Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores the idea of urban design as a virtual space evolves as a reflexive instance between pixels and ideas that help to develop a new perception of space and social life. It explores inter alia, routines and perceptions where we often do not even recognize that the virtual has entangled with reality. The book describes a cognitive design computing system for urban planners. It focuses on understanding the relationship between an emergent structure and processes. The book discusses four game concepts ranging from very serious games to more playful virtual game-based environments. All created games may be used to facilitate participatory processes in urban planning. The book demonstrates how Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) and virtual platforms can be implemented for a mobile device and offers ten key questions that need to be asked in the process of creating a facilitated-VGI.