Quasiconformal almost parametrizations of metric surfaces

We look for minimal conditions on a two-dimensional metric surface $X$ of locally finite Hausdorff $2$-measure under which $X$ admits an (almost) parametrization with good geometric and analytic properties. Only assuming that $X$ is locally geodesic, we show that Jordan domains in $X$ of finite boundary length admit a quasiconformal almost parametrization. If $X$ satisfies some further conditions then such an almost parametrization can be upgraded to a geometrically quasiconformal homeomorphism or a quasisymmetric homeomorphism. In particular, we recover Rajala’s recent quasiconformal uniformization theorem in the special case that $X$ is locally geodesic as well as Bonk-Kleiner’s quasisymmetric uniformization theorem. On the way we establish the existence of Sobolev discs spanning a given Jordan curve in $X$ under nearly minimal assumptions on $X$ and prove the continuity of energy minimizers.