Design a city by playing a game.

1. The Hackable City Briefs edition 01
Pakhuis de Zwijger, Amsterdam
November 2015
THE CITY INNOVATION
GAME BUIKSLOTERHAM:
DESIGN A CITY
BY PLAYING A GAME

2. More than 30 stakeholders assembled in Pakhuis de Zwijger to Play the City –
Buiksloterham.

3. They are all part of the (re)development of Buiksloterham –
a brownfield transformation and regeneration project in the north of Amsterdam.

4. Scoring for Evaluation
The game became a ‘market place’, where players learned about each other’s goals
and formed alliances in order to achieve them.

5. Not only does the game ask ‘what if..?’,
it is also asks ’how to..?’

6. Energy Water Materials
Plug into regular grid
WATER USE
€ 250,000
€ 50,000
€ 1,000
households
250
households
50
1
household
households
250
households
50
1
household
Waste as building material
MATERIALS & WASTE RE-USE
—
- 10% on m2 price
- 20% on m2 price
- 25% on m2 price
—
Tesla powerwall battery
ENERGY STORE
Requires GENERATE: renewable energy.
€ 500,000
€ 100,000
€ 3,000
households
250
households
50
1
household
—
—
New collaborations were born, to tackle the complex challenges on the way to
realizing their collective goal: establishing a circular living and working community,
in Buiksloterham.

7. ‘There is no circularity without cooperation.’

8. Some important themes emerged...

9. 1. If the city is serious about endorsing the goals of a circular economy, should it
force future residents to comply with its principles?

10. How can rules for compliance be established, while at the same time leaving
room for experimentation and innovation? Should they be focused on achieving
goals, rather than prescribing the exact procedures to get there?

11. 2. New roles are emerging.
Architects, designers and other professionals are also ‘producers’ and ‘developers’,
in order to help realize collective goals.

12. Yet... the search for new business models, and legal contexts to facilitate these
new ways of city making has only just begun.

13. 3. Social opportunities should not be ignored.
Can sharing new forms of energy, like solar farms, trigger a social connection
between different neighbourhoods?

14. 4. Timing is important.
How can developers and self-builders synchronize their trajectories so that
important infrastructural decisions, and investments, can be made collectively?

15. What kind of systems can we design to make long-term investments in sustainable
technology lucrative in the here and now?

16. During future sessions, we’ll develop the City Innovation Game Buiksloterham
further to collaboratively find answers to these issues.

17. The City Innovation Game was developed by Play the City in close cooperation with The Hackable City, Pakhuis de Zwijger, Stadslab Buiksloterham and the Lectorate
of Play and Civic Media from the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences.
Play the City, http://www.playthecity.nl
Play the City is a consultancy practice that designs physical games as a method for collaborative decision making and conflict resolution. We tailor our games accord-
ing to the questions of our clients. These can relate to large urban projects, refugee camps, violence prevention and other multi-stakeholder challenges societies face.
We use gaming as a problem-solving method bringing top down decision makers together with bottom up stakeholders. In the accessible environment of games,
freed from the jargons, various ideas, plans and projects meet, conflict and collaborate towards negotiated outcomes.
Ekim Tan, Richard Pelgrim, Janine Loubser, Mariana Fabris and Maxim Amasov are contributors.
Hackable City, http://thehackablecity.nl
The Hackable City is an on-going research project on the role of digital media in the process of citymaking that has resulted from a cooperation between
One Architecture and The Mobile City Foundation. Current project partners are The University of Amsterdam, Utrecht University, The lectorate Play & Civic Media
of the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, Pakhuis de Zwijger, The Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations and Stadslab Buiksloterham.
The goal of this research project is to explore the opportunities as well as challenges of the rise of new media technologies for an open, democratic process of
collaborative citymaking. How can citizens, design professionals, local government institutions and others employ digital media platforms in collaborative processes
of urban planning, management and social organization, to contribute to a liveable and resilient city, with a strong social fabric?
Matthijs Bouw, Tara Karpinski, Froukje van de Klundert, Michiel de Lange, Martijn de Waal
Stadslab Buiksloterham, http://buiksloterham.nl
The area development of Buiksloterham is characterized by an open zoning plan, many opportunities for self-building, a cooperative process and room for
experimentation. Future residents, together with creative professionals, already launched several initiatives to help ensure that Buiksloterham will become a circular
neighborhood. Stadslab BSH offers a platform for all initiatives. Together with stakeholders a social and cultural agenda for the area is being developed to ensure the
(self-) organizing capacity of Circular Buiksloterham.
Pakhuis de Zwijger, https://dezwijger.nl
Pakhuis de Zwijger is a unique cultural organisation which opened its doors in 2006 and grew out to be an independent platform for and by the city of Amsterdam
and her inhabitants. The role of a city in the omnipresent transition to a sustainable society is complex. The creative and innovative approach to related issues has
become Pakhuis de Zwijger’s trademark. Under the name of New Amsterdam – City in Transition Pakhuis de Zwijger organises events about the urgent and complex
urban challenges of today.
Lectorate of Play and Civic Media / Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, http://www.hva.nl/onderzoek/hva-onderzoek/kenniscentra/lectoraten/item/
lectoraat-play-and-civic-media.html
The professorship Play and Civic Media of the Hogeschool van Amsterdam is researching the design and use of games and games for social innovation. We mainly
focus on the use of applied games and game applications in which participation, social connectedness, group dynamics and empowerment are key.