Piloting a novel approach for park planning with young people using human-centred design thinking and artificial intelligence: the AImazing Park Design study
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Study design: Study Protocol
Abstract: This protocol describes a pilot study that aims to examine a novel approach to park planning with young people by integrating human-centred design thinking (HCDT) and generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) in order to better understand and address their needs, preferences, and experiences. Parks provide important opportunities for physical activity, social connection, and interaction with nature, all of which contribute to improved psychosocial health, cardiometabolic outcomes, and overall wellbeing among young people. Despite these benefits, most young people are insufficiently physically active and experience increasing levels of loneliness and social isolation, which can persist into later life. Public green spaces such as parks are accessible settings that can support physical, mental, and social health by enabling exercise, active recreation, socialising, and relaxation; however, they are currently underutilised by young people. This underutilisation may be explained by the fact that park planning processes are typically expert-driven and adult-centric, with limited meaningful engagement of young people beyond superficial consultation. As a result, park designs may fail to reflect the preferences, lived experiences, and broader social needs of this population, including factors such as safety, inclusivity, social connection, and programmatic elements, rather than solely physical infrastructure. To address this gap, this study adopts a participatory research approach grounded in human-centred design thinking, which emphasises empathy, collaboration, and iterative problem-solving with end-users. HCDT enables researchers and participants to explore not only what features young people want in parks, but also how they want to feel in these environments and how parks fit into their everyday lives and social contexts. This approach is complemented by the use of generative artificial intelligence, which can translate participants’ ideas into visual representations such as images and videos, thereby creating a shared language between young people and park planners. While Gen AI has shown promise in landscape and urban planning contexts, it has not yet been widely applied in participatory park design with community members, particularly young people, nor has it been combined with HCDT in this context. The present study therefore aims to pilot and evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of this combined approach for designing, prototyping, and testing park concepts with young people aged 16 to 21 years. The study is structured as a three-phase project within the solution space of the HCDT Double Diamond Model, which moves from problem exploration to solution development through iterative and collaborative processes. In the first phase, young people participate in an in-person workshop designed to develop a deep understanding of their park use journeys. This includes completing an initial survey on their park use behaviours and engaging in activities such as empathy mapping and journey mapping, which capture their thoughts, feelings, actions, and experiences before, during, and after park visits, as well as the barriers and facilitators influencing their engagement. These activities are conducted in small facilitated groups to encourage open discussion, creativity, and collaboration in a supportive environment. In the second phase, the same participants take part in a follow-up workshop focused on ideation, prototyping, and testing of park designs using both HCDT principles and Gen AI tools. Participants are first introduced to text-to-media AI platforms and trained in their use, after which they independently generate visual representations of their ideal park experiences and design features. They are encouraged to iteratively refine their ideas, test whether the generated prototypes align with their needs and preferences, and modify them accordingly. The session concludes with collaborative discussion and selection of preferred prototypes, along with reflections on the design process itself. In the third phase, industry stakeholders such as park planners, landscape architects, and policymakers participate in online focus groups to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of the proposed approach for real-world application. They are presented with the outputs from the earlier phases and invited to discuss potential enablers, barriers, and implications for integrating this method into their professional practice. Participants for the first two phases will be young people residing in Melbourne, Australia, recruited through purposive and convenience sampling methods to ensure diversity in park use behaviours, gender, and educational background. Ethical considerations include obtaining informed consent, ensuring voluntary participation, and allowing participants to withdraw at any time. Approximately 15 participants will be included in the youth workshops, while 20 to 30 stakeholders will participate in the focus groups. Data collection will include surveys, workshop artefacts (such as maps and AI-generated outputs), audio-recorded discussions, and facilitator reflections. All qualitative data will be analysed using qualitative content analysis, with multiple researchers independently coding the data and resolving discrepancies through consensus. Quantitative survey data will be analysed descriptively to characterise the sample and their park use behaviours. This study is expected to generate valuable insights into young people’s experiences, preferences, and unmet needs in relation to park use, as well as their perceptions of engaging with HCDT and Gen AI in a co-creation process. It will also provide evidence on the feasibility of integrating these approaches into existing park planning practices from the perspective of industry stakeholders. By actively involving young people in the design process and leveraging innovative tools to visualise their ideas, this approach has the potential to produce more inclusive, relevant, and engaging park environments that better support physical activity and social connection. Although the study is a small-scale pilot intended as a proof-of-concept, its findings may inform future research, methodological innovation, and practical applications in urban design and public health. Further research will be needed to scale and adapt the approach for broader populations, evaluate its effectiveness in real-world settings, and explore how it can be integrated within existing planning systems, policies, and institutional frameworks.
Language: English
Topic: Urban Green Space and Health
Subfield: Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: Central Queensland University
OpenAlex ID: W7164197102