Cities in Citizens' Hands

We propose a new paradigm for public participation in urban planning, a field which presents significant challenges for public understanding and participation. Our approach is based on leveraging the rich diversity of meaning associated with cultural gestures, traditions, folklore, and rituals, and using them in augmented reality systems, in order for citizens’ to explore, understand, and communicate the complex, systemic ideas and concepts associated with urban planning. At an immediate level, this approach holds the potential for enabling increased public awareness of what is at stake in urban planning both on the part of citizens and on the part of public officials, policy-makers, and decision-makers – and consequently enhancing understanding and improving participation in public life and citizenship. It may also open up a new field of research and development in human-computer interaction, to leverage the richness of meaning and modes of expression which exist in various cultures and societies, rather than ignoring them and imposing dumbed-down or prescribed command methods. Thus, it aims to facilitate new levels of empowerment of users in the use of digital systems and data. The active utilization of cultural * Corresponding author. Tel.: +0-000-000-0000 ; fax: +0-000-000-0000 . E-mail address: [email protected] 431 Leonel Morgado et al. / Procedia Computer Science 67 ( 2015 ) 430 – 438 meaning in gestures, rituals, and social practices may also support and promote better inclusion and participation of minority groups and migrant communities in contemporary, technology-rich life. © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. Peer-review under responsibility of organizing committee of the 6th International Conference on Software Development and Technologies for Enhancing Accessibility and Fighting Info-exclusion (DSAI 2015).