Minecraft as a Tool for Engaging Children in Urban Planning: A Case Study in Tirol Town, Brazil
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School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy, University College Dublin, D04 V1W8 Dublin, Ireland
2
College of Design, Community and Regional Planning Department, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA
3
Department of Geography, Federal University of São João del-Rei, São João del-Rei 36307-352, Brazil
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2020, 9(3), 170; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi9030170
Received: 17 December 2019
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Revised: 1 March 2020
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Accepted: 4 March 2020
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Published: 13 March 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Gaming and Geospatial Information)
The purpose of this paper is to explore the potential of Minecraft’s game environment for urban planning with older and younger children in a public school in Tirol town, Brazil. Minecraft is employed as an innovative tool to tackle the present lack of engagement and involvement of key societal actors such as children and young people in urban planning. Thus, how can games support children to co-design their future city? Which heritage values do they represent graphically in the game environment? Geogames are games that provide a visualization of a real spatial context and in this study, Minecraft is the tool which we use to explore youth engagement. We designed two experiments, which tested Minecraft as a geogame environment for engaging young people in urban planning. These experiments were conducted with children, who emerged as active emancipated actors to bring their values to the planning practice. The playtesting results revealed the potential of Minecraft to keep children engaged in the design workshop, as well as their relevant ludic ability to co-create walkable, green, and interactive places. New research questions arose about the potential of creating a culture of planning among children in order to motivate other social actors to share responsibilities for sustainable development and management.
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Keywords:
geogames; urban planning; children’s engagement; Minecraft
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MDPI and ACS Style
de Andrade, B.; Poplin, A.; Sousa de Sena, Í. Minecraft as a Tool for Engaging Children in Urban Planning: A Case Study in Tirol Town, Brazil. ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2020, 9, 170. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi9030170
AMA Style
de Andrade B, Poplin A, Sousa de Sena Í. Minecraft as a Tool for Engaging Children in Urban Planning: A Case Study in Tirol Town, Brazil. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information. 2020; 9(3):170. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi9030170
Chicago/Turabian Stylede Andrade, Bruno, Alenka Poplin, and Ítalo Sousa de Sena. 2020. "Minecraft as a Tool for Engaging Children in Urban Planning: A Case Study in Tirol Town, Brazil" ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information 9, no. 3: 170. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi9030170
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