My Virtual Decatur: city announces competition for virtual world builders

Decatur, GA opens the competition for virtual worlds builders to recreate its city in cyberspace
My Virtual Decatur: city announces competition for virtual world builders
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The city of Decatur in the US state of Georgia has opened up their call for developers to create a virtual city, titled Virtual Decatur, in a massively multiplayer online environment. Potential winners of the competition will have creative liberties to the extent that any activity supported in the online version must be "considered acceptable in the actual environment of Downtown Decatur" and is aligned with their mission for the project (pdf):

The City of Decatur wishes to harness new and innovative technology that highlights the city as a progressive, creative, and vibrant community to people around the world.

The City seeks to use Virtual Decatur to create opportunities for 'community networking', civic engagement and economic development. Similar to other social networking tools, Virtual Decatur will provide an environment in which residents, businesses, institutions and visitors can interact and connect around a common interest: the City of Decatur. However, it is it is imperative that the project go beyond the features of traditional MMOs.

The overarching purpose of this project is to allow users to interact with the City in new and innovative ways that are not possible in the real world. It is envisioned that the real world experience may be enhanced through participation in Virtual Decatur.

Decatur is a bit Hay-on-Wye (it hosts the largest independent book festival in the country), and a bit Oktoberfest (check out the annual Decatur Beer Tasting Festival). It's also a little bit Beach Blanket Bingo. More information is here.

This isn't the first time a city has been replicated in a virtual world. During the Second Life boom, several cities were recreated in that virtual environment (Dublin, Amsterdam, Berlin). Additionally, it has been used for civic outreach; several governments opened up 'virtual embassies' and University of of Southern California's Annenberg Centre for Public Diplomacy set up shop.

Deadline for submission of applications for Virtual Decatur is 13 February.

Originally published in the Guardian, to view article click here.