Serious Games in Spatial Planning: Strengths, Limitations and Support Frameworks

Authors

  • Micael Sousa CITTA, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Coimbra, Portugal https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0283-778X
  • António Pais Antunes CITTA, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Coimbra, Portugal
  • Nuno Pinto Spatial Policy and Analysis Laboratory, Manchester Urban Institute, The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
  • Nelson Zagalo Department of Communication and Art Department, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17083/ijsg.v9i2.510

Keywords:

Complexity, Participation, Serious Games, Spatial Planning

Abstract

Serious games are being developed in many fields of research and proving to be valuable practical tools. In the planning field, games can help approach complexity and engage more participants through first-person experimentation. This paper presents an overview of the main strengths and limitations of applying serious games in spatial planning and discusses available support frameworks. It proposes some guidelines for researchers and practitioners that want to profit from game usage. Serious Games can be powerful tools but can easily lead to failure processes, which demand previous systematic analysis of what planners may do and expect from games.

Author Biography

  • Micael Sousa, CITTA, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Coimbra, Portugal

    Graduate in civil engineering. Graduate in History with minor in arts and heritage. Master degree in energy and environment. Master degree in heritage studies. Ph.D candidate in spatial planning. 

    Civil engineer, with experience in project managing of public and private construction works. Manager of maintenance works, working also with health, safety, and environmental systems. Worked as Councilor adjunct in the city of Leiria for the planning and urban department, coordinator of the Strategic Plan for Urban Development, and in the Urban Master Plan for Leiria. Researcher, trainer and invited lecturer, speaker about serious games, and analog games developer for entertainment and serious games. Teacher of history. Coordinator of several associations and volunteer organizations.
    Researcher about transports, environment, planning, and serious games. Creative entrepreneur, blogger, newspaper writer, podcaster, and YouTuber about general knowledge issues, serious games, board games, politics, philosophy, and planning.

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Published

2022-05-31 — Updated on 2022-06-01

Versions

Issue

Vol. 9 No. 2 (2022)

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2022 Micael Sousa, António Pais Antunes, Nuno Pinto, Nelson Zagalo

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

IJSG copyright information is provided here.

How to Cite

Serious Games in Spatial Planning: Strengths, Limitations and Support Frameworks. (2022). International Journal of Serious Games, 9(2), 115-133. https://doi.org/10.17083/ijsg.v9i2.510 (Original work published 2022)