FREESTYLE DYSTOPIA
An online urban planning laboratory

An urban plan is a utopian construct. On the other hand, the real urban dystopias are obscure, stimulating and alluring... And this is even more true in virtual space than in reality - the dystopian spaces of digital obsessions flourish.

This project argues that urban planners cannot plan good cities without the experience of planning a bad one.

FREESTYLE DYSTOPIA is a vehicle for exploring the undesirable, exercising the ego and emancipating fixations about the city. Set in Kashiwa, a city 30km north-west of Tokyo in the year 2052, FREESTYLE DYSTOPIA is a virtual city where players pose as 'developers' or 'citizens' of Kashiwa city, and create, debate, conflict and collaborate on the future of the dystopian city.

Game Modifications

Aside of the important breakthroughs that were enabled by early grass-roots collaboration for games, a new genre of online grass-roots collaboration has evolved over the last 10 years. This research focusses specifically on computer game hacking and modification, which is a questionable motivation for online collaboration, but attracts a much larger range of collaborators who exhibit design creativity, ability for self-learning, and motivation to informally collaborate online.

Game hacking (or the creation of game modifications known as MODs) grew from a grass-roots initiative whereby the codes for multi-user dungeon games were released with the game to allow users to freely modify parts to enhance the original game experience. This resulted in the spontaneous formation of online grass-roots teams to not only modify, but also entirely recreate games - but with no obvious motivation, other than to enjoy the MOD once it was created. Similarly online forums for exchanging advice and code, as well as searching for team members also emerged. At the same time, game makers started to include increasingly user-friendly game-modifier kits in the game package. All these factors worked towards creating a genre of informal yet successful environments for online collaboration that support intrinsic learning in the visual and spatial arenas of computing.

Motivation

Motivation is an essential part of the collaboration process. An understanding of the motivations for collaboration of the MOD creators, rather than an analysis of design content, is beneficial to understanding the success of such informal online collaboration environments.

What motivates game modifiers? Two basic forces for motivation seem to exist, i) the desire to create and experience the creation for oneself and, ii) the desire to immerse oneself into a fantasy environment. The first is an example of constructivist learning, whereby knowledge is physically constructed by active learning, a self-rewarding process motivating further learning. Most grass-roots, collaborative developments of computing technology can be attributed to constructivist learning. The second, also taking on new dimensions in the computing era, is a reason for motivation that is not usually associated with motivation to learn, individually or collaboratively. However immersion - into a contsructed world - is an integral factor in motivation for this case study that cannot be separated from the motivation to create.

Doom & Dystopias

Fantasy immersion in computer games has taken on many forms, from ancient wizardry, space explorations to martial art deathmatches. However the type of fantasy immersion that is inherently linked with the MOD genre of online collaboration is that which was first characterised by the game Doom - relentless destruction of enemies in a maze of dungeons. Other such themes run thick in the examples of MODs that can be found on the web. The titles alone make use of key words such as aliens, heart of evil, Vietnam war, cold-blooded bounty-hunter, assassination, unknown menace, drug dealing, cops and robbers, deathmatch, adrenaline, weapons, all-incinerating nuclear device, soul reaper, gladiator and so forth.

FREESTYLE DYSTOPIA

The FREESTYLE DYSTOPIA project proposes combining both constructivism and dystopian immersion in an online urban design collaboration project for international students. The project sets the tone for an unlikely collaboration project whereby participants are encouraged to 'explore the undesirable, exercise the ego and emancipating fixations about the city'. The project argues that perfect cities are boring but on the other hand, urban dystopias are obscure, stimulating and alluring. Urbanists are urged to expolit their online anonymity and take 'satisfaction in planning a dystopian city'.

To enter FREESTYLE DYSTOPIA a participant creates an avatar, chooses whether they will be a Developer (dystopia-ist) or Citizen (utopia-ist), and answer some questions about their avatar. The system of collaboration itself is simple: the development plans made by the participants posing as developers, are voted upon and built into a VRML model of Kashiwa city. As developers can assure their own success by voting anonymously for themselves, there is little meaning placed on the word 'vote'. Rather it is a time-delay device.

Kashiwa city, 30km from Tokyo, is the setting for the project. In the year 2052 the dramatic decrease in Japan's population has left the suburbs to the free will of the space-fillers. A new law for 'freestyle construction' enables new opportunities for Tokyo city center, but in suburbs such as Kashiwa, previous urban centers become vulnerable to Vegas-style space revolution - pachinko parlors, parking, secondhand car traders, enormous billboards, streetside container storage etc. In light of these developments as the law of freestyle construction participants are given the choice to 'direct the future of Kashiwa city' as Developers (pro-Freestylism) or Citizens (anti-Freestylism).

Discussion

The FREESTYLE DYSTOPIA project combines some aspects of informal online collaboration environments:
- Adventure game-style introduction to the setting and
- Avatar building to promote anonymity
- Function to create your addition to the space
- Communication with other players via chat
- 3D navigation through dynamic urban space
- Game style interface

However the project does not aim to be 'open source' in this version, but rather combines the constructivist and experiential elements in one interface. In order to create a building, Developers select various parameters and add a written description of the function and intention of the proposal. Only Developers have the privilege to build. Initally an open code project was intended, however upon consideration of the lack of programming know-how of the participants, it was decided to place more control on the constructive part of the process, and hence allow for a more unified and engaging visual experience.

Participants to date number 48, and 9 projects have been built. Participants are of varying nationalities, a large proportion not living in Japan. The invitation to participate was sent out to architecture and urban planning student networks around the world. There is no time schedule or limit on the project, and new participants who happen upon the project join up at any time. Of the 31 Developers (whose role is to put 'Dystopian Kashiwa' into effect), one quarter state utopian intentions in their self-introductions, and an even larger proportion simply have humorous intentions for Kashiwa city. Only 5 Developers truly take on the role of the tyrannical developer and state plans to degrade the city for their own benefit. Fantasization is therefore the free choice to create one's fantasy environment, rather than necessarily a dystopian one.

Of the 9 projects 'built' by Developers, 5 display dystopian concepts in line with the project concept, but the others are not given any function or meaning. For examples of simple dystopian concepts: 'monkey house' where no humans are allowed, 'Astridian Pachinko House' for hardcore pachinkoites and the 'PAZ Zone'.

'PAZ is a Permanent Autonomous Zone, where no regulations are enforced. It is living space for artists and spookies, a refuge for nomads and wanderers. Residents make a living through cultural activities such as: parties, food, bed&breakfast, music production, drug dealing, tattoo drawings, taro reading, craft, and urban planning consulting. All revenue are totally informal and undeclared. The police has the right to enter only if invited by residents or visitors, and only in case of physical violence. The garden is a tropical roof with exotic animals.'

The PAZ is a utopian dystopia where this player attempts to create a rebellious yet conformative space. In other words, the concept of dystopian is taken not as a negative meaning, but rather as an optional way of living as opposed to the utopian or conventional way.

Collaboration in the final realization of this online project holds a very lightweight meaning; the creation of similarly motivated buildings in accordance to a common dystopian vision for Kashiwa city. In no case was there any evidence that participants worked together, even asynchronously, to create a tactic for play. This can be largely attributed to the simple design of the system whereby asynchronous communication was not supported at all. Only by viewing other Developer's proposals, could new players take influence for their decisions.