Location-based challenges for playful neighbourhood exploration

Geertje Slingerland,Xavier Fonseca,Stephan Lukosch,Frances Brazier

doi:10.1080/0144929x.2020.1829707

Geertje Slingerland, Xavier Fonseca + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1080/0144929x.2020.1829707

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Abstract

ABSTRACT Location-based activities can challenge citizens to explore their neighbourhood in new playful ways. This paper presents a classification of such playful activities based on the literature and experience gained (1) in co-creation sessions and (2) gameplay for neighbourhood exploration with citizens in the Hague. The location-based game designed for this purpose encouraged neighbourhood exploration and social interaction that went beyond the everyday normal. Results showed that citizens are specifically interested in activities that allow them to discover new information about, and places in, their neighbourhood when these are related to their own life. The results of this paper provide new knowledge on game design to inform designers on which type of interactions and activities foster neighbourhood exploration and social interaction.

Highlights

Cities are complex and dynamic (Salim and Haque 2015; Mulder 2014), and often socially fragmented with disparate communities living near to each other while neighbours do not know each other (Gaventa 2004)
To investigate What kind of location-based activities do citizens prefer to interact with their neighbours and to playfully explore their neighbourhood?, this paper studies the influence of game dynamics, the purpose of neighbourhood exploration, and the role of physical surroundings and contextual information on social interaction in a specific neighbourhood in The Hague (NL)
Data from the open question survey, observation notes, and the challenges participants designed themselves provided insight into which kinds of challenge activities participants considered for social interaction and neighbourhood exploration

Summary

Introduction

Cities are complex and dynamic (Salim and Haque 2015; Mulder 2014), and often socially fragmented with disparate communities living near to each other while neighbours do not know each other (Gaventa 2004). The ultimate aim for cities is to increase social resilience and improve social cohesion within their neighbourhoods (Fonseca, Lukosch, and Brazier 2018; Manturuk, Lindblad, and Quercia 2012; Hampton and Wellman 2003). For this to work, citizens need to feel attached to and part of their neighbourhood: they need to know others in their neighbourhood to be able to participate (Zaff, Kawashima-Ginsberg, and Lin 2011; Manturuk, Lindblad, and Quercia 2012; Kim and Ball-Rokeach 2006; Li, Pickles, and Savage 2005)

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