UN Toolbox for People-Centred Smart Cities in the AI Era: human control first for city AI
The United Nations launched its first system-wide toolbox for AI in smart cities on November 4, 2026, in Barcelona — guidance that tells mayors and city managers when AI can help public services, what safeguards it needs, and when not to use it at all.
- Who and when: The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and UN-Habitat launched the toolbox on November 4, 2026, in Barcelona, at the Smart City Expo World Congress.
- What: The U4SSC Toolbox for People-Centred Smart Cities in the AI Era, the first system-wide United Nations toolbox for AI in city services.
- Four core rules: Start with the urban problem, not the technology; keep public decisions under meaningful human control; apply stronger safeguards as potential impacts increase; and recognise that deciding not to use an AI system can be a responsible outcome.
- Scale: United for Smart Sustainable Cities (U4SSC) is coordinated by the ITU, UN-Habitat and the UN Economic Commission for Europe, with support from 19 other UN agencies and programmes; the launch marked its 10th anniversary. Its key performance indicators are used by more than 350 cities, according to the ITU.
- Alongside: A series of U4SSC publications covering urban AI governance, measurement of people-centred digital transformation, security for digital public infrastructure, city data platforms, anticipatory governance and data-enabled destination management.
The United Nations launched the Toolbox for People-Centred Smart Cities in the AI Era on November 4, 2026, in Barcelona. Issued by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) under the United for Smart Sustainable Cities (U4SSC) initiative, it is the first system-wide UN toolbox designed to keep people, rather than machines, accountable for public decisions as artificial intelligence moves into city services.
AI is already at work in city halls around the world, the United Nations said: chatbots answer residents, algorithms select roads to repair, and software drives administrative decisions. Those applications can make services more responsive, but they can also introduce risks related to bias, privacy, human rights and accountability. The toolbox gives mayors, city managers and policymakers real-world guidance for deciding how AI can improve public services, what safeguards are needed, and when the technology should not be used.
Four rules for city AI
The toolbox is built around four core rules for any city AI project:
- Begin with the urban problem rather than the technology.
- Keep public decisions under meaningful human control.
- Apply stronger safeguards as potential impacts increase.
- Recognise that deciding not to use an AI system can be a responsible outcome.
“Smart, sustainable cities are defined by how well people benefit from technology designed to improve everyday living,” said Doreen Bogdan-Martin, ITU Secretary-General. “The U4SSC toolbox helps city officials turn international standards and responsible AI principles into guidance for better public services and lasting trust.”
UN-Habitat Executive Director Anacláudia Rossbach said AI and digital innovation “must help cities better respond to the needs of communities, especially those living in informal settlements and other underserved areas” — which means addressing gaps in data, protecting human rights, and ensuring residents and civil society meaningfully participate in shaping urban decisions.
Questions to ask before a city deploys AI
The toolbox walks officials through the life cycle of an AI project: what problem is the city trying to solve, who could benefit or be harmed, how should an application be monitored, who is accountable for its decisions, and when should the city change course or stop using it? It draws on real-world smart-city solutions from Helsinki, Finland, to eThekwini, South Africa. Cities are already testbeds for much larger AI systems, from digital twins to agentic controls, as NVIDIA’s push to put physical and agentic AI to work across cities shows — which is why the UN guidance starts from governance rather than from any single vendor’s system.
What launched alongside the toolbox
Alongside the toolbox, U4SSC is releasing a series of publications covering urban AI governance, measurement of people-centred digital transformation, security for digital public infrastructure, city data platforms, anticipatory governance and data-enabled destination management. Together, the United Nations said, the resources give city leaders, ministers and city teams a common UN-backed reference for using AI and data to build fairer, more resilient and more responsive cities.
The work builds on a decade of U4SSC measurement: the initiative’s key performance indicators for smart sustainable cities are used by more than 350 cities to measure progress and compare notes, according to the ITU. The toolbox launch, at the first-ever United Nations Pavilion at the Barcelona expo, marked the initiative’s 10th anniversary.
Guidance, not a ban
The toolbox does not itself ban or approve any system. It is guidance for the people who have to decide — and its fourth rule makes the point explicit: choosing not to deploy an AI system, or stopping one that is not working, can be the responsible call. Harder rules are arriving from national governments in parallel: China is fast-tracking a full-lifecycle AI law covering everything from data to deployment, while enterprises are building governance around their own deployments, as in Straive and Anthropic’s responsible enterprise AI partnership.
U4SSC is coordinated by the ITU, UN-Habitat and the UN Economic Commission for Europe, with support from 19 other UN agencies and programmes. For city officials, the test of the toolbox will not be its launch in Barcelona, but whether its four rules survive contact with the next chatbot, traffic system or benefits algorithm a city is asked to approve.
Frequently asked questions
What is the U4SSC Toolbox for People-Centred Smart Cities in the AI Era?
Guidance issued by the ITU and UN-Habitat, launched in Barcelona on November 4, 2026, that helps mayors, city managers and policymakers decide how AI can improve public services, what safeguards are needed, and when the technology should not be used.
What are the toolbox’s four core rules?
Start with the urban problem rather than the technology; keep public decisions under meaningful human control; apply stronger safeguards as potential impacts increase; and recognise that deciding not to use an AI system can be a responsible outcome.
Does the toolbox require cities to use AI, or ban it?
Neither. It is guidance for decisions, not a ban or an approval. It sets safeguards that scale with impact, and it treats choosing not to deploy an AI system, or stopping one, as a responsible outcome.