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Virtual Worlds as Support Tools for Public Engagement in Urban Design

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Planning Support Systems and Smart Cities

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Geoinformation and Cartography ((LNGC))

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to show how important it is to use visualization techniques for enhancing public participation in creating smart cities. The chapter focuses on exploring people’s opinions with regard to urban design, and on exploring new media and digital tools for public engagement. More specifically, it focuses on exploring the potential of using virtual worlds in the process of urban design from the first stages of the design process to the construction and maintenance phases. Quantitative and qualitative research methods have been used for the purposes of this chapter. The Terf virtual world is explored as a laboratory for interdisciplinary collaboration in urban design as well as an interface allowing involvement of different actors within a public participatory process. The final part of this chapter offers guidelines for future development of support tools for public engagement, especially concerning the Terf virtual world, and their potential use by municipalities.

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Acknowledgments

This research project was carried out in co-operation with the company 3D ICC Immersive Collaboration, and the Slovenian Research Agency (ARRS) supported it. The research was part of Ph.D research at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Architecture. We would like to thank Julie LeMoine and Ron Teitelbaum from the 3D ICC Immersive Collaboration for their assistance and for the opportunity to explore and work in Terf, an immersive virtual environment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Architecture, University of Ljubljana, Zoisova 12, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Anja Jutraz & Tadeja Zupancic

Authors
  1. Anja Jutraz
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  2. Tadeja Zupancic
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anja Jutraz .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Geography and Planning, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Stan Geertman

  2. Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

    Joseph Ferreira, Jr.

  3. Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

    Robert Goodspeed

  4. School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom

    John Stillwell

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Jutraz, A., Zupancic, T. (2015). Virtual Worlds as Support Tools for Public Engagement in Urban Design. In: Geertman, S., Ferreira, Jr., J., Goodspeed, R., Stillwell, J. (eds) Planning Support Systems and Smart Cities. Lecture Notes in Geoinformation and Cartography. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-18368-8_21

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