Playable Cities Bring the Fun Back to City Life

Julian Baggini writes for Guardian Cities in anticipation of the Making the City Playable event by telling of the recent, conspicuous efforts of the movement as well as the underlying ethos behind playable city installations and events: "Although their work is in many ways disparate, three key ideas bring them together. First, that cities create problems of living that can only be addressed by collective action. Second, the sense that the well-being of communities cannot be left to local authorities; citizens need to take control of their own surroundings. Third, an optimism that we can do more than just tackle problems one by one. By encouraging public activities that actively bring joy, we can create a happier, more cohesive urban future."

The article includes a lot more insight into the motivations and politics of playable city efforts, such as the critical observation: "[for] the playable city to thrive, it requires cooperation from local authorities." The article also includes multiple examples of the various shapes playable city efforts can adopt. For instance, the winner of the 2014 Playable City award, called Shadowing, which will activate on September 11, 2014 in Bristol.