XR-Supported Communication in Green Urban Projects. Participating in Urban Change through Virtual and Augmented Reality

Höftberger, Katharina and Konrath, Anna and Berger, Andreas and Allerstorfer, Doris and Krebs, Roland (2023) XR-Supported Communication in Green Urban Projects. Participating in Urban Change through Virtual and Augmented Reality. LET IT GROW, LET US PLAN, LET IT GROW. Nature-based Solutions for Sustainable Resilient Smart Green and Blue Cities. Proceedings of REAL CORP 2023, 28th International Conference on Urban Development, Regional Planning and Information Society. pp. 1071-1076. ISSN 2521-3938

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Abstract

Public participation in urban planning and design processes is becoming increasingly important in European cities to improve transparency, enhance decision-making, and encourage community engegamenent. However, broad and inclusive participation faces a number of significant challenges. Typical participation processes rely on face-to-face interaction and are only able to reach small and non-representative groups of people. To this day, direct means of communication are important because of the high complexity of urban planning and design tasks and the multi-faceted demands on urban spaces, which can hardly be represented in online questionnairs and one-way information campaigns. Additionally, urgent measures to reduce heat in cities and to counteract other negative effects of the climate crisis need to be explained to gain the support of local communities. These challenges are often compounded by low budgets for participation processes and a lack of commitment to a thorough communication strategy. Over the past few decades, new information and communication technologies have radically changed the way we communicate. The advent of smartphones and the institutionalization of the internet have made it possible to interact with many people simultaneously in real time and at a low cost. Today, powerful mobile devices and the emergence of virtual and augmented reality applications promise new ways to communicate spatial change and to interact with the urban environment. The exploitation of these new technologies to support climate-friendly urban design projects with broad public participation was the declared goal of the Green Living Augmented+virtual ReAlity (GLARA) research and development project. At the heart of the project was the development of the GLARA app, a mobile application that visualizes the spatial and microclimatic effects of urban design projects. Choosing between the virtual and augmented reality modes, users could explore the altered urban space from home or directly in the respective public space. In the latter case, the live image of the mobile phone camera (image of reality) was overlaid with 3D elements like trees, benches and more. This type of vizualisation provided a unique spatial experience of the proposed design project. At the same time, the results of a micro-climate simulation, which shows the effects on surface temperature, perceived temperature, and wind was visualized and made tangible via the app. Last but not least, the application allowed users to provide feedback on the design from anywhere at any time, decoupling participation from the need to be physically present at a specific place and time and allowing a wider range of people to contribute their opinions to the planning process. The GLARA app was combined with a selected set of face-to-face participation tools to form a holisitc participatory planning service for open spaces with green infrastructure. The full GLARA service was tested in a case study in Vienna’s 7th district, Neubau. The local district administration had plans to redesign a narrow residential street in the course of laying new water pipes. The GLARA team accompanied the planning process over a period of one and a half years with a balanced mix of analogue and digital participation tools including the GLARA app. The introduction of a second participation loop based on the preliminary landscape design for the street was a novelty for the administration but was well received by the participating residents. The design was visualized via the app and offered an immersive experience of future spatial change. However, a number of technical and practical challenges remain for future development of the app, including better ways for device localisation, operability on less powerful mobile devices, reducing the effort required to create the 3D visualisations, and further reducing barriers for less tech-savvy populations.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Micro Climate Simulation, Resilient Urban Design, Virtual and Augmented Reality, Public Participation, Urban Change
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GE Environmental Sciences H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor Q Science > QA Mathematics > QA76 Computer software
Depositing User:	REAL CORP Administrator
Date Deposited:	03 Oct 2023 08:33
Last Modified:	04 Oct 2023 17:42
URI:	http://repository.corp.at/id/eprint/1002

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