10 Serious Games in Sustainable Land Management
201
municipalities also experience different effects. Regional centres will face an overheating housing market, as increasing energy prices create additional demand along
with the noticeable trend of reurbanisation. One consequence of this development
will be that existing mass transport infrastructure will experience increased demand
along the main axes and at the main connecting nodes.
At the other end of the scale, rural areas will struggle to compensate for their car
dependency by using various strategies to offer other benefits. Developing additional
independent structures for energy production or even attracting more jobs are some
of the measures municipalities are looking for, depending on their own requirements
and capacities.
The effects of increasing energy prices simulated for distances travelled in eLAN
show that while the City of Hamburg will experience an increase in traffic, the average
distance travelled per day and per person in rural and low-income municipalities
will drop by approximately 20 km in comparison to 2010. This sharp reduction in
distances travelled affects whole regions, such as Harburg, Storman and Segeberg.
Interestingly, inhabitants of some municipalities (mostly in the east) would be less
affected or would even drive more than in the reference year. This would occur due
to a lack of employment, because high energy prices (among other factors) help
to contribute to turning part-time or small-income jobs unprofitable, if commuting
costs consume a large fraction of that income. Coupled with the relatively low overall
income levels in these areas already, these effects would deepen social inequities in
the region.
The results indicate that it is not possible for all municipalities to compensate
for the effects of rising energy prices in full. Moreover, some effects might cause
already existing trends (demographic change, migration trends, etc.) to increase or
to progress at a faster pace.
10.10 Future Options for Using New Modes of Integration
The participants agreed that the biggest value of the project came from the opportunity
to discuss the effects of rising energy costs and possible responses in an unusual
setting and with an unprecedented combination of decision-makers. They stated that
the views from all regional classifications and different federal bodies enabled them to
investigate the problem from multiple angles, and that they rarely had the opportunity
to meet in such constellations in their professional setting or field of responsibility.
They also considered the presentation of their strategies incorporated into a model
to be valuable, because it allowed them to gain an overview of possible developments
and effects of policies, even when there was no numeric output to quantify the effects
of individual policies or measures.
The serious game created an interface in which the decision-makers were able
to freely discuss a complex problem with other stakeholders that was not (yet) on
the agenda but deemed very important. The value added by the serious game to the
discussion about new ways for the co-design and co-production of knowledge for
201
municipalities also experience different effects. Regional centres will face an overheating housing market, as increasing energy prices create additional demand along
with the noticeable trend of reurbanisation. One consequence of this development
will be that existing mass transport infrastructure will experience increased demand
along the main axes and at the main connecting nodes.
At the other end of the scale, rural areas will struggle to compensate for their car
dependency by using various strategies to offer other benefits. Developing additional
independent structures for energy production or even attracting more jobs are some
of the measures municipalities are looking for, depending on their own requirements
and capacities.
The effects of increasing energy prices simulated for distances travelled in eLAN
show that while the City of Hamburg will experience an increase in traffic, the average
distance travelled per day and per person in rural and low-income municipalities
will drop by approximately 20 km in comparison to 2010. This sharp reduction in
distances travelled affects whole regions, such as Harburg, Storman and Segeberg.
Interestingly, inhabitants of some municipalities (mostly in the east) would be less
affected or would even drive more than in the reference year. This would occur due
to a lack of employment, because high energy prices (among other factors) help
to contribute to turning part-time or small-income jobs unprofitable, if commuting
costs consume a large fraction of that income. Coupled with the relatively low overall
income levels in these areas already, these effects would deepen social inequities in
the region.
The results indicate that it is not possible for all municipalities to compensate
for the effects of rising energy prices in full. Moreover, some effects might cause
already existing trends (demographic change, migration trends, etc.) to increase or
to progress at a faster pace.
10.10 Future Options for Using New Modes of Integration
The participants agreed that the biggest value of the project came from the opportunity
to discuss the effects of rising energy costs and possible responses in an unusual
setting and with an unprecedented combination of decision-makers. They stated that
the views from all regional classifications and different federal bodies enabled them to
investigate the problem from multiple angles, and that they rarely had the opportunity
to meet in such constellations in their professional setting or field of responsibility.
They also considered the presentation of their strategies incorporated into a model
to be valuable, because it allowed them to gain an overview of possible developments
and effects of policies, even when there was no numeric output to quantify the effects
of individual policies or measures.
The serious game created an interface in which the decision-makers were able
to freely discuss a complex problem with other stakeholders that was not (yet) on
the agenda but deemed very important. The value added by the serious game to the
discussion about new ways for the co-design and co-production of knowledge for