Community Co-Design & Social Engagement with Geogames

Spatializing Participatory Budgeting: Testing Municipal Facilitators in a Housing Policy Game

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Abstract

Participatory budgeting typically abstracts spatial considerations from the resource allocation process. This study evaluates whether municipal civil servants can facilitate game-based participatory budgeting that combines budget allocation with geographic visualizations. The Housing Game employs shared budget allocation (voting cubes) across 11 policies, with decisions visually manifested on a territorial map. Five facilitators received 2-hour training and conducted game sessions during a conference for more than 30 participants. The spatial dimension proved critical: participants discussed not only which policies to fund but also where to locate them. Findings suggest that spatially explicit, game-based participatory budgeting can democratize introductory discussions of housing policy through existing municipal staff without extensive training.

Keywords: participatory budgeting, spatial planning, serious games, housing policy, geogames