Abstract
Play is an essential part of life, a vital part of urban design, and in the case of Newcastle a possible panacea for late night inner-city anti-social behaviour. This paper introduces a pilot urban design project focused on the design of sets of interactive ‘henges’ across three central Newcastle city locations. Developed through collaborative design with the city council and local SMEs, these henges feature site-specific digital and sensor-based forms of interaction. They represent an innovative approach to shifting patterns of night-time anti-social behaviour within specific locations by re-imagining these sites as arenas for individual and social play. The henge sites aim to prompt discussion with city communities over the value of play within urban design and engage citizens in future smart city initiatives. This study discusses the challenges of deploying interactive technologies within urban social design, argues for the need to prioritise forms of play within smart city planning, and outlines a collaborative research design involving multiple urban stakeholders.
Presenters
Craig HightAssociate Professor, Humanities, Creative Industries and Social Sciences, University of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia Andrea Cassin
Lecturer, School of Humanities, Creative Industries and Social Sciences, University of Newcastle, Australia, New South Wales, Australia Mario Minichiello
Professor, Visual Communication Design, The University of Newcastle, Australia Clare Irvine
Lecturer, School of Humanities, Creative Industries and Social Sciences, University of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia Jon Drummond
Associate Professor, School of Creative Industries, College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle, Australia, New South Wales, Australia Simone O'Callaghan
Senior Lecturer, College of Human and Social Futures, University of Newcaslte, New South Wales, Australia Paul Egglestone
Director FASTLab, Humanities, Creative Industries and Social Sciences, University of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Social design, Interactive media, Collaborative design, Sensors
