Serious Urban Play

Serious Urban Play is an online platform-friendly multiplayer game for urban planning education. It articulates the complex roles of spatial planning and allows students to collaborate on the spatial planning and design of an urban district. The aim of the game is to accommodate a community of 1500 households within a 1500m x 1500m playing surface whilst ensuring the community has a balance of happiness, environmental outcomes, economic viability and mobility. Can be played on any touch device, including smartphones, tablets and PCs

GRANT/FUNDER
Sunshine Coast Council project, 2013
TEAM
Ben Rolfe, Nicholas Hansen, Nicholas Stevens, Christian Jones
PARTNERS
International
STATUS
Current
URL
Playing the game here
OUTCOMES
This is the first ‘fit for purpose’ teaching and learning tool for urban planning with an open-ended, collaborative experience. The design of the game, its impact on education pedagogy and player experience and learnings have been published in peer-reviewed articles.
MEDIA
Planning Institute of Australia - Overall Winner 2018
Planning Institute of Australia - Winner - Cutting Edge Research and Teaching 2018
Urban Design Awards - Commendation for leadership and research 2019