Public participation in spatial planning is a vital means to successful policymaking and can be enhanced by combining geospatial methods with participatory learning and action. Based on a pilot study in Bhopal, India involving urban authorities, civil society organisations and experts in an informal settlement during Covid-19 lockdowns, we find that the obstacles to sustaining public participation are not technological, but arise from a lack of awareness of the added value of ‘second order solutions’. We outline key approaches that emphasise short-term, feasible, and low-cost ways to embed community voice into participatory spatial planning.European Union