2025). These initiatives reflect a growing awareness of AI’s potential as a creative tool and in the role of cultural policy.
Innovation in technology and AI is advancing rapidly but many cities have yet to fully explore how technology can be integrated into policymaking and programming. The ethics of AI and technology in cultural policymaking and the creative industries is still relatively unexplored. Key concerns include growing digital divides, intellectual property rights, the ethical use of data, and algorithmic bias. Cities must ensure that innovation remains inclusive, and that citizens and cities have a voice in shaping future national and international AI legislation.
