Digitalization, Participation and Interaction: Towards More Inclusive Tools in Urban Design—A Literature Review

Abstract

The 11th sustainable development goal highlights the importance of making our cities more inclusive. For that, planning processes should become more engaging and empower citizens to actively participate in designing their environments. However, the COVID-19 crisis exposed inequalities and posed challenges to communal activities due to restrictions on face-to-face activities. These constraints brought many researchers and practitioners to rethink the process of co-designing workshops, putting digitalization in the spotlight. The present study consists of a systematic literature review focusing on understanding how digital technologies affect participatory approaches in urban design and how they have evolved since the 1990s. Also, it investigates the correlation between levels of participation and interaction in different types of collaborative design workshops held in communities. We found that many authors have been developing new methodologies and digital tools aiming to digitalize the co-designing experience through mediation. However, there is no evolutionary evidence of tools in the field creating bridges between digitalization, participation, and interaction. We argue that a research agenda is required to produce more sophisticated tools to tackle social barriers and support inclusive design towards sustainable urban development patterns.

Exploring Immersive Co-Design: Comparing Human Interaction in Real and Virtual Elevated Urban Spaces in London

“…This method aims to promote inclusivity and diversity by incorporating perspectives from the various parties involved, resulting in culturally and socially relevant, sustainable, and responsive spaces [17]. Co-design workshops, typically structured activities, facilitate a shared understanding of challenges and generate ideas for potential solutions [18,19]. Employed in various urban processes, co-design utilizes a range of tools and techniques, from manual methods to digital innovative tools, to enable active participation, creating participatory and interactive urban dialogues [10,[20][21][22].…”

Closing the Digital Gender Gap among Foreign University Students: The Challenges Ahead

“…This jeopardises both their successful integration and mental health, since ICT can ensure constant communication with loved ones [7], provide information and training (inclusion and education), help people look for a job, manage procedures, access health, and allow for, thanks to the social media, interaction with people of the same origin about their respective experiences before and after their arrival to the host country; doing this would allow them to be considerably better prepared to face the challenges of migration [8]. It is, therefore, necessary for people across all levels of education to have better access to this new technology [9][10][11][12][13].…”