Wellington project puts climate change into the video game world with $1m award
Standing in their backyards, workplaces and schools, Wellingtonians will see the future rising seas inundate their city, within a digital twin of the capital. The project, led by Wellington City Council, has picked up a US$1 million (NZ$1.5m) prize in the Global Mayors Challenge. This cash will support the development of the video game-like version of the capital. From a screen, users will be able to travel back to the citys past and into the future, modelled on the latest scientific projections. Theyll be able to see what protections against the rising tides from sea walls to mangroves will look like, cost and how long theyll last. The council hopes the tool will simplify a challenging, yet critical topic and boost citizen engagement. READ MORE: * New interactive map launched for Wellingtonians to report where they don't feel safe * Wellington, Auckland named as finalists in global innovation competition * Sea level mapping tool reveals effects of climate change on Wellington region Many of the impacts of climate change take decades or centuries to take effect, so future generations will be hit by sea level rise, heavier rainfall and more violent storms even if the world makes drastic cuts to emissions today. Much of the work helping residents to adapt to these effects will be overseen by councils. This job will be particularly problematic in cities including Wellington where billions of dollars of buildings, facilities and housing is exposed. The decisions on how long to protect vulnerable areas and when to retreat will significantly affect residents lives and livelihoods. Despite this, councils struggle to get citizens engaged enough to provide input. But a hyper-realistic world could bring the scientific projections to life, said Wellington City Council's Julia Hamilton. It enables people to really feel a connection with what theyre seeing. The council had already planned to build a digital twin of Wellington before entering the competition. The tool will be used beyond climate adaptation to present transport and urban design proposals, for example. After being selected as a finalist, the council received US$50,000 (NZ$74,000) to develop the climate applications. The concept was presented to community groups and mana whenua for feedback the latter suggested that rather simply being a tool representing the present day and the future, the model of the city could also recreate the past. The tool is still a prototype. A model of todays city has been created out of height data, aerial imagery and 3D building models. Over the next year, the team will add historic data, temperature projections plus sea level rise and storm surge modelling into the tool, which is expected to be launched in mid-2023. The gamified city will be available whenever residents want, Hamilton said. It means youll be able to spend time at home exploring it. You can do it on your phone, she added. You might look at using augmented reality, so people can go down to their area, put up their phone and see the potential application. Eventually, sections of the digital city might be used to when consulting a particular community. For example, the Island Bay community could use it to visualise and compare protective features such as sea walls, rock walls, mangroves or dunes, based on engineering work conducted by the council. Residents could mark out areas important to them, register their preferred option or provide data within the tool. The tool will have the look of a video game city, but there are no plans for users to create an avatar, or be able to interact with characters. The Global Mayors Challenge is run by the philanthropic organisation of billionaire and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg. The competition aims to promote problem-solving ideas from cities that can be shared and replicated. Fifty finalists including Auckland for this years round were announced last year. From this shortlist, 15 cities were awarded the grand prize, based on the proposed projects novelty, feasibility, impact and transferability. Bloomberg Philanthropies prize programme manager Michael Odermatt said the idea was an innovative solution for a very common problem for councils. The climate crisis is something that touches residents almost universally around the world. The digital city is being built using open-source software programme Unreal Engine, so other cities, citizens, iwi and businesses could understand the development or use it for themselves.