A Playful Participatory Planning System (P-PPS): A Framework for Collecting and Analyzing Player-Generated Spatial Data from Minecraft Worlds

Digital tools, especially games, are increasingly important for enabling citizen participation in urban planning. Among these, Minecraft has been widely utilized to engage children, leveraging its virtual environment to represent geospatial data. However, systematic methods for collecting and analyzing player-generated data within Minecraft remain underexplored. Playful Participatory Planning System (P-PPS) framework that transforms player actions (e.g., building, removing, planting) within Minecraft, using OpenStreetMap (OSM) data to create game environments, back into geospatial data for analysis. The framework’s applicability was demonstrated through two case studies, one with 58 schoolchildren and 18 adults in Ireland. The results reveal that schoolchildren, while highly engaged, demonstrated a high density of actions within limited areas, suggesting a need for guidance on spatial distribution and ecological considerations. In contrast, adults prioritized the urban context and exhibited greater spatial consistency in their actions. Challenges emerged in managing online interactions, emphasizing the need for clear guidelines and moderation strategies. This research demonstrates the potential of Minecraft as a platform for participatory urban planning, exploring its use as a collaborative immersive mapping tool.