Playful pedagogies in urban design: enhancing learning through game-based group activities

Urban design education is traditionally shaped by studio-based and lecture-driven formats. However, these methods often struggle to engage students, particularly in fostering creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking. The integration of incorporating game-design approaches in education has reflected in a significant boom in the marketing landscape. Based on the Theory of Gamified Learning, this paper presents a pedagogical innovation that incorporates game-based group activities into an undergraduate urban design course to address student disengagement and passive learning. This study investigates how immersion influences students’ competence, autonomy and relatedness among learners that positively affects their engagement during class and outcomes. The intervention involved structured activities such as Urban Design Crossword, Planning Poker, and UD Dice Game, designed to align with weekly learning outcomes and promote active participation among students. Conducted over a 14-week semester, the study employed questionnaire survey on 27 students and classroom observations. Findings of this study indicate that game-based learning enhanced student motivation, peer interaction, and engagement during learning session. Students appeared to be more motivated and improved self-confidence during learning sessions. Approximately 89% of students reported increased enjoyment, and qualitative reflections highlighted improvements in teamwork and communication. Additionally, the students also demonstrated stronger critical thinking and an improved ability to navigate complex urban design challenges collaboratively. These results support broader educational theories advocating for active learning and align with contemporary shifts in design pedagogy toward more inclusive, student-centered approaches. This study intends to provide useful insight for academicians and policymakers seeking to improve teaching performance by applying gamification in the public universities.