The EU project x-CITE seeks virtual solutions for engaging people and creating new experiences in cities – Tampere leads the project

" What if everyone could truly understand how their city is evolving – and help shape it?" reads the opening sentence of the x-CITE project's latest introductory release. The project's name comes from the words "Expanding the Experience of Citizen through Extended Reality" The total budget of the EU-funded project is 6.5 million euros, and the project lasts 2.5 years. Tampere leads the project's partner network.

x-CITE develops human-centered, immersive tools to make urban policy and planning more visible, accessible, and interactive. It contributes to the creation of the European Citiverse — a virtual layer interwoven with physical urban space. The Citiverse aims to simplify residents’ everyday lives, unlock new experiences, and help tackle urban challenges.

– Tampere actively participates in international citiverse development, which can mean better services or experiences for Tampere residents in the future, where technology brings a new dimension to experiencing the city. The x-CITE project is precisely about this: innovating new solutions together to improve and enrich the everyday life of residents, says Marko Teräs, project manager of the x-CITE project from the city of Tampere.

x-CITE brings life and interactivity to urban planning and an experiential level to familiar street views

Throughout the x-CITE project, different pilot initiatives will take place in Rotterdam, Flanders, and Tampere. In the visions of the pilots, for example, environmental assessments could be made visually accessible and more approachable, 3D modeling could be used increasingly from the perspective of community and engagement in planning future residential areas, and the city's history and stories could be brought to life for pedestrians by using XR-technology.

– The project's vision highlights the potential of emerging technologies and sets the direction for the concrete pilot initiatives that will take shape during its course. European-wide collaboration is a key strength: we learn from one another, share ideas, and maintain close interaction between the participating cities — a vital element of the project, says Teräs.

Partners of the project will gather as part of the Imagine the Citiverse event held in Tampere on May 27-28, where cities from around the world will come to solve current challenges faced by cities.

The project includes 12 partners from Finland, Belgium, and the Netherlands:
Tampere city, Nokia Technologies, from Belgium the Flemish government, Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre (imec), Cegeka, Transport & Mobility Leuven, Telraam, and Howest University of Applied Sciences, and from the Netherlands the city of Rotterdam, Future Insight Group, OASC network (Open & Agile Smart Cities), and Krill Design.