"What really makes the future so unique and specific is not that it hasn't happened yet, but that the world of the future will be different from the present." Peter Thiel, the Godfather of Silicon Valley and OpenAI investor, wrote in his book "Zero to One".
On the afternoon of October 19, 2023, at the Sun Hall of the Chengdu Science Fiction Museum, guests including Ben Yalow, member of the Brand Protection Committee of the World Science Fiction Society and Co-Chair of the Convention, Neil Clarke, Editor-in-Chief of "Clarkesworld", Richard Taylor, Co-founder and CEO of Weta Workshop, famous sci-fi writer and Guest of Honor of the Chengdu World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) Liu Cixin, Shi Zhanjun, Editor-in-Chief of "People's Literature", and more than 500 fans on site, witnessed the unveiling of the "Selection of Future" of the 81st World Science Fiction Convention together.
It is reported that the annual "Selection of Future" press conference of the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) is guided by the Brand Protection Committee of the World Science Fiction Society and hosted by the Organizing Committee of the 81st World Science Fiction Convention. It aims to release and pay tribute to the most representative, influential, and leading global sci-fi achievements of 2023.
At the press conference of the "Selection of Future" of the 81st World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), photo/Wang Xiao
"Sci-Fi Style City of the Year" refers to a city or region themed with sci-fi elements, featuring a sense of the future, technology, and innovation.
This list is hosted by the Organizing Committee of the 2023 Chengdu World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), undertaken by the Chengdu Science Fiction Association, and co-organized by the Science and Fantasy Growth Foundation, Sichuan Science Fiction World Magazine, the Future Association of the University of Oslo in Norway, the Nantes International Science Fiction Festival in France, the All-America Chinese Youth Federation, the Hong Kong Science Popularization and Science Fiction Academy (HKSPSF), Chengdu Business Daily Marketing Planning Co., Ltd., Chengdu Yixiang Network Technology Co., Ltd., and other units.
Dubai in the UAE has the Burj Khalifa extending from the earth to the sky and the Palm Islands built with satellite positioning and claimed to be visible from the moon. With its miraculous buildings of "black technology futuristic architecture", "miracles of contemporary architecture", and "retro sci-fi aesthetics", it attracts global attention time and time again; Chicago, the third-largest city in the United States, has hosted eight World Science Fiction Conventions (Worldcon). Its L-shaped subway loop is an important source of inspiration for the famous sci-fi movie "The Fifth Element"; and Nantes, France, is the hometown of Jules Verne, the "Father of Science Fiction". The local government designed and built a steampunk-style theme park to commemorate this pioneer writer of steampunk, which is the world-famous Machines of the Isle of Nantes today... Every Sci-Fi Style City of the Year makes the residents living in this city feel lucky, after all, they can discover sci-fi surprises around them every day.
Chairman Ben Yalow has attended 53 science fiction conventions. In his opinion, a good science fiction convention depends on the participation of fans. For him, in addition to Chengdu, New York is not only the city that hosted the science fiction convention for the first time but also a city that he considers very sci-fi.
Ben Yalow, member of the Brand Protection Committee of the World Science Fiction Society and Co-Chair of the 2023 Chengdu World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon)