Gaming the Real World

Can games change the world? With cities everywhere struggling to cope with the population growth that increased urbanisation brings, can video games be harnessed to help the residents, especially young people, take part in planning, and fixing their own cities? Today public spaces and entire cities are being designed, planned and played through the medium of games. The result of this ‘civic gamification’ is that city architecture and urban planning is being democratized. Cities have become the ground zero for digital innovation and the debate about how our cities evolve has suddenly gone viral. We follow three game companies navigating the space where urban planning and gaming meet. Lydia Winters at the game developer Mojang, the creators of Minecraft, Paradox Interactive and the game Cities: Skylines and José Sanches and his indie game Block’hood. How will our cities look in 20 – 100 years time?