Introducing Urban Renewal - the Board Game

AJ Artemel dishes on Toronto-based artist Flavio Trevisan's art piece/board game The Game of Urban Renewal, which allows participants to play with the fate of Regent Park, "an intense locus of the city's urban renewal efforts since 1947."

"In the game, players can assume one of the following roles: City Councilor, Developer, Community Activist, City Planning Employee, Man-On-The-Street, Academic Urban Theorist, Resident of Existing Development to be Demolished, Mayor, Random Federal Politician, Skyscraper Enthusiast, or Garbage Man," explains Artemel. "They take turns spinning the ‘Decision Engine Wheel' which gives them license to place various types of development (condominium, office, commercial, park, etc.) on the board. Sometimes, players are given the option to bulldoze development, in which case they can use the ‘Tabula Rasa Rake' to sweep any amount of placed development from the board. As all of this happens, the city evolves."