The use of gamification for participatory smart city planning of Indonesia's new capital

Abstract

The implementation of participatory planning has encountered numerous challenges, including the exclusion of certain groups such as children, whose aspirations and participation are often overlooked. Earlier studies highlight how digitization has opened up new opportunities for community participation in city planning. Gamification is a technique that has become increasingly popular in recent years for optimizing the effectiveness and impact of participatory city planning. This study explores the potential of utilizing Roblox as a gamification tool in inclusive urban planning for children, using it to examine their ideal city concepts. Through workshops and semi-structured interviews with 10 primary school students in the Jakarta Metropolitan Area, we found that Roblox effectively facilitates the visualization of the built environment. Despite technical challenges, it emerges as a promising participatory tool for children in urban planning. The study identifies two prevalent themes in children's ideal cities: pollution-free environments and convenient access to public amenities. This research contributes by introducing a unique gamification approach through Roblox for involving children in urban planning discussions and filling a gap in research on gamification and children's participation that predominantly stems from Western countries. Unlike previous studies that mainly utilized games to educate children, our emphasis on understanding children's perceptions also adds to existing literature.