| Abstrakt: |
Involving citizens in city's design process requires resilient communication tools. The limits of communication in architecture are reflected by the complexity of the means used and the technical skills. The architect communicates through technical documents and 3D design software which often requires technical training. The ideas are experienced through the plan, the section, or the drawing. Architectural renderings are designed for construction professionals and are not easily understood by common citizens. Construction professionals remain in a bubble of technical jargon that keeps being incomprehensible by a population unfamiliar with the field of architecture(Friedrich von Borries, Steffen P. Walz, 2007) . On the other hand, video games already propose city planning alternatives. It is intended as an exchange platform on which we can experiment and develop possible futures(Wragg, 2020, p. 67). There are already existing video games that allow players to actively participate in the design and creation of content, such as "Minecraft" or "Roblox". These games offer a great creative alternative that can be used to explore architecture-related topics. These creative tools are simple and accessible. They make it possible to quickly develop 3D spaces. Ideas are quickly highlighted and understood by non-specialists through a gamified language. They become the support for creating a gaming environment and a participatory and collaborative experience(Wragg, 2020, p. 201). Through active participation in the game, players learn from their decisions (and the decisions of others) and assess their consequences. Virtual worlds are therefore a space of freedom, where people have the tools to express their creativity without the need of a particular skill. It offers a democratic and accessible experience that can be afforded by anyone. This paper discusses and explores the potential of video games as tools for participatory and collaborative design as a response to complex issues such as climate change, emergencies and disasters. After presenting and analyzing video games that influenced our perceptions of the built environment. We will provide an extended view of the merging boundaries of the real and digital territories and focus on how values such as sustainability and climate change engagement alternate as parts of the digital sphere and, at the same time, are being pulled apart from their original space and scattered through the public sphere. Finally, we will explore how video games can enhance user engagement and promote inclusivity and social consensus in the urban design process. Shifting the methodology from a merely participatory to a more collaborative approach. First, we provide a theoretical framework that discusses the concepts of participatory and collaborative cities, video games as tools for design, user engagement, emergency management, sustainability, and consensus. Second, through a comparative analysis, we review a corpus of examples through the lens of these concepts. Third, we present and discuss the results of our analysis, followed by a discussion on the implications of our findings for design and urban planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
