RPF: SUSTAINABLE URBAN GOVERNANCE THROUGH AUGMENTED REALITY [SUGAR]

The SUGAR project aims to develop innovative best-practice protocols and guidelines on Sustainable Urban Governance and specifically Public Participation through Augmented Reality, building on the existing collaboration and expertise of two state universities in Cyprus, the Cyprus University of Technology and the University of Cyprus and a world-leading Centre of Excellence in the field from USA, Harvard University.

SUGAR aims to empower both citizens that seek ways to participate in the decision-making process for the design of their cities and neighborhoods and stakeholders that would like to involve the public actively in the process of shaping their environment creating a lasting and meaningful impact.

Our SUGAR project funded by the Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation (under its Cyprus-USA collaborations scheme) will see our Social Computing Research Center – SCRC and our team of Cyprus Interaction Lab collaborating with Harvard University and Πανεπιστήμιο Κύπρου | University Of Cyprus under the SUGAR (Sustainable Urban Governance through Augmented Reality) project.

The Sustainable Urban Governance through Augmented Reality (SUGAR) project aims to develop innovative best-practice protocols and guidelines on Sustainable Urban Governance and specifically Public Participation through Augmented Reality, building on the existing collaboration and expertise of two state universities in Cyprus, the Cyprus University of Technology and the University of Cyprus and a world-leading Centre of Excellence in the field from USA, Harvard University.

Planning worldwide have long been criticised for their lack of meaningful public consultation and participation in the process of the making of our cities. Currently, the existing practices of consultation and participation are within the confines or council meetings, complex form filling and survey reports that most often than not carry little weight towards the decisions made by the planning authorities. For the last decades, the concept of Participatory Planning as an approach of designing has been heavily incorporated in many disciplinary fields. This project investigates the role of participation as the process that users, and other stakeholders, are actively involved in the decision-making process through the approach of achieving Sustainable Urban Governance and utilising innovative immersive technologies (specifically AR). We argue that the application of participatory design in the design process is essential to provide economically and socially sustainable outcomes. SUGAR aims to empower both citizens that seek ways to participate in the decision-making process for the design of their cities and neighbourhoods and stakeholders that would like to involve the public actively in the process of shaping their environment creating a lasting and meaningful impact.