UrbanLemma: A serious game to support the adoption of sustainable urban drainage solutions

• DOI: 10.4995/wdsa-ccwi2022.2022.14138
• Publication Date: 2024-03-01T11:45:32Z
• Authors: Aashna Mittal; Jessica Nguyen; Lisa Scholten; Zoran Kapelan
• Keywords: Urban water management; Serious games; SUDS; Adoption; Pluvial flooding; Decision-making

Long-term planning of urban drainage systems is required to prevent pluvial flooding and the effects of droughts. Sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS), e.g., permeable pavements, detention ponds, and rainwater harvesting systems are increasingly used to manage water and build resilience in urban environments. However, the adoption of these solutions remains low due to various socio-institutional barriers. Improving awareness about SUDS and highlighting their multifunctional benefits and trade-offs through an engaging medium could help address these barriers. Serious games provide an immersive and engaging experience that can be used to motivate and impart knowledge or train skills to improve decision-making. The potential of serious games to support the adoption of SUDS has not been investigated so far. This paper presents the proof-of-concept of the serious game UrbanLemma, designed to improve awareness and decision-making of stakeholders about SUDS along with the additional goals of increased engagement and communication among stakeholders. Initial results from play-test sessions conducted with researchers at TU Delft are presented and lessons learned from the game development process are discussed.