Urban (Digital) Play and Right to the City: A Critical Perspective

Eunice Castro Seixas

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.636111

Abstract

In this paper I discuss the concept of the right to the city in articulation with the concept of urban play and more specifically, the diverse body of research related with playable and playful cities. Following a brief review of these two concepts and related studies, I critically discuss the possibilities of articulating Lefebvre's radical concept of the right to the city to contemporary interventions on urban and digital play.

Highlights

Urban play is not a new concept, it is becoming increasingly pervasive in the language and scholarly work on place-making, design and urban planning, in regard to smart or digital cities
The right to the city should be conceptualized from a transdisciplinary, multistakeholder and inclusive perspective, building from the dialogue between civil society members, decision-makers, scholars and practitioners from several fields
The emphasis on a fair and inclusive participatory process is a concern shared by scholars working within the framework of playable cities with the goal of co-creating “an engaging and empowering participatory place to live” (Slingerland et al, 2020, p. 3), and of fostering “civic conversation” (Innocent, 2020, p. 27)

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Urban play is not a new concept, it is becoming increasingly pervasive in the language and scholarly work on place-making, design and urban planning, in regard to smart or digital cities. I would like to suggest that, despite its diversity, this research appears to share: an assumption that play has an intrinsic social value; that playfulness should not be limited to places or activities traditionally linked to play (like playgrounds or thematic parks); a preference for participatory approaches that recognize the importance of the inhabitants’ lived experiences as well as their power to introduce playful applications in the urban environment that contribute to improve their daily lives This is nicely summed up by Nijholt (2017): “Whether a smart city is playful depends very much on how residents experience the city and how the city stimulates “playful play.” Not all types of play hold this potential for social change, as many of its current manifestations are officially sanctioned and controlled, designed to promote private and commercialized forms of leisure, or to increase urban entrepreneurialism

DISCUSSION

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT