Description
Urban planning and design frequently adopt top-down processes that marginalise end-users, resulting in disconnects between provisions and community needs, particularly in dense cities with limited public space per capita (Atarnan & Tuncer, 2022). While participatory design (co-design) positions stakeholders as active collaborators in shaping inclusive solutions, its democratising potential is hindered by systemic barriers in translating technical expertise into accessible processes (Hassan & Hamari, 2020). Emerging technologies in virtual reality (VR) and gamification present novel opportunities to bridge knowledge gaps through an immersive, playful process; however, their uncritical adoption risks exacerbating exclusion, producing new forms of skill disparities (Delaney, 2022; Sanchez, 2019; Chowdhury & Schnabel, 2019).With growing digitalisation and a rapid ageing population, Hong Kong's compact planning excels in efficiency and verticality, yet tensions arise between technocratic and inclusive engagement (Tang et al., 2018). Despite recent efforts to strengthen participation through consultations, workshops, and design-thinking initiatives, knowledge gaps between professionals and end-users perpetuate repetitive, tokenistic outcomes, particularly in public housing communities where intersecting technological and educational divides persist (Leung et al., 2014; Tam, 2022).
This study addresses these gaps through a Participatory Action Research (PAR) framework involving local stakeholders to explore the question: How can immersive and gamification tools be effectively integrated into co-creation processes to enhance citizen participation in public space design? The research objectives are to: 1) develop an integrated methodology combining technological tools with structured processes to activate collective creativity; 2) evaluate the capacity of gamified, immersive virtual environments to enhance multi-stakeholder engagement; 3) derive actionable insights in bridging skills disparities and facilitating collaboration between designers and end-users.
Through a series of co-creation workshops, the study engaged Hong Kong public housing residents, social workers, and designers to evaluate and design local open spaces via a YR-assisted video game. Four iterative phases-focusing on creativity, engagement, collaboration, and synthesis- employed a mixed methods approach in data analysis: thematic analysis of design outputs, behavioural mapping of group dynamics, post-workshop focus groups, and descriptive statistics of surveys. A custom kit of architectural parts (modular-integrated, modular, discrete) scaffolded stakeholder inputs in the collaborative virtual environment, with adjustments made iteratively based on participant feedback and tailored protocols addressing digital literacy gaps across intergenerational and multidisciplinary groups.
| Period | 1 Aug 2025 → 31 Oct 2025 |
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| Examinee | Tsing Yin NG |
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| Degree of Recognition | International |