The Housing Estate Game

Participation and public education are an important element in how spatial solutions for land development are perceived. Future design decisions (e.g. the location and form of a new housing estate or stadium) are often the subject of discussion, accompanied by a lack of spatial imagination, limited understanding of basic principles of spatial planning, as well as debates and emotions.

For this purpose, tools were developed to simulate the process of participation and education: card and board games that illustrate spatial structures of buildings on cards and in the form of 3D models, which can be explored in augmented reality (AR) using a smartphone. Along with the models, basic information about the buildings and urban indicators that characterise them were provided (including building density, proportion of biologically active area). The boards illustrate the area being developed, and the game pieces represent recognisable buildings which, in addition to the 3D model, can be touched and compared in scale thanks to 3D prints.