Urban Design, Public Spaces, and Social Cohesion : Evidence from a Virtual Reality Experiment
Public spaces can be an instrument to increase social cohesion, yet they are often underutilized. This paper presents findings from a randomized virtual reality experiment with more than 2,000 participants in Karachi, Pakistan. The paper investigat...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2020
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/845321600708199915/Urban-Design-Public-Spaces-and-Social-Cohesion-Evidence-from-a-Virtual-Reality-Experiment http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34505 |
| Summary: | Public spaces can be an instrument to
increase social cohesion, yet they are often underutilized.
This paper presents findings from a randomized virtual
reality experiment with more than 2,000 participants in
Karachi, Pakistan. The paper investigates the relationship
between urban design, willingness to use public spaces, and
social cohesion. The findings show that exposure to a
two-and-a-half-minute-long virtual reality experience
featuring various urban design and social diversity elements
has a statistically significant impact. In particular,
improvements in the design of a public park through the
virtual reality experience increased the park's
perceived attractiveness and participants' willingness
to use it. Exposure to diverse social groups in the virtual
reality experience, by itself, had mixed impacts on social
cohesion indicators such as trust and perception of and
willingness to interact with outgroups. The impacts varied
by ethnic affiliation, income, sex, and education level.
This may be partly explained by the segregated nature of
Karachi and the high prevalence of mistrust of outgroups.
The paper illustrates how modern technology can be used as
an effective, low-cost tool for diagnosing social phenomena,
soliciting feedback about urban interventions for inclusive
design, and promoting social contact. |
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