Planning in Second Life

Planners in Acton, Massachusetts used Second Life as a pr and outreach tool to engage citizens in planning a key commercial area.

1 minute read

June 22, 2010, 5:00 AM PDT

By Tim Halbur


Local planners worked with Justin Hollander of Tufts University and Ann Sussman of openNeighborhood to organize and create the Second Life planning process.

From a final report prepared by Tufts on the project:

"The [Second Life] model allowed users to explore the existing conditions of Kelley's Corner and fly over the neighborhood, while at the same time interacting with other Acton citizens who may also be logged onto the site simultaneously. After exploring the virtual model, users were invited to visit the Village Design Center, a futuristic looking structure placed at the edge of the neighborhood by the OpenNeighborhood team."

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