Virtual Reality for Home-Based Citizen Participation in Urban Planning - An Exploratory User Study

Participatory urban planning fosters collaboration among residents, stakeholders, and decision-makers, enhancing urban development's inclusivity and residents' quality of life. Virtual Reality (VR) integration offers transformative potential, surpassing traditional engagement methods by immersing individuals in immersive virtual environments. This paper investigates VR's role in participatory urban planning, focusing on its increasingly accessible applications at home. We conducted an exploratory user study using an immersive VR protoype visualizing a real urban development project in Switzerland. 14 participants engaged with the prototype from home. Findings indicate a great potential of home-based VR in enhancing citizen engagement in urban planning. The study contributes insights into VR's efficacy for homebased participatory planning, derives practical recommendations, and outlines promising avenues for future research.