Promotion: five creative studios have produced immersive designs for the Valencia 360 exhibition during World Design Capital Valencia 2022 that show both dystopian and utopian projections of the city's future.

Studios Quatre Caps, C LAB Atelier, Lloyd Martin, Ex Figura and Rarea Studio were chosen by independent organisation Non Architecture to create a 360-degree virtual image that shows potential visions of what the Spanish city of Valencia could look like in 2030.

Half the images, or 180 degrees, show a dystopian version of the future, while the other 180-degree view is of a utopian future.

These pictures try to answer what the city will be like in the future as part of World Design Capital Valencia 2022.

The project was conceived through Futur Lab, Las Naves innovation centre, and looks at how technology will affect the physical environment as well as what public spaces will look like in the future and how mobility will evolve.

Each of the five studios created a 360-degree immersive image in a different style, which can be viewed through a smartphone, laptop or virtual reality (VR) glasses.

"To encourage discussion, we asked them to design one half as what they consider to be a utopian future and the other half as what would be a dystopian future," Non Architecture said.

"The images represent relevant issues such as tourism, lack of resources, desertification and natural disasters."

Among the ideas that were created for Valencia 360 are a virtual beach by Rarea Studio and a suggestion for how the city can make use of vertical farming by Ex Figura.

The designers taking part in Valencia 360 were selected for the "disruptive nature" of their proposals and are all young, with an average age at just over 30. This was a deliberate choice by the festival.

"The new generations of designers are able to participate and even lead a debate about the cities we want to inhabit in the not too distant future," Xavi Calvo, general director of World Design Capital Valencia 2022, said.

"Valencia 360, like so many other projects and initiatives promoted by Valencia World Design Capital, intends to build a discourse and generate a legacy that will go far beyond 2022."

World Design Capital Valencia 2022 takes place in Valencia, Spain from 1 January to 31 December. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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This article was written by Dezeen for World Design Capital Valencia 2022 as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.