How can gamification be incorporated into disaster emergency planning? A systematic review of the literature

Kankanamge, N; Yigitcanlar, T; Goonetilleke, A and Kamruzzaman, M (2020) How can gamification be incorporated into disaster emergency planning? A systematic review of the literature. International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment, 11(4), pp. 481-506. ISSN 1759-5916

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of gamification as a novel technique in motivating community engagement in disaster-related activities in order to address the question of how gamification can be incorporated into disaster emergency planning. Design/methodology/approach: This study conducts a systematic literature review and explores available gamified applications for disaster emergency planning and their purpose of use. In total, 51 scholarly articles on the topic and 35 disaster-related gamified applications are reviewed. Findings: The findings reveal the following: (a) gamified applications (n = 35) are used for education, research and intervention purposes; (b) gamified applications create new opportunities for community engagement and raise disaster awareness among the community in virtual environments; and (c) gamified applications help shape a new culture – i.e. gamified culture – that supports smart disaster emergency planning practice. Originality/value: During the recent years, utilisation of game elements in non-game contexts – i.e., gamification – has become a popular approach in motivating people in various actions. Increasing research highlighted the benefits of gamification in enhancing community engagement, creating interactive environments, providing better behavioural outcomes and influencing democratic processes. Despite some of the applications indicating the potential of gamification in disaster emergency planning, the use of gamification technique in this discipline is an understudied area. This study reveals gamification can be incorporated into disaster emergency planning.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: community engagement; gamification; gamified applications; gamified culture; serious games; smart disaster emergency planning
Index terms: emergency planning, methodology, gamification, virtual environment, community engagement, systematic literature review
Subjects: community and social dimensions, research methods, financial risk, research evaluation and metrics, user engagement, virtual reality
Topics: Stakeholder Management, Cost Management, Digital Applications, Research Practice
Descriptive scope: 4 PCTE

N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here