5 examples of ‘play’ in public places

Creating fun, interaction and engagement for a great customer experience

1. 99 tiny games - London Simple, easy to understand

games presented as part of the London 2012 festival and Olympic Games

Aimed to ‘bring the spirit of competition and fun to non-superhumans like us. We bet that if everyone stopped to play even for just a few minutes everyday the world would undoubtedly be a better place. 99 Tiny Games serves as a reminder to everyone to always be playful, no matter where you are.’

Source: hideandseek.net/projects/99-tiny-games/

2. Play Me I’m Yours

Pianos are placed around cities inviting the public to play

Results: Increasing community

engagement Wide spread media

attention Source:

http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2009/11/04/luke-jerram-play-me-im-yours/

3. City soccer field Idea: ‘We’d find crosswalk

with alot of people and wait for the light to turn green. A referee would then run onto the street, blow his whistle, and a pop-up soccer match would commence.’

Result:‘People were cheering at us and laughing out loud.’

4. Creating a play area - Plaza Bolívar To bring people together and ensure continued

use of space, a community painted a game board for children

Result: The intervention allowed architects, sociologists and artists to engage with the neighborhood in a spirit of collaborative play, sparking use of the plaza in surprising ways.

Source: http://www.thepolisblog.org/2012/10/reviving-plaza-through-collaborative.html

5. Journalling place – Sth Aust

Several journals where laid out over the city as a Places SA project to answer this and other questions: What does Adelaide mean to us as residents or visitors when we think about our connection or perhaps even disconnection with this city?

Source: http://annaliserees.blogspot.com.au/

Why do you need play? George Bernard Shaw once said : ‘We don’t stop

playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.’

Public spaces allow us to connect as humans. In a world of online, it’s the public areas in our retail precincts that are an advantage. Find ways to encourage people to interact together is key to keeping shopping strips alive.

Having walking areas (or public spaces), free from traffic, has been shown to increase the economic viablity of an area eg. Closing Madero Street in Mexico City to vehicles resulted in a four-fold increase in footfall and a five-fold increase in spending

What will you need to get started?Identify the needs and cultural assets of your place

Do a simple needs assessment, we can help

Agree on an activity that: Includes public participationDraws crowdsThinks big in terms of generating an impact!

Use this ppt for inspiration, search the web or try sites like: http://www.thefuntheory.com/

Promote your activity widely, draw a crowd Media, flyers, online, invitations, etc

Play away! And record what you’ve done to build on the experience for next time

What are you waiting for?

Let’s get playing!