Creative Destruction or Extraordinary Opportunities?: Reading the City and Architecture Through Liberland
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The concept of the metaverse, once envisioned as a virtual space of experience, has gained renewed momentum following its global rebranding during the COVID-19 pandemic. As cities such as Santa Monica, Seoul, and Shanghai begin to integrate metaverse strategies into their urban agendas, the metaverse is increasingly positioned as a “second world” that may significantly alter the future of urban life, architecture, and planning. However, this shift has also provoked critical debate around issues of urban rights, particularly the right to the city. This study explores the socio-spatial and political dimensions of the metaverse through a qualitative analysis grounded in critical urban theory. Drawing on the concepts of democracy, participatory rights, and socio-spatial inequality, the research interrogates how the emergence of virtual urbanism challenges conventional understandings of citizenship, public space, and urban experience. The analysis centers on the case of Liberland, the first digitally constructed libertarian metaverse micronation designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, to assess how digital urban environments redefine notions of sovereignty, participation, and spatial justice. While the metaverse presents radical new possibilities for architectural/ urban design and governance, it also raises fundamental uncertainties regarding contextualization, public legitimacy, and integration into lived urban realities. The study argues that rethinking the right to the city in virtual contexts is essential for developing inclusive and equitable digital futures.
Authors: Dicle Kızıldere Gökyer, Ecem Uğurlu
Institutions: Gebze Technical University, Manisa Celal Bayar University
Subfield: Urban Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $39
OpenAlex ID: W7117899298