Tufts' Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning (UEP) has partnered with the town of Acton, Mass. to develop a new way to involve residents in the planning of their town.
The OpenNeighborhood Project allows the municipality's citizens to take an active role in envisioning the redevelopment of Kelley's Corner, the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Main Street. It features an online computer simulation that enables residents to log in and create their own vision for the construction.
The project uses the popular video game Second Life to allow users to create their own 3D model of the intersection, including virtual sidewalks, trees and other structures.
Second Life is an online virtual world that allows for open-ended game play. Users design and construct buildings and characters, moving freely about the world and interacting with other users.
Assistant Professor of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning Justin Hollander said the project is about improving communication between those who plan cities and those who live in those areas.
"We feel like the conventional way that local government interacts with citizens is not fair; it's not just," Hollander said. "We want to create public participation that provides for higher numbers involved and higher quality of involvement."
In taking this novel approach, Hollander's project is breaking new ground.
"As far as we know, a project like this has never been done before. This is the first experiment," said project manager Amanda Garfield, a UEP graduate student. "We're trying to learn how we can improve the planning projects to include the community."
The goal is to take all of the plans created by residents and use them as feedback on the final plan which will be unveiled in January, according to Garfield.
"Hopefully, at the end, we will have a bunch of different visions and plans for what the neighborhood could look like from residents," Garfield said. "The Acton town-planning department is going to take those plans into account when they do the master-plan for the project over the next few years."
The project dates back to 2006, when Hollander began using Second Life in his urban planning classes to teach students basic planning techniques.
"Once I began using it [to teach], I realized that there was a tremendous application for it," Hollander said.
Encouraged by those early experiences with Second Life, Hollander used it again, this time when his class partnered with planners to develop the Forest Hills T station. Hollander's colleagues at Harvard University and Emerson College began to experiment with Second Life themselves.
Up until now, though, Second Life's use remained confined to a small number of urban planners. The Acton project represents the first large-scale involvement of residents, Garfield said.
After Acton received a grant for the Kelley's Corner project, Acton outreach coordinator Ann Sussman contacted Hollander.
"Ann found Justin Hollander's research and contacted us to see if Tufts was interested in getting involved," said Garfield. "She was instrumental in bringing this project together."
Assistant Town Planner for Acton Kristin Alexander said Kelley's Corner was chosen for the redevelopment due to its prominent nature. "It is probably the most well-known section of Acton," Alexander told the Daily. "The citizens definitely have the strongest feelings about that part of Acton."
The online project opened to Acton residents on Oct. 27, slightly later than expected due to technical difficulties. It will remain open until Nov. 21.
Weekly public meetings run by Tufts student volunteers are designed to help Acton residents learn how to use the program.
"We'll be helping residents learn about these tools and how to use them," Hollander said. The first of these meetings took place on Nov. 2.
Hollander said he is unsure but optimistic about the residents' level of interest in the project, and that he hopes participation will increase as more people become acquainted with the project.
"It's been a dribble of a few people trying out the software, and then hopefully after we introduce it to people more formally, it will take off," Hollander said.
Alexander has noticed interest but is unsure if that will translate to people using the program.
"I've received a lot of questions about the project," Alexander said. "I see that as a positive. I don't know how many people tried it yet, but at least more people are asking questions."
Hollander said that given the OpenNeighborhood Project's experimental nature, it's hard to predict how many residents will participate.
"We would love to see hundreds of people from Acton, people that have never been involved, come out and have a really positive experience, but we are realistic and this method of involvement is really novel," Hollander said.
