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Intro -- The Metaverse and Smart Cities: Urban Environments in the Age of Digital Connectivity -- Copyright -- Contents -- Chapter 1: Introduction to the metaverse -- Introduction -- History of the metaverse -- On the perceived importance of the metaverse -- From the internet to the metaverse -- The metaverse and its foundational elements -- Use cases of the metaverse -- The metaverse economy -- Fears and critisms of the metaverse -- Challenges and imperatives -- How does the metaverse link to smart cities? -- References -- Chapter 2: The history and evolution of the metaverse -- Introduction -- The origins of the metaverse concept -- The first steps: Early virtual worlds and gaming environments -- The rise of massively multiplayer online games (MMOGS) -- The metaverse in science fiction and pop culture -- The emergence of virtual reality and augmented reality -- The metaverse in the 21st century -- References -- Chapter 3: The metaverse and smart cities -- Introduction -- Overview of smart cities -- Understanding the metaverse -- Intersecting the metaverse and smart cities -- Case studies and examples -- Ethical, legal, and social implications -- Future directions -- References -- Chapter 4: The metaverse and sustainable cities -- Introduction -- Sustainable cities: Challenges and opportunities -- Case studies of the metaverse in sustainable cities -- Copenhagen: Virtual collaboration for climate adaptation -- Singapore: Smart nation initiative and virtual Singapore -- Barcelona: Superblocks and the metaverse -- Amsterdam: Circular economy and the metaverse -- Lessons learned and implications for future applications -- Benefits and challenges of using the metaverse in sustainable cities -- As a tool for promoting sustainability -- Challenges and limitations of using the metaverse -- Potential risks and unintended consequences.

This book aims to explore how sustainability transitions can be explored in current and future cities and how research and policy approaches can be applied to change urban life as we know it, hence aligning the two thematic of urban science and future science, for achieving deep decarbonization. On this, the discourse on philosophy, ethics, and morality appertaining to sustainable cities and urban transitions, across disciplines, are also welcomed as it provides a deeper understanding of humanity in future scenarios. Chapter 08 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com

Chapter 1: Introducing the Concept of Autonomous City -- Chapter 2: Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and the Rise of Autonomous Smart Cities -- Chapter 3: On Complexity, Connectivity and Autonomy in Future Cities -- Chapter 4: On Global Capitalism and Autonomous Smart Cities: A View on the Economic Engines of Tomorrow -- Chapter 5: The Case for Autonomous Smart Cities in the Wake of Climate Change -- Chapter 6: Global Tourism and the Risks of Cultural Homogeinity in Smart and Future Cities.

Surveying the Covid-19 Pandemic and Its Implications: Urban Health, Data Technology and Political Economy explores social, economic, and policy impacts of COVID-19 that will persist for some time. This timely book surveys the COVID-19 from a holistic, high level perspective, examining such topics as Urban health policy responses impact on cities economies, Urban economic impacts of supply chain disruption, The need for coherent short term urban policies that aligns with long term goals, The rise to citizen science initiatives, The role of open data, The need for protocols to support research collaborations, Building larger infectious disease modelling datasets, NS Advanced computing tools for health policy.

Foreword – By Robert J. Marks II -- Preface -- Chapter 1: Data as the New Driving Gears of Urbanisation -- Chapter 2: Urban Chaos and the AI Messiah -- Chapter 3: Digital Urban Networks and Social Media -- Chapter 4: Privatisation and Privacy in the Digital City -- Chapter 5: On Culture, Global Cities and Technology -- Conclusion

Chapter 1 - Biotechnology to render future cities as living and intelligent organisms -- Chapter 2 - The Triple B: Big data, biotechnology and biomimicry -- Chapter 3 - Revisiting energy policy and planning in future living cities -- Chapter 4 - On gene editing and the conflicts between biodiversity and urban liveability -- Chapter 5 - Biometrics, privacy, safety and resilience in future cities.

Since the fall of the former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, female activists have faced the problem of how to transform the spirit of the uprising into long-lasting reform of the political and social landscape. In Women and the Egyptian Revolution, Nermin Allam tells the story of the 2011 uprising from the perspective of the women who participated, based on extensive interviews with female protestors and activists. The book offers an oral history of women's engagement in this important historical juncture; it situates women's experience within the socio-economic flows, political trajectories, and historical contours of Egypt. Allam develops a critical vocabulary that captures women's activism and agency by looking both backwards to Egypt's gender history and forwards to the outcomes and future possibilities for women's rights. An important contribution to the under-researched topic of women's engagement in political struggles in the Middle East and North Africa, this book will have a wide-ranging impact on its field and beyond