Modern hardware and software innovations in the field of virtual reality (VR), such as VR headsets and accessible game engines, allow cartographers to create 3D environments which can be experienced from the ego perspective in real time and with a simulated illusion of physical presence (immersion) in the virtual representation. The new immersive experience of these virtual environments requires new ideas on how to present and orchestrate geographical information for the benefit of planning applications. This paper intends to present examples how VR-based 3D environments use can be enriched (based on the game engine Unreal Engine 4) to support the district development of a restructured post-industrial area. A VR model of a representative former industrial area in the German Ruhr district which was revitalized and part of a large urban transformation programme (IBA Emscher Park), serves an example. Today, the area of "Zeche Holland" in Bochum-Wattenscheid is characterized by a mix of residential and commercial uses. The area is used as a leisure route for locals and tourists, with an old winding tower as an important urban landmark in its centre. VR techniques allow to transport additional spatial information which cannot be experienced when visiting the real physical area. This paper addresses the potential of immersive VR environments representing a multifaceted and redeveloped area for planning and related usage scenarios. It shows how peculiarities of game engine-based VR can help to extend the immersive (3D) experience of geographic information.

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On the basis of Karl Popper’s Three Worlds Theory, a theoretical approach to landscape can be derived, which includes the physical foundations of landscape (Landscape 1), the individual construction and emotions drawn from and placed upon landscape (Landscape 2), and social conventions regarding landscape (Landscape 3). These three landscape dimensions are connected via Landscape 2, which also provides an approach for the systematic investigation of the relations between the dimensions. Ralf Dahrendorf’s conflict theory in turn serves as a theoretical framework for when the different connections develop in a conflictual way and how these can be regulated. Dahrendorf sees a principled productivity of conflicts, providing they are settled fairly. On the basis of the conditions he has developed for just such a conflict settlement, the implementation of the energy system transformation is examined against the background of its consequences for the landscape, with the result that essential conditions for an orderly settlement of conflicts are not fulfilled, thereby contributing to the polarization of society.

Since the mid-1990s, sound has been discussed and used in multimedia cartography. There are four main variants of auditory map elements that have been established in the theory and practice of audiovisual cartography, i.e. abstract sounds/abstract sound sequences, speech, music and, especially, audiorealistic sequences representing so-called "soundscapes". In cartography, soundscapes are often addressed in large-scale representations. The term originates in multidisciplinary landscape research. Empirical findings of landscape research, and especially those of social constructivist landscape research, have shown the relevance of non-visual stimuli for people's individual impressions and meanings of the experienced landscape. Amongst the non-visual landscape dimensions, the auditory dimension is the most prominent one. As 3D cartography offers new methods and techniques of designing and experiencing highly realistic, incl. photo-and audiorealistic landscape representation, this discipline becomes more and more interesting for simulating and presenting multisensory landscapes and for presenting the results of empirical findings in landscape research. After an introduction to traditional means of audiovisual cartography and the relevance of auditory stimuli for social constructivist approaches of landscape research, a modern software-based method is presented which highlights the opportunity to imbed 3D sound data representing a location's soundscape into audiovisual 3D environments in Virtual Reality (VR). It is technically based on the cross-platform game engine Unity3D. ZusammenfassungAudiovisuelle Kartographie: Etablierte und neue Methoden zur Repräsentation von Klanglandschaften Seit Mitte der 1990er Jahren wird die akustische Dimension in der Multimediakartographie diskutiert und eingesetzt. Seither haben sich hauptsächlich vier Ausprägungen durchgesetzt, die als akustische Kartenelemente verwendet werden: abstrakte Töne und Tonfolgen, Sprache, Musik und audiorealistische Sequenzen zur Darstellung so genannter soundscapes (dt. "Klanglandschaften"). In der Kartographie beziehen sich Darstellungen von Klanglandschaften häufig auf großmaßstäbige Raumausschnitte. Der Begriff entstammt der multidisziplinären Landschaftsforschung. Empirische Erkenntnisse der Landschaftsforschung, insbesondere der sozialkonstruktivistischen Landschaftsforschung verdeutlichen, dass nicht-visuelle Reize der Landschaft die individuelle Interpretation der erfahrenen Landschaft maßgeblich beeinflussen. Unter den nichtvisuellen Landschaftsdimensionen gilt die akustische Dimension als bedeutendste. Aktuelle Entwicklungen zu Methoden und Techniken der 3D-Kartographie bieten Möglichkeiten zur hochrealistischen Gestaltung und Erfahrung audio-visueller 3D-Landschaften. Dies kann die Landschaftsforschung durch moderne multisensorische Darstellungsformen sowie Ergebnispräsentationen unterstützen. Dieses Paper führt ein in traditionelle Darstellungsvarianten der audiovisuellen Kartographie und diskutiert die Bedeutung der Klanglandschaften für die ...

Especially since the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe (2011), Germany has expanded its renewably sourced energies. Nuclear power is to be phased out by 2022. What is central to federal policy is the expansion of wind-generated energy. Plans for new wind farms have, however, faced opposition. And the transportation of electricity from the windy north to the high-use south entails an expansion of the existing power grid, which also provokes conflict. The article scrutinises dominant patterns of discourse on these issues. Based on current discourse theory, the research sheds light on the argumentative power of citizens’ initiatives with respect to nature conservation, landscape, health and economics.