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Mountain Research and Development

Published by: International Mountain Society

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Mountain Research and Development 28(2):122-127. 2008
doi: 10.1659/mrd.0965

Virtual Worlds—Real Decisions: Model- and Visualization-based Tools for Landscape Planning in Switzerland

Ariane Walz, Christian Gloor, Peter Bebi, Andreas Fischlin, Eckart Lange, Kai Nagel, and Britta Allgöwer

Ariane Walz, Peter Bebi

WSL–Swiss Federal Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, Flüelastrasse 11, 7260 Davos, Switzerland. walz@slf.ch; bebi@slf.ch

Ariane Walz is a geographer who did her doctoral research on land use change modeling within an integrated approach to regional development, within the NRP48 project ALPSCAPE.

Peter Bebi is an environmental scientist with a special focus on mountain forests and interdisciplinary research (director of ALPSCAPE).

Britta Allgöwer, Christian Gloor

Geography Department, GIS Division, University of Zurich, Winterthurer Strasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland. britta@geo.unizh.ch; chgloor@geo.unizh.ch

Britta Allgöwer is a senior research scientist with a special focus on nature conservation, GIS, and disturbance dynamics research (director of IPODLAS).

Christian Gloor is a computer scientist who did his doctoral research within the ALPSIM project on distributed intelligence in Multi-Agent Systems.

Andreas Fischlin

Terrestrial Systems Ecology, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETHZ), 8092 Zurich, Switzerland. andreas.fischlin@env.ethz.ch

Andreas Fischlin is a biologist with a strong focus on ecosystem and climate change modeling (co-director of IPODLAS). He was “Coordinating Lead Author” of the second book of the 4th United Nations Climate Report, produced by the IPCC, which won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize award together with Al Gore.

Eckart Lange

Department of Landscape, University of Sheffield, Floor 3, Arts Tower, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN, United Kingdom. e.lange@sheffield.ac.uk

Eckart Lange is a landscape planner with a strong focus on visualization and participation for environmental decision-making (co-director of ALPSIM).

Kai Nagel

Department of Mechanical and Transport Engineering, TU Berlin, D-10587 Berlin, Germany. nagel@vsp.tu-berlin.de

Kai Nagel is a physicist and computer scientist with considerable expertise in complex systems modeling (co-director of ALPSIM).

Abstract

Prominent construction projects in Switzerland, such as the Sawiris luxury resort in Andermatt planned by Orascom Hotels & Development, Cairo (Egypt), or the idea of a hotel and apartment tower at Schatzalp, Davos, demonstrate how rapidly Alpine landscapes may undergo major changes. Decisions on whether or not such changes are supported by policymakers should be based on the best information available and in agreement with the local population to ensure long-term sustainable development. The present article investigates the potential and limitations of computer-based tools to support such decisions in the area of landscape planning, with a particular focus on Alpine landscapes.