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| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2026
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.16348 |
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| _version_ | 1866913041611751424 |
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| author | Hausladen, Carina I Sánchez-Vaquerizo, Javier Argota Siebenmann, Michael Capozzi, Arthur Mahajan, Sachit Helbing, Dirk |
| author_facet | Hausladen, Carina I Sánchez-Vaquerizo, Javier Argota Siebenmann, Michael Capozzi, Arthur Mahajan, Sachit Helbing, Dirk |
| contents | Participatory urban planning is central to sustainable city-making, yet the technically demanding nature of such interventions often limits meaningful involvement by diverse publics. We introduce a scalable digital participation platform that embeds sustainability projects within a navigable digital twin. Citizens experience a guided virtual walkthrough with audio narration employing the method of loci and spatial anchoring to support mnemonic encoding and recall. This immersive interface is augmented by two purpose-built LLM assistants: one delivers source-grounded factual clarifications, while the other facilitates reflective discussion. We evaluated this system in a randomized controlled online experiment (N = 195) against conventional industry practices (static visualizations and text-based consultations). Results show that spatially anchored immersive presentation significantly improved information recall, which substantially shifted participants' attention from individual inconveniences to collective, community-oriented sustainability benefits. Consequently, participants provided significantly more constructive, solution-focused feedback to the (simulated) municipality. These findings establish a practical tool for cities and policymakers to foster inclusive, democratic participation in sustainability transitions. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_16348 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Beyond the Townhall: Spatial Anchoring and LLM Agents for Scalable Participatory Urban Planning Hausladen, Carina I Sánchez-Vaquerizo, Javier Argota Siebenmann, Michael Capozzi, Arthur Mahajan, Sachit Helbing, Dirk Human-Computer Interaction Computers and Society Participatory urban planning is central to sustainable city-making, yet the technically demanding nature of such interventions often limits meaningful involvement by diverse publics. We introduce a scalable digital participation platform that embeds sustainability projects within a navigable digital twin. Citizens experience a guided virtual walkthrough with audio narration employing the method of loci and spatial anchoring to support mnemonic encoding and recall. This immersive interface is augmented by two purpose-built LLM assistants: one delivers source-grounded factual clarifications, while the other facilitates reflective discussion. We evaluated this system in a randomized controlled online experiment (N = 195) against conventional industry practices (static visualizations and text-based consultations). Results show that spatially anchored immersive presentation significantly improved information recall, which substantially shifted participants' attention from individual inconveniences to collective, community-oriented sustainability benefits. Consequently, participants provided significantly more constructive, solution-focused feedback to the (simulated) municipality. These findings establish a practical tool for cities and policymakers to foster inclusive, democratic participation in sustainability transitions. |
| title | Beyond the Townhall: Spatial Anchoring and LLM Agents for Scalable Participatory Urban Planning |
| topic | Human-Computer Interaction Computers and Society |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.16348 |