Geogames’ Environments as Hosts for the Collective Expression of Emotions in Urban Space Jan Szot, Edyta Sobieraj, Franciszek Krysztofiak Urban Planning, 2026 Urban space is perceived by users on many different dimensions. One important aspect of spatial perception is the emotions that users associate with it. Mapping the emotions associated with specific spaces can make an important contribution to urban design processes. The conclusions drawn from their graphic representation can form the basis for specific spatial actions, leading to the creation of places that users can and want to become attached to. Geogames, which combine high usability with a pleasant and engaging form of interaction, are an effective tool for supporting processes related to the expression of spatial needs and opinions of inhabitants. There is a noticeable lack of easily accessible and engaging tools for mapping people’s emotions in urban space. This article describes a case study in which the game Minecraft was used as a tool for aggregating data on emotions associated with a given space. Based on GIS data, a digital model of a university campus was created in the game, where the study participants placed graphic representations of their emotions. An important issue addressed in this work was whether and how multiplayer and single‐player modes can influence the expression of different emotions. The map of participants’ emotions in multiplayer mode was a spatial sequence, while in single‐player mode, it was a series of scattered points. Multiplayer mode was characterised by a greater number of negative emotions, but this could have been caused by the mutual influence of the other participants. The information collected provides important insights into the subjective perception of space, which can be used for further planning activities. A tool was created, the availability of which facilitates the repeatability of the experiment and thus enables further research.
Video Games in Civic Engagement in Urban Planning, a Methodology for Effective and Informed Selection of Games for Specific Needs Jan Szot Sustainability Switzerland, 2024 Video games are recognized as significant tools and mediums to be used in civic participation in spatial planning and fostering local communities. As the phenomenon is widely recognized in papers presenting singular case studies and broader analyses in the field, selecting such serious games with certain characteristics remains unclear. The informed process of choosing games with particular properties regarding genesis, graphic style, genre, and complexity as the response for specified needs and process assumptions appears to be supportive in preventing unnecessary costs and data overproduction. Such avoidance is an important part of sustainable digital transformation. Therefore, there is a need for a more conscious process of selecting video games to be used in a participatory process. The following paper aims to propose a numerical base for a decisional instrument that could be useful for specifying the characteristics of games to be utilized in participation. They performed a multicriteria analysis of documented cases of implementing video games in civic engagement, allowing the creation of a set of numeric indicators that help determine the properties of games that will be most appropriate for given process assumptions. Such a tool can prevent overproducing data on the one hand and may cause dissemination of the presented way of handling the participation process on the other.
