When I designed this framework to compare the different models for cities, little did we know that many of the insights and ideas that people put forward for the Transformed by You programme were closest to the Playful City, from WIMBY parties to popup student markets. Did you know there was an award for the solutions that best match the Playful City? Here’s the winner for 2014 below. How did they use the award money?
“They focused on creating infrared sensor systems that could be hidden away inside the city’s existing streetlights. This technology allowed them to capture the movements of pedestrians as they passed beneath the lights and then play them back as shadows to the next passer-by, leaving a glimpse of those who walked the same path moments before. If a visitor stepped out of the light to watch for a while, the lamp would begin to ‘dream’, recalling a procession of shadows from earlier visitors.”
