A Serious Game Proposal for Exploring and Designing Urban Sustainability

Abstract

This contribution reports on part of the research carried out in the development of a digital serious game to explore and design urban sustainability. The work investigates the application of role-playing logics in urban transformation planning processes. Digital technologies support the participatory process and allow users to learn, interact and discuss the effectiveness of solutions when co-designing quality conditions for the everyday living environment and the sustainable development of their area. The method intends to develop procedures and simulations that aim to clarify and verify the results that transformations can have on the area’s ecological footprint. During the game, players gain knowledge and awareness of the individual behaviour changes and the built environment trasformations, necessary in order to impact their areas as sustainably and as little as possible. Prefiguring resilient and sustainable urban habitats, increasing user awareness of the need to adopt more responsible behaviours, increasing ability of the built environment to meet community needs by practising low environmental impact lifestyles: these key aspects are observing at all phases of the design process. This paper describes the progress of research carried out on the construction of the structure and rules of the game, developed prior to testing the method in the context of the municipality of Rescaldina, in the Milan metropolitan area.