It is just one of the possibilities offered by the metaverse in which the city of Valencia has been completely immersed and that has even led him to draw up a strategy for 2026, which the mayor of Valencia presented today, María José Catalá together with the Councilor for Innovation, Paula Llobet.
The idea was initially intended to be able to show the city’s residents who, due to mobility limitations, cannot climb the Serranos Towers (the monument is not accessible to people with reduced mobility), both the beauty and the peculiarities of the monument that they will access through virtual reality glasses. But by exploring this field, the City Council has realized that the possibilities that the metaverse already offers are almost infinite. And therefore it will not only recreate the Towers for those who cannot visit them, but It will also recreate their construction in the 14th century in a medieval city that will faithfully reproduce. Thus, leaning over the battlements of such a magnificent building, you can see the Royal Palace and the surrounding city of the time in the distance. This project not only aims to provide another offer to tourists but is specially designed for educational and didactic purposes for both adults and children. The recreation of Valencia at the time will be available before this summer.
This is only one of the possibilities that virtual reality offers, but the mayor has announced that immersive reality will be used for multiple applications, and perhaps the most important is the creation of a digital twin of the city of Valencia to be able to “put it to the test” in the event of emergencies. Thus, work is already being done with the Valencia firefighters in the design of digital twins of buildings so that in the event of an accident there, professionals know where to go at all timeshow to access the different parts of the property or something as simple as knowing which door or which floor they are at at any given time, since, as Councilor Llobet explained, “firefighters, sometimes, when they enter a burning building to rescue someone, find that the door numbers have melted and on a landing with five doors, even though they know the number of the house in which there are people trapped, they do not know in which of them they should carry out the rescue. The digital twin of that building will show them the way to the exact place to rescue the trapped people. For now, this experience is being carried out with the Zafranar building that housed the victims of the Campanar fire, since it has a façade similar to the one that burned down on February 22, 2024. But later other digital twins will come, mainly of the tallest buildings, and also those that have a façade typology similar to the one that burned in Campanar. And later it will be expanded to more and more properties, public and private, in the city of Valencia. The digital twins, some already in use, such as the city’s water network, will reach all areas, including parks to know how they will respond to an episode of winds like the one we are going through, or the flood-prone areas of the city, something that the recent Dana has confirmed is very necessary.
The mayor has also highlighted the fundamental role of the City Council in promoting the city’s innovative ecosystem and has announced theThe three new initiatives that will mark the City Council’s innovation policy, related to young talent, the immersive city and urban simulation.
In this context, Catalá has highlighted that over the past year “the Valencian innovative ecosystem has for the first time exceeded 200 million euros in investment, which already supports more than 20,000 qualified jobs linked to the knowledge economy and which reaches a valuation close to 4,000 million euros.” A growth that has been supported by a municipal investment of 16 million euros in the strategy and more than one million in direct aid to transform innovation in companies and employment, with an estimated return of almost four euros for every public euro invested by the Valencia City Council.
Valencia Connect Talent
In 2026, the City Council will launch the ‘València Conecta Talento’ program, a stable connection space between youth, companies, universities and public policies. The objective is to generate real opportunities so that young people can develop their professional careers in Valencia, reinforcing the city as an environment of social mobility and avoiding the drain of talent. The program will seek to align training, business needs and public initiatives to facilitate professional paths linked to the knowledge economy.
Immersive city model
The City Council will extend the use of immersive technologies to other municipal buildings and spaces to better explain public strategies and projects, develop educational content and connect innovation, heritage and culture. This initiative will make public policies more understandable, bring innovation closer to citizens and generate new experiences also linked to urban tourism and dissemination.
The didactic and inclusive project of the Torres de Serranos falls within this area.
Advanced urban simulation
On the other hand, the mayor has announced that Valencia will be the first Spanish city to apply advanced urban simulation prior to the execution of certain large projects. Through this tool, the City Council will be able to analyze different scenarios before carrying out relevant actions, reduce risks, optimize resources and make decisions with greater rigor and transparency in projects that directly impact the daily lives of citizens.
The mayor concluded by highlighting the use of technology to anticipate, explain and improve public decision-making, bringing innovation closer to citizens and reinforcing collaboration between administration, companies and local talent. With these new initiatives, València reinforces its commitment to open, useful and people-focused innovation.