International Journal of Geo-Information Article Minecraft as a Tool for Engaging Children in Urban Planning: A Case Study in Tirol Town, Brazil Bruno de Andrade 1,* , Alenka Poplin 2 and Ítalo Sousa de Sena 3 1 School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy, University College Dublin, D04 V1W8 Dublin, Ireland 2 College of Design, Community and Regional Planning Department, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA;
[email protected] 3 Department of Geography, Federal University of São João del-Rei, São João del-Rei 36307-352, Brazil;
[email protected] * Correspondence:
[email protected]; Tel.: +353-87-3439101 Received: 17 December 2019; Accepted: 4 March 2020; Published: 13 March 2020 Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to explore the potential of Minecraft’s game environment for urban planning with older and younger children in a public school in Tirol town, Brazil. Minecraft is employed as an innovative tool to tackle the present lack of engagement and involvement of key societal actors such as children and young people in urban planning. Thus, how can games support children to co-design their future city? Which heritage values do they represent graphically in the game environment? Geogames are games that provide a visualization of a real spatial context and in this study, Minecraft is the tool which we use to explore youth engagement. We designed two experiments, which tested Minecraft as a geogame environment for engaging young people in urban planning. These experiments were conducted with children, who emerged as active emancipated actors to bring their values to the planning practice.