# CityBuildAR: Enhancing Community Engagement in Placemaking Through Mobile Augmented Reality
## 5 Findings and Discussion  
To What Extent Does the CityBuildAR App Bridge the Gap Between Professionals and the General Public in Placemaking? The CityBuildAR app allows the general public to design and visualize public spaces using their mobile phones similar to a professional, which significantly enhances their  
Figure 24: Word Cloud representing participant opinions. ability to participate in placemaking. The conflict between community preferences and the preferred engagement techniques of the public has caused a lack of public participation in urban planning with existing conventional methods [92; 93]. Furthermore, real-time visualization encourages users to redefine spatial designs with limited time and expertise because realistic visualizations are more effective than abstract presentations, especially when it comes to engaging a non-specialist audience like the general public [93]. AR models can influence people to participate in the planning process and to provide immediate feedback using AR [94; 95]. Especially, CityBuildAR app enables users to engage in placemaking using high-tech software with limited technical expertise and experience, which enhances public participation in the process. Therefore, utilizing AR for placemaking has the potential to bridge the gap between planning practitioners and the general public when it comes to design and visualization. The use of technologically advanced applications (AR, VR) can support professionals in creating an inclusive and accessible participatory planning methodology for all citizens, including students [26; 96]. Accordingly, the CityBuildAR app has the potential to support participatory planning and enhance stakeholder engagement, thereby facilitating the planning process of authorities. The app could be integrated into community-driven urban planning and regeneration projects, allowing the community to design and visualize their interests in real time and provide immediate feedback to the authorities. As an example, in Vienna, Austria, AR has been used for two urban planning projects to assess its effectiveness in participatory planning, and the results indicate that AR facilitated better communication between stakeholders and planners [55]. However, despite its advantages, the application reveals an important gap in the design process, which is the rationale for designs. During the app demonstration, the professionals considered the existing layout of the university cafeteria. They added features to the existing layout without replacing it or ignoring the existing setting because as professionals they prioritized the functionality and feasibility based on their knowledge and experience resulting in more grounded designs. In contrast, university students were innovative and transformative, and they ignored the existing setting in imposing their design. It shows that as undergraduates, they are often encouraged to think creatively, and according to their feedback, university students were more familiar with the AR tools and willing to experiment without any constraints. Comparatively, the general public used the app to visualize existing patterns and spatial layouts with minimum requirements, which reflects that using CityBuildAR for designing has been a complete experimental activity for them. It indicates that knowledge and expertise have a direct impact on the design when using CityBuildAR. Further, it highlights the app's flexibility to adapt and address the needs of different layers in the society in expressing their design thinking. Overall, the CityBuildAR app allows professionals and the general public to equally engage in placemaking activities using the application and bridge the gap in terms of visualization and conceptualization. However, the app allows users to visualize their requirements and interests through design. Therefore, the designs are biased to each individual's personal preferences and in some cases, the design might not meet the significant placemaking attributes such as physical setting, imageability, and sociability.