Objective: “A mixed online-offline engagement process, the goal of Participatory Chinatown was to engage more Chinatown stakeholders in the 2010 Chinatown Master Planning Process” in Boston (www.participedia.net).

"To help make planning concepts and scenarios more intuitive, proposed scenarios for Chinatown were built into fully immersive 3D environments that participants could walk through and discuss, both in person and with in-game comments. From its website, Participatory Chinatown describes itself as "a 3-D immersive game designed to be part of the master planning process for Boston's Chinatown." The project designers invite participants to "assume the role of one of 15 virtual residents [and] work to complete their assigned quest - finding a job, housing, or place to socialize. But look out! Sometimes language skills, income level, or other circumstances can make your task more challenging. Whatever your experience, you'll then be tasked with considering the future of the neighborhood by walking through and commenting on proposed development sites. Your comments and decisions will be shared with real life decision-makers."

"Participating in community planning processes is not always an easy task for immigrant populations. Additionally, much of urban planning - even looking at 3D pictures or maps - requires a certain amount of planning literacy that not all stakeholders possess. The goal of participatory planning, then, is to include as many community members as possible, and to structure the meetings to be engaging and inclusive for those members. Participatory Chinatown used a digital game platform to make planning more intuitive, fun, and engaging...To help make planning concepts and scenarios more intuitive, proposed scenarios for Chinatown were built into fully immersive 3D environments that participants could walk through and discuss, both in person and with in-game comments. In-person elements thus included role-playing in groups, collaborative decision making, and future scenario discussions while online components include single-player video gaming, commenting and up/down voting" (www.participedia.net).