Promoting and improving public participation in urban development plans using a virtual reality tools Case Study; Central area of Tehran (Jomhuri Eslami St.)

Despite all the efforts made in Iran, so far the process of participation as a public culture in the thought and action of citizens, does not have a proper position or is low. Given the importance of citizen participation in urban development projects, A lot of research has been done to increase participation, but what distinguishes this research from other studies is the use of new tools and up-to-date technologies such as virtual reality to be able to take a step to facilitate citizen participation. In this regard, the simulated environment of the study area was performed in the virtual reality specialized laboratory space and individuals were tested as a sample. People's unfamiliarity with the virtual environment made it difficult for people to feel close to the real environment, but the attractiveness of the virtual environment made people move with interest in the experimental environment. Finally, it was found that the tested samples felt satisfied and The research questions answered well. Also, if some of the most important weaknesses of virtual reality are eliminated, for example, if we increase the sense of immersion or combine virtual reality with augmented reality, this will increase the effectiveness of this tool in increasing participation.