الفهرس 
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Abstract
Information technology provides new opportunities for citizen involvement in urban planning. Virtual reality (VR) is the most recent technology, which has grown rapidly and received a lot of attention in recent years as a new visualization and communication tool. This thesis compares VR method with traditional method in Egyptian context to investigate the suitability and efficiency of the VR technology to be used as a visualization and communication tool in urban design process to allow collaborative urban design.
A survey of multiple-choice and one-word essay questions was created using a Google Form to assess the usefulness of digital tools for urban public engagement and as a means of communication between designers and participants. Each of the 150 individuals who took part in the quantitative research completed two surveys: one after examining a design using the conventional approach and the other after utilising a VR headset. The descriptive and analytical approach was utilized to examine the data obtained from the survey using GraphPad prism 5 statistics software.
The study finds that the memory recall, and the level of public engagement increased with the virtual reality method. Additionally, virtual reality shows it superiority in facilitating participant’s understandability of urban elements, except changes in ground slope. However, traditional method was better for the participants to estimate the approximate dimensions of the objects. Furthermore, results are affected by the personal attributes such as age, gender, and occupation. Thus, the virtual reality method cannot replace the traditional method, they can supplement each other.