A Guide For Creating A Playable City
Explores the idea of a "Playable City" as an ecosystem of playable opportunities intertwined within the existing urban infrastructure that doesn't just disrupt our daily lives but adds to it. Looking at how play can begin to exist in everyday spaces, and encourage people to think about these spaces that could become PLAYces: like a crosswalk, laundromat, building facade, sidewalk, bus stop, or just the everyday space in-between. How these often once dull or underutilized situations can turn into stimulating, creative outlets for social interaction and community activity through the idea of play.
The guide is designed for municipalities, city officials, and city stakeholders, but also architects, planners, creatives, institutions, and just community advocates looking at creating better places for people. The guide is set up to dissect how play impacts four major trending values in cities such as Economic value, Social value, Health, and Identity. In no way is the guide the only way to utilize or evaluate play within the development of our urban fabric, but instead a starting point for conversation. Our hopes are that this is just the beginning and that this guide can be manipulated, criticized, and further developed by an ongoing conversation and look into the importance of play within our everyday built environment. This research and guide were made possible by The British Council, Watershed, Arts Council England, and UWE Bristol.
