Virtual Cities

Acronym of the case:

VirtuoCity

Web address of the case:

http://www.cebra.eu

Country of the case:

Netherlands

City/region:

Apeldoorn, Helmond and Tilburg

Posting Date:

8 June 2007

Last Edited Date:

19 October 2009

Author:

Klooster Rick (City of Apeldoorn)

urbanism | development | interactive

Type of initiative

Project or service
Network

Case Abstract

A new version,Â selected as a European eGovernment Awards Finalist 2009, of this case is available at http://www.epractice.eu/en/cases/virtuocityawards

The Dutch towns of Apeldoorn, Helmond and Tilburg utilise virtual world technology (VirtuoCity) to support the participation of their citizens in important city reconstruction projects. These virtual cities enable access to the virtual 3D presentation of the city, as it is at present or as it will be in the future, over the Internet with relatively basic computers. While navigating, they are provided with all kinds of multi-media information, can leave their remarks in a forum, vote for alternative designs, and chat with other visitors. A recent breakthrough was the application of online voting in Tilburg, whereby citizens could submit (binding) votes on one of the three designs for the central marketplace.

Description of the case

Domain

eGovernment

Topic

eParticipation, eDemocracy and eVoting | Services for Citizens | Regional and Local | User-centric Services

Sector

Culture and Media | Environment | Local/Regional Community Development | Other

Start date - End date

January 2004 (Ongoing)

Date operational

November 2004

Target Users

Civil society

Target Users Description

Citizens for Apeldoorn, Helmond and Tilburg. Although these three Dutch cities have a total population of 442,000 inhabitants, people from elsewhere in the Netherlands and even from many European countries are visiting these virtual worlds.

Scope

Local (city or municipality) | Regional (sub-national)

Status

Operation

Language(s)

Dutch | English

Policy Context and Legal Framework

The Dutch government takes a strong position on the application of ICT, the proliferation of (broadband) internet and the development of eGovernment. This stimulated the Virtual Cities to initiate activities in these fields.

Project Size and Implementation

Type of initiative

Participation

Overall Implementation approach

Partnerships between administration and/or private sector and/or non-profit sector

Technology choice

Mainly (or only) open standards

Funding source

Project size

Implementation: €500-999,000

Yearly cost:

€1-49,000

Implementation and Management Approach

The first city, Helmond, (www.virtueelhelmond.nl/en) started communicating via a virtual world as part of a major city centre reconstruction project, directly affecting about 8,000 people. Later on, the application was used for polling the preference for construction of playgrounds for children and to discuss the reconstruction of the cityâ€™s marketplace. The city of Apeldoorn (www.virtueelapeldoorn.nl) started using virtual worlds for the same purposes: to elaborate reconstruction plans of a certain neighbourhood and to develop the Caterplein, the local centre for youngsters. The city of Tilburg (www.virtueeltilburg.nl) strives at a frontline position in the utilisation of ICT in optimising services rendered to their citizens. After Helmond and Apeldoorn, they decided to develop VirtuoCity as a standard infrastructure for communicating reconstruction projects with the inhabitants.

Technology solution

The virtual cities are build on the VirtuoCity technology developed by Cebra for massive distribution of virtual worlds over the Internet to relatively modest client computers and a small plug-in. It makes use of the broadband communication possibilities of todayâ€™s Internet (via ADSL or cable), by concentrating the computing intensive processes on a central server and by distributing only the parts of the virtual world that are of interest for the local user. Additions made for one, are rapidly transferred for the other virtual cities. The virtual city concept can be distributed internationally rather easy. The 3D models are constructed with standard software and brought to live with the VirtuoCity platform.

Impact, innovation and results

Impact

People are provided with excellent information and insight in city reconstruction plans, on a 24/7 basis. They are able to evaluate the past (panorama views) with the present (webcam) and the future (plans). People are provided with the possibility to give their feed back in a well-structured way, and in some cases to vote for certain alternatives. While navigating through the world, citizens and stakeholders are able to exchange their views. This is truly an innovative way to support the participation of citizens in decision making processes. The Virtual Cities remain and are used for various other applications. Virtual Apeldoorn was recently used to explain and discuss planned changes in a small area of the city. Normally those meeting suffer an atmosphere of resentment. Many people have problems with understanding a spatial design from a paper or vocal explanation. In this case the attendees reacted positive. They felt better informed and taken seriously. They appreciated the possibility to visit the virtual plans from their home and give additional feedback. In conclusion: many more inhabitants are being informed much better, felt taken seriously, and use the option to respond in a structured way. Based on the experiences with colleague virtual cities, the board of the city of Tilburg took the important political decision to allow the inhabitants to vote for one of three selected alternatives for a new design of the central marketplace (â€œHeuvelâ€). The city council decided to execute the design that received the majority of all votes. Within 3 weeks about 14,500 visitors looked at the alternative designs, took part in a very interesting chat discussion and/or gave their response in the forum. Alternative C received most of the votes. The reconstruction of this alternative is currently under preparation. The cooperation of the Virtual Cities forms a strong basis for further development and innovation. Based on the experiences and on the data from citizens documented by the systems, a roadmap for further research and development is regularly being updated. Interesting functionalities such as the voice-chat option is currently being developed, and the usage of DigiD for identification purposes in the online voting processes is under preparation. Another interesting application is time travelling for educational purposes (showing the evolution of a certain area as function of time).

Lessons learnt

Lesson 1 - Inhabitants respond very positive to the Virtual City approach. They feel better informed about spatial plans and taken more seriously. They take the opportunity to respond and to discuss the subject with other visitors of the virtual city. Lesson 2 - This kind of technology and functionality needs to be implemented as a normal municipal infrastructure. Lesson 3 - Coming up with excellent ideas is important. Being able, in one way or the other, to implement new ideas,represents the real challenge. The quality of the cityâ€™s administration determines whether decisions can be reached within months instead of years. Lesson 4 - This tool for interaction and communication offers various new possibilities. Much has to be learnt about how and when this tool can be applied in an optimal way. For achieving sufficient progress, Virtual Cities should be applied proactively, in a creative and flexible way. Many experiments may be expected from the Virtual Cities.