iPARK: A Participatory Design Tool of Neighborhood Parks Using Visual Programming Language

Abstract

Participatory design and community engagement in the neighborhood parks guide the landscape architect to create a successful and fitting park to community needs. However, the community members are limited to visual, writing, and descriptive tools to explain their vision of the neighbourhood park to the landscape designer. Therefore, this paper proposes iPARK, a platform that helps non-landscape majors visualise their ideas and vision of park design configurations, activities, materials, and needs using simplified design tools. The iPARK platform consists of two modules: iPARK-Design module utilises visual programming to automate and aid the design drawings of the neighbourhood park; the iPARK-Simulate module uses multi-agent-based simulation to fit the best parameters of the community needs and propose alternatives for the proposed design. The Case study depicted successful results and the platform delivered high-quality results and easy use. It is expected that iPARK will encourage the community to participate in the design decisions, lay out their visions, and communicate with the landscape architect more clearly.