Today's focus was on urban planning and development. After an extensive walking tour of old Bangalore we were able to compare how the city was built in the past to what it looks like today and how it has changed.
We visited a non-profit organization called Fields of View where they design spaces for various groups of people to enable dialogues about issues faced by cities. They do this using games and simulations. Specifically, today students worked on the city planning game. Students were split in to two teams and worked in different rooms. We started with a single block "building" labeled Town Hall. We took turns adding buildings to the city space. The only rule was that after a building was placed, it could not be moved. This went on for a number of rounds until many buildings were placed.
At the end we were asked the question, would you want to live in the city you just built why or why not? This was an opportunity to reflect and think critically. There were three important components integrated as part of the game, learning, participatory planning, and decision making. After we finished planning the city we talked about some of the choices we made and what we should've done differently while also keeping in mind the original question. We were also able to look at the other team's city and compare the various planning and collaboration methods. It was interesting to learn about each group's dynamics and the execution of building the city. We agreed that one of the most significant elements of a city is a strong metro transit system, which we noticed Bangalore somewhat lacks.
Lastly, some very insightful questions were raised about how we could change the game simulation and how this city planning correlates to real city planning. These questions revolved around adaptation of the city scape due to growth and how the game would change if we considered the stakeholders in the private and public sectors individually. It was a fun and interactive way to think about applied real world issues and solutions.
