Water Neutral City
Game-Based Digital Participatory Planning using Large Language Models
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02.2024 - 01.2025
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Group: Guanhong Li, Siyuan Chen, Zishan Sheng
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Tutor: Eduardo-Rico Carranza
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Technical Tutor: Sheng-Yang Huang, Daniel Kiss
Abstract
The water environment in England, particularly in the southeast, faces increasing pressure due to population growth, climate change, and industrialization, leading to water scarcity and pollution. This study focuses on the Arun and Western Streams Catchment and Chichester Harbour, areas of significant ecological importance, to address these challenges. The research identifies key factors contributing to water pollution and shortages, including agricultural runoff, climate variability, and urban development. Drawing on the UK government’s 25-Year Environment Plan, the study explores policy frameworks for water management, emphasizing water neutrality and nutrient neutrality as critical strategies to mitigate environmental degradation.
Chichester Harbour, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), is particularly vulnerable to nutrient pollution and drought, threatening its biodiversity and ecological balance. To address these issues, the study proposes innovative public engagement strategies, including game-based learning, to enhance community participation in water conservation efforts. By integrating principles of game design, such as the Player Experience of Need Satisfaction (PENS) Model, the research aims to foster awareness, resilience, and proactive behavior among residents.
The study evaluated two gaming formats: a physical board game paired with a chatbot capable of Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) for accessing related policy documents, and a video game with an integrated chatbot lacking RAG functionality. Player interactions revealed distinct patterns: the physical board game, being more accessible, prompted more questions related to Chichester and its environmental issues. In contrast, the video game, which was more challenging, led players to focus on game rules and strategies tied to winning. Analysis of logged player behavior in the video game showed improved decision-making accuracy over successive rounds, indicating effective learning. Meanwhile, in the physical game, despite its simplicity, players engaged more deeply with the chatbot, prioritizing exploration and conversation over winning or losing, which facilitated a different but equally valuable learning experience.
Chichester
Chichester is in South of England, devided by the South Down National Parks.
Beneath Chichester lies many Chalk Acquifers that are at least 65 million years old. The microscopic image of Chalk shows the tiny shell fragments of algae which make up most of the rock. The porosity is about 45%.
Complex Water Governance
Water governance in Chichester is complex: two companies manage water supply (Portsmouth and Southern water company), while Southern Water handles all wastewater.
Pollution in Harbour Water Body
The Chichester Harbour, designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), faces significant pressures. Surrounding developments, including ongoing and proposed housing projects, are polluting local water sources. Runoff from the A27 highway, with its high chemical concentration, exacerbates the problem, while the road itself limits Chichester’s urban growth.
Combined Sewage Overflows (CSOs) significantly pollute the harbour. EA’s Event Duration Data reveals that Chichester’s Lavant Waste Water Treatment Work recorded over 6,000 hours of illegal sewage discharge in a year—nearly 70% of the year’s 8,760 hours. While the exact volume leaked is unknown, the duration alone is alarming.
Population and farmland distribution further complicate the issue. Farmlands feed urban areas, but nutrients rarely circulate back. Heavy rains overwhelm the system, turning the AONB into a polluted floodplain. Chichester harbour AONB is facing risk of downgrading due to low water quality, costal squeeze, and biodiversity loss. Locals have responded by nurturing oyster farms to absorb excess nitrogen and repurpose them as fertilizer. Currently, Six coupelles have been deployed to 2 locations – south of Stakes Island and to the west of the Emsworth channel.
Oysters primarily feed on nitrogen, we used EA's water quality data to see where in the harbour has the highest concentration in Phosphorous and Nitrogen. And we can see that one of the oyster coupelles are placed at high nitrogen area, and another is not due to other consideration of water movement.
Water Scarcity in the North
Arun Valley is one of the most important habitat in West Sussex. It is outside of Chichester's municipal boundary, however, using EA's water wells data to calculate abstraction intensity reveals that intensive abstraction upstream of Arun Valley is the major cause of wetland being dried.
Where does all the water go? According to West Sussex’s Water Management Plan 2027, abstracted water is sent to populated areas in the south and East Sussex. Southern Water, managing supply in northern Chichester, even borrows water from Portsmouth Water. While there may be some back-and-forth between northern and coastal areas, one thing is clear: the water input and output are severely imbalanced.
Flood in Low Areas
According to West Sussex’s Local Flood Risk, the coastal area faces high flood risk due to a combination of factors: extensive impervious surfaces, water pumped in to meet population demands, and seasonal tides.
Additionally, this region includes some of the country’s most productive farmland, making flooding a direct threat to agricultural yields.
Summary of Chichester's Water Situation
The complexity is not only in the governance right, but also in different water-related problems such as water scarcity, flooding and water pollution. To address these complex issues holistically and effectively, we use closely related water catchment as our final study area.
Game Demo
Coming soon on itch.io, github.io, and STEAM.
Link
Coming soon on issue.com.