Play Before Plan: Games for the Public and Planners to Value the Street

Abstract

Games invite people to escape reality, test new skills, and have fun. Location-based games can also encourage players to explore their environment and make new connections between what they see around them and what they envision to be possible. I designed three mobile-based games that challenge urban planners and policymakers to experience the complex cultural economies of Rye Lane, a rapidly evolving, multicultural London high street. The games invite players to learn from its micro businesses in ways that can inform more nuanced conceptions of the street and policies to support it. The goal of the games is to foster productive feedback loops between street-level practices and city-making policies.