Mixed Reality Media-Enabled Public Participation in Urban Planning

Public participation in urban planning processes is affected by what is known as the “paradox of participation”: in early planning phases, when there is still sufficient room for decision-making, only a few citizens participate, while in late phases, when decisions can usually only be revised at great expense, a high level of public participation can be observed. The resulting delayed and more costly planning processes could be partially prevented by shifting public participation activities from late to early phases of planning processes. The reasons for the low level of participation of citizens in early planning phases are seen as the lack of clarity and the absence of concern due to a high level of abstraction. In this article, we examine the approach of using Mixed Reality (MR) media to remedy the paradox of participation in planning processes. Methodically, the context of MR media in urban planning is developed initially. Then the results of a literature study on MR media in urban planning are presented. Finally, the advantages of the use of MR media in urban planning contexts are summarized. In summary, MR media appear to be a promising approach for resolving the paradox of participation. However, future work should systematically structure MR media in urban planning according to characteristics supported, such as application contexts, planning objectives and modes of collaboration.