Abstract
The urban planning field is confronted with the challenge of integrating diverse community perspectives into the decision-making process. Throughout the history of urban development, the role of planning and designing public spaces has been limited to professionals. Later on, conventional participatory planning techniques (hand drawings, manual mapping, public hearings) were applied, but these approaches had limitations and less interaction with communities. Due to the development of human-computer interaction (HCI) and digital technology, the use of technical methods such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS), 3D modeling and visualization tools, Virtual Reality (VR), and Augmented Reality (AR) for the planning process has been identified. The objective of this study is to develop a mobile augmented reality application that promotes and improves the involvement of youth in placemaking, specifically in the Sri Lankan context. City BuildAR is a mobile AR application developed by the authors using Unity Real-Time Development Platform, and the app is developed for an Android Operating System. An initial app demonstration was conducted with the urban planning undergraduates of the University of Moratuwa to design the university cafeteria. The results of the demonstration emphasized that AR is an effective platform for encouraging people to engage in placemaking activities. According to their feedback, mobile AR is considered to be more user-friendly, manageable, and easy to access compared to current participatory planning methods. The study’s findings suggest that AR technology has significant potential as a tool for participatory planning, especially to enhance youth engagement in placemaking.