ABSTRACT
With the development of sustainable cities, citizens, including children, are playing an increasingly active role in urban planning processes, evolving from being mere recipients of public services to becoming co-creators of urban value. However, engaging young people in sustainable urban planning can be challenging. The use of serious games, in this context, can lead to higher engagement of the younger citizens. The purpose of this work is to identify the design principles of a gamified learning environment for children's participation in sustainable urban development. Using a design science research (DSR) method, we aim to address the research gaps and the shortcomings of existing tools for youth participation. While such gamified solutions can successfully engage children, we identified several limitations, such as the abstracted representation of the urban space, the lack of sustainability education, and the absence of a feedback mechanism to inform the participants about the impact of their decisions. Our research contribution is the design process of ByMaker, a game prototype which can be used in participatory planning. This approach leverages game-based learning (GBL) in sustainable urban planning to support informed public participation in accordance with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4.7.
