Caution: Planners are not expected to set up multilingual websites, but they should collaborate with developers to ensure accurate and effective translations.
With AI-powered translation tools like Google Translate, why is developing a multilingual website still difficult, even for professional developers? The simple answer is that there’s no one-click solution that delivers a high-quality, fully localized website. Websites like UN.org require significant resources— professional translators, content management systems (CMS) that support multiple languages, and ongoing maintenance. Most urban planning projects lack the budget or infrastructure to implement a fully developed multilingual site.
Here are some common approaches:
Using Google Translate (Automatic Translation). Quick and easy to implement, often through a translation widget. Accuracy varies depending on the target language and context. Not ideal for legal or technical content. This is a very popular choice for many websites. For example, www.nyc.gov.
AI-Powered Translation Services (Hybrid Approach). AI-based services like Weglot, DeepL, and Microsoft Translator offer more accurate, customizable machine translation compared to Google Translate, allowing human refinements when needed. Subscription-based pricing—costs vary depending on word count and number of languages.
CMS-Based Multilingual Support (Semi-Manual Approach). Many content management systems (CMS), like WordPress, Wix, Webflow, and Drupal, offer built-in multilingual support or plugins that help manage translations more efficiently.
Subdomain or Separate Website Approach (For Large-Scale Projects). Instead of translating a single website, some organizations create dedicated websites or subdomains for different languages.
Manual Translation (Human-Reviewed or CMS-Based Translation). Ensures high-quality, contextually accurate translations, but requires significant resources, including professional translators and site maintenance. For example, www.un.org.
A hybrid approach—combining AI-assisted translation with manual review—often provides the best balance between cost, quality, and ease of maintenance.