[game_edu] game for urban planning in Boston

[Eric Gordon]

I thought there might be some people on this list interested in a project we're completing in the Boston area.  




Amanda Linehan

Communications Manager

Metropolitan Area Planning Council

617-451-2770 ext. 2030

alinehan at mapc.org

 

 




For Immediate Release: Wednesday, April 28, 2010

 

URBAN PLANNING: THE VIDEO GAME

Chinatown residents play 'Participatory Chinatown' game as part of revamped community planning process

 

BOSTON, MA — Can virtual reality help neighborhoods plan for their future?

 

Three local groups think so – and they’ve developed a video game that will let residents of Chinatown experience real-time changes to their neighborhood, by navigating a virtual environment.

 

In an effort to redefine the community planning process and better engage youth in local planning meetings, the Asian Community Development Corporation (ACDC), Emerson College’s New Media program, and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) have partnered to create Participatory Chinatown, a fully-immersive, 3D game that puts residents in the driver’s seat as they shape the future of their neighborhood.

 

The game will be unveiled at a community meeting at the Old Josiah Quincy School, 90 Tyler Street in Chinatown, on Monday, May 3 at 6 p.m.

 

In Participatory Chinatown, community members complete “quests” as one of the game's virtual residents, allowing them to walk the neighborhood streets in someone else's shoes. There’s Hong, a recent immigrant seeking an apartment for his family; and Karen, a fourth-grade student searching the neighborhood for after-school activities. No matter which avatar they choose, game users will experience the multifaceted identities of Chinatown residents.

 

“We designed this game to attract youth, recent immigrants, and young professionals — those community members who are noticeably missing from most community planning meetings,” said Janelle Chan, Interim Executive Director of the Asian Community Development Corporation in Chinatown. “Participatory Chinatown recognizes the important role that young people often play as translators for their immigrant parents and other community members, and it also encourages them to actively express their own views during planning processes.”

 

Game-based meetings will use a combination of physical deliberation, virtual interaction, and Web-based input to provide residents with an entryway into serious community decision-making. The results of these meetings will feed into the Chinatown “master planning” process.

 

 

To help lower cultural and language barriers, local youth will serve as informal interpreters and technology assistants. The game is bilingual, available in both English and Chinese.

 

“By getting people out from behind their own concerns, if only for a few minutes, we hope to create the kind of empathy and civic mindedness that is ideal for providing valuable input into a planning process—and also for developing trust among stakeholders,” said Eric Gordon, Co-Principal Investigator and assistant professor of new media at Emerson College.

 

“The emphasis isn’t just on the computer simulation, but on the process and the deliberation that happens in between gaming sessions,” said Holly St. Clair, Director of Data Services for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC). “Our hope is that when people have a collective experience through the video game, and then talk about it, they’ll gain a better understanding of the complexitites of Chinatown, and then they can plan together for the future of their area.”

 

Participatory Chinatown runs on the Sandstone game engine, created by software developer and project partner Muzzy Lane Software. The project is funded by a grant from the MacArthur Foundation's Digital Media and Learning Competition.

 

To learn more, visit participatorychinatown.org.

 

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The Asian Community Development Corporation (ACDC), a 22-year old community-based organization, serves the Asian American community of Greater Boston, with an emphasis on preserving and revitalizing Boston’s Chinatown. ACDC develops physical community assets, including affordable housing for rental and ownership; promotes economic development; fosters youth leadership development; builds capacity within the community and advocates on behalf of the community. For more information, visit www.asiancdc.org.

 

Emerson College is the only comprehensive college or university in America dedicated exclusively to communication and the arts in a liberal arts context. It is internationally recognized for excellence in its fields of specialization, which are communication, marketing, communication sciences and disorders, journalism, the performing arts, the visual and media arts, and writing literature and publishing. For more information, visit www.hub2.org.

 

The Metropolitan Area Planning Council is a regional planning agency serving the people who live and work in Metropolitan Boston. An independent state agency, MAPC’s mission is to promote smart growth and regional collaboration. MAPC is guided by its regional plan, “MetroFuture,” which engages the public in stewarding the region’s future. For more information, visit www.mapc.org.

 

Muzzy Lane Software is an innovative developer of 3D single and multiplayer games. Based in Newburyport, Mass, the company creates its own branded games and works with partners to produce private-label games based on the company’s Sandstone platform. Sandstone delivers true 3D games in the browser, as a web service, with tight integration between the games and the web. Muzzy Lane provides simple web tools that support the customization of Sandstone games. For more information, visit www.muzzylane.com.


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