Mega City 2070: Orientation
An overview of the structure of the Mega City experience.
User Guide
Your first visit to Mega City 2070 is a lot like having an unexpected layover in a popular destination. You know there is a lot to see and you’re eager to explore, but you don’t speak the language and you don’t have a map.
Getting started
Here are a few tips to make the most of the experience. First, watch the Orientation video and Navigation tutorial found on the splash screen that appears once you’ve logged in. This will make getting around easier and help you understand how the city is laid out.
Next, close the splash screen and you’ll see an overview of the city that looks something like a topographical map. Here, you can read a narrative of the city’s history. Click on the years in the upper right corner to compare the city’s evolution from 2020 to 2045 to 2070. Select different “lens” views (such as transport, water, or energy) to better understand the city.
From here, you can go deeper into the city’s districts, all the way to a street corner where you’ll experience Mega City at human scale. On your first visit, you might consider heading straight to the Adaptive Corridor street level, where city life has evolved to embrace modular construction, multi-modal autonomous transportation, and other innovations. To get there from the city map, click into the Adaptive Corridor, then select the core sample, and finally enter the Street Level.
You’ll find yourself in an immersive, 3D digital city. Use your mouse to move around among Mega City’s residents. As you explore the neighborhood, note the labels, or “callouts” that pop up to describe unique features. Each callout is clickable, and opens a tab with narrative and technical information, research citations, and in many cases short videos with subject matter experts. Pose a question, share a comment, or contribute research suggestions using the Comment feature.
The Mega City 2070 platform is not a game. There is no beginning, middle, or end. No scores or badges. The goal of Mega City 2070 is to provoke our thinking about future cities, their infrastructure, systems, and people. It grows and evolves as we, the stewards of the built environment, share ideas and resources, challenge one another to innovate, and champion solutions for our society’s most urgent needs. So please visit often, spend some time, and join our community of Future World Visionaries as we shape a better world.
Tutorials
Mega City 2070: Navigation
Understanding different ways to navigate Mega City.
Mega City 2070: Account & Settings
Set up your account, adjust your settings, and get started!
Mega City 2070: Library & Collections
Organize your bookmarks and waypoints into collections.
Mega City 2070: Dashboard & Groups
Understanding how to make your Mega City headquarters work for you.
Mega City 2070: Custom Tours
Order the items in your collection to create a sharable, customized tour.
Mega City 2070: Postcards From the Future
Capture your Mega City 2070 experience and share the excitement of future infrastructure possibilities.
Mega City 2070: Search
Take advantage of Mega City 2070's optimized search functions to explore specific topics and disciplines.
Mega City 2070: Sustainability, Resiliency, & Equity
Learn how building resilient and equitable infrastructure helps optimize resources to sustain a population of 50 million people.
Helpful tips
System requirements
- The Mega City 2070 app requires installation on a Windows or Macintosh computer. Mobile devices are not supported.
- You must be connected to the internet to use this application. Higher speed will of course provide a better experience.
- Recommended device specifications include:
- At least 5 gigabytes of available disk space
- External mouse with a scroll wheel for best control; a touchpad will work as well
- Windows 10 or 11; for Macintosh, Big Sur or Monterey.
- A dedicated graphics card is not required, but will provide the best experience (Nvidia GTX 1060 or AMD Radeon RTX 580 or higher are recommended.)
- Here’s how to check the specifications on your PC or Mac.
- Please Note: The software will automatically adjust quality settings based on your computer’s hardware capabilities. You can make further adjustments in the settings menu to refine and customize your experience.
- Future World Vision: Mega City 2070 is not supported as a Windows Server application.
Downloading / installing the app
Step 1
Download the app here. The file is quite large, so closing other windows may help speed up this process.
Step 2
Click “Install”. The install will start and may take between 5-20 minutes depending on the speed of your computer (the software is approximately 6 gigabytes). By installing the app you are accepting the license agreement; you can click “License Agreement” if you wish to read it.
Step 3
Click either the “Launch FWV Mega City” button in the installer window or the Future World Vision: Mega City icon on your desktop to launch the app.
Step 4
To create an account, enter your name, email address, a password and some basic demographic information. You can also choose to list an organization or university with which you are affiliated.
Step 5
You’re on your way!
Login issues
I have an account already, but I forgot my password.
Click on the “forgot password?” prompt on the login page. An email will be sent to you to reset your password. If you don’t see the email, check your “junk” folder.
Technical issues
What if my computer freezes or isn’t performing well?
This is likely due to the technical capabilities of your computer. This can be remedied by adjusting the settings in the app. Navigate to the upper right menu and select the “Settings” option. When this screen opens, you can make selections that can improve your performance. A brief description and suggestions are visible when you hover over each heading, but an in-depth summary can be viewed in the Accounts and Settings tutorial.
Exploring Mega City 2070:
How do I navigate the city?
First, watch the short “Navigation” tutorial video. The video is also accessible from the first splash screen in the app or from the menu in the upper right under your initials. Select "Tutorials".
What are guided previews?
These are narrated tours presenting highlights of Mega City 2070 by theme. These previews are a good way to get acquainted with the city and decide where you might like to dive deeper.
Why are there two guided preview options (“start tour” and “play video”)?
If you select the “tour” rather than the “video,” you will be able to start and stop as you like, kind of like a city tour bus with multiple on and off choices. Once you’ve explored the area of interest, you can jump back into the tour and continue where you left off. This option is best suited to higher-powered computers (better graphics, better processing speed). If you are operating a computer with lower specs, the video is the best option for you. You will get all the same information, and can explore on your own once the video ends.”
How do I go back to a previous screen in the app? Is there a “back” button?
To go back to a previous level or page in the app, use the breadcrumbs at the upper left of the toolbar. The breadcrumbs indicate your current level in the app. Click on any of the breadcrumbs to return to a previous level. You can also click on the FWV icon to get back to the tours and tutorials splash screen, or navigate to those from the drop down menu in the upper right, under the icon with your initials.
Can I bookmark items to find them again?
Yes, anytime you encounter something that piques your interest, simply click the ribbon icon next to the callout title (after clicking on the callout bubble) to bookmark the item. Then, navigate to your library – indicated in your upper toolbar with the same ribbon icon. Here, you’ll see all the items you’ve bookmarked thus far. Click on the card to review the item and, if you wish, to navigate back to that spot in-world. You can also create a tour to show other users your bookmarked items by adding them to a collection. For more on these features, please view the “Library and Collections” and “Custom Tours” tutorial videos.
How do I make a comment about something I read?
In each “callout,” there are three tabs. Click on the “discussions” tab to make a comment about the topic, or to reply to comments that are already there.
What if I don’t want everyone in the app to see the comment I’m making?
Each time you comment, you can choose whether the comment is viewable to all users of the app, or only seen by a specific group. You can see available groups in your Dashboard.
What is a group?
For more about the functionality of groups, please view the “Dashboards and Groups" tutorial video.
How do I join a group?
You may be invited to join by a group moderator, likely as part of a class or an organization. You will receive an email informing you of this. Once you’re added as a member of a group, you will be able to access the group page through your Dashboard.
Who can create a group?
Groups are created by ASCE FWV staff. To request a group, please use the Contact Us form.
Can I make my own tour?
Yes, we call these “custom tours” and they are built in your library. You will collect bookmarks of things you find interesting, then in your library you can organize these into collections as you wish. You can adjust the order of the bookmarks and the length of time they are on screen, and once you’re satisfied, you can “publish tour”.
Glossary
- splash screen
- A graphical control element consisting of a window containing an image, a logo, and the current version of the software. A splash screen can appear while a game or program is launching.