Barcelona – November 06, 2026 -- The United Nations has launched its first system-wide toolbox for artificial intelligence in smart cities. It sets four core rules to keep people, not machines, accountable for public decisions, and one of them holds that declining to deploy an AI system can be a responsible outcome.
The U4SSC Toolbox for People-Centred Smart Cities in the AI Era is issued by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and UN-Habitat. It gives mayors, city managers and policymakers guidance on where AI can improve public services, which safeguards are needed and when the technology should not be used.
AI is already at work in city halls. Chatbots answer residents, algorithms select roads to repair and software drives administrative decisions. These applications can make services more responsive, but they also carry risks related to bias, privacy, human rights and accountability.
Four rules govern AI projects from problem definition to shutdown
The toolbox tells cities to begin with the urban problem rather than the technology, and to keep public decisions under meaningful human control. It also calls for stronger safeguards as potential impacts increase, and for recognizing that not using an AI system can be the responsible choice.
Built around solutions from Helsinki, Finland, to eThekwini, South Africa, it walks cities through the life cycle of an AI project. The questions cover the problem being solved, who could benefit or be harmed, how the application is monitored, who is accountable and when the city should change course or stop using it.
ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin said the toolbox helps officials turn international standards and responsible AI principles into "guidance for better public services and lasting trust." UN-Habitat Executive Director Anacláudia Rossbach stressed the needs of informal settlements and underserved areas. She called for closing data gaps, protecting human rights and giving residents and civil society a meaningful role in urban decisions.
U4SSC releases six further publications on its 10th anniversary
The launch coincides with the 10th anniversary of United for Smart Sustainable Cities (U4SSC). The initiative is coordinated by ITU, UN-Habitat and the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), with support from 19 other UN agencies and programmes.
Alongside the toolbox, U4SSC is publishing a series of reports on urban AI governance, measurement of people-centred digital transformation, security for digital public infrastructure, city data platforms, anticipatory governance and data-enabled destination management. City and national authorities gain a common UN-backed reference for using AI and data.