October 16th-17th, 2015

  Presented by Paola Rizzi & Aphorme

    Banca Naţională a României, sucursala Cluj. Sala de conferinte , Piaţa Unirii, Nr. 7

Title:  How to build a community: using gaming simulations for urban planning

Duration:  7 hours  / workshop session

Participants: minimum 15 participants –  maximum 35 / workshop session

Schedule: 10.00 –  18.00 (13.00 – 14.00 lunch break).

The first workshop session will take place on Friday, October 16th 2015, and the second Saturday, October 17th 2015, following the same schedule and content. Participants are kindly asked to specify in their registration emails if they have any preference for the session they want to be in, and we will try, depending on possibilities to accommodate those requests.

Brief workshop presentation

This workshop is intended for all those interested in the processes of developing a community. We chose the term ”community” and not ”city”, or ”urban area”, because – although we find ourselves among architects and urban planners – it is never just about designing a space or building a building. It is mostly about the people that are going to live in said building, about the people who are going to inhabit the space. Hence, we approach community development from a participatory standpoint, where we make it all about the people.

In order to obtain sustainable urban development and a thriving community, one needs to know all the important players, understand their specific needs and actively involve them in the development process. And what better way to learn how to do that, then to test is out in a risk free environment. Gaming simulation has proved to be an important tool for urban planning because it provides such a risk free and also fun environment, where all parties have a chance to learn how to interact and work with each other. You get to test it out, without any financial losses or angry mobs.

During this workshop we are going to explore urban dynamics using the multiple lenses provided by urban planning and social and community psychology. The main part of the workshop consist of a demonstration of an urban planing simulation game that highlights the decision making process for urban planning and a game that shows how inter individual differences can and should be integrated. These will provide the basis for the discussion and allow participants to see how games offer a medium for community development. The purpose here is twofold:  to identify the relevant actors in the decision making processes related to urban planning, and to understand human interaction that leads to community formation and the way it impacts collective memory and communication.