Playful urban space invites you to new experiences

The desire for more playful and gamified elements in Turku's urban space is shared by about half of the people in Southwest Finland. According to game researchers, it is important not to force gamification on people. Instead, the city should provide opportunities for it.

A ‘playful city’ is a concept that guides urban development, where public spaces and architecture encourage play, games and creativity. In their ongoing research project, Professor Jaakko Suominen and Senior Researcher Jukka Vahlo are investigating the role of play and games in the urban space experience in Turku.

A survey conducted by the researchers found that about half of the people in Southwest Finland would like to see more opportunities for play and games in Turku’s open urban spaces. Opinions are sharply divided, however, as the other half do not want this type of activity in the city.

“It is important not to force games or play on people, because not everyone is interested in them. The urban space does not need to dictate where and how you can play. Instead, it should provide opportunities and space for play. We don’t necessarily need a new skate park, for example, but rather create elements that attract people to different activities,” says Professor Suominen.

Professor Jaakko Suominen (left) and Senior Researcher Jukka Vahlo (right) investigate the role of play and games in the urban space experience in Turku, Finland.

People who want Turku to be a more playful city hope to see more opportunities for exploration and discovery in the urban space. They want to discover new things in a familiar city and be surprised. In practice, this could mean information tidbits about the city’s history, various activity checkpoints, or events such as the Path of Light, where works of art are integrated into the urban space.

People interested in a more playful city also hoped that Turku had more:

• opportunities for creative play, such as activities for families with children and community art events
• competitions, group exercise, and solving challenges together
• community games or play for meeting new people
• places for physical activity, such as obstacles or parkour courses

For some of the people who did not want more playfulness in their urban space, the reason was a sense of shame. Some also found it difficult – or physically impossible – to properly engage in play. A proportion of the respondents would rather be doing something else or felt that playful activities were a waste of time. Others felt that they were not in the target group for play and games.

Professor Jaakko Suominen has been involved in organising a Zombie Run event in Pori, where some of the participants run an agreed distance as ‘survivors’ while being chased by people dressed as zombies. Suominen notes that play in an urban space can be, for example, participation in these types of activities that offer opportunities for exercise, dressing up, or just being a spectator.

According to the game researchers, the sense of shame associated with playing can be alleviated by events that require you to behave differently than you normally would.

In recent years, gamification has been a widely discussed idea, where the appeal of games is applied to other context, such as education, fitness or work. According to the game researchers, at its best, gamification can increase a person’s motivation to learn something new or for rehabilitation. However, they stress that gamification cannot be applied to just any activity to make it more engaging.

For example, they see risks in the gamification of work if the aim is to improve work engagement, for example, by creating competition within the work community or by inventing various external reward systems.

“Our study has shown that people who wanted more playfulness and games in the urban space had an above-average positive attitude towards the city of Turku and were more interested in the city’s history and affairs. Perhaps adding more playful and game-like elements to urban spaces would make people feel more connected to the city,” says Senior Researcher Vahlo.

 

Text: Jenni Valta

Photos: Hanna Oksanen

Translation: Alisa Helander

 

Subscribe to the Science Newsletter of the University of Turku

Discover more science articles in our Aurora online magazine