Alexis Şanal creates City Making 101 card game for urban planning role play

Architect Alexis Şanal has created an urban planning card game where users are given a set of prompts and urban elements to turn "the challenge of urban design into a lively, creative adventure".

City Making 101 is a role-playing and debate-focused game created by Alexis Şanal of Istanbul-based studio Open Urban Practice and ŞANALarc where players imagine design guidelines for a city or public space.

"City Making 101 turns the challenge of urban design into a lively, creative adventure," said the team. "Through role-playing and spirited debates, players dream up ideal environments, tackle real-world design problems, and craft creative yet practical solutions."

The game is played through role-play, similar to the fantasy tabletop game Dungeons and Dragons. Each player selects and builds a character such as a "resident", an "expert" or "local government", while a facilitator presides over gameplay and lays out a picture of the environment.

Individual players are then given a series of cards that detail urban elements or policies, such as "interstitial spaces", "car parking", or "universal accessibility" and sort the cards by priority. The game then transitions into debate, with the aim of convincing others to select priority cards.

The selected cards are gradually placed at the centre of the group to build the city or public area.

Designed for professional designers and the general public, the intent is that players learn more about the urban planning experience and take away ideas "to spark real-world change".

"Whether you're gathering with colleagues, friends, or fellow city enthusiasts, City Making 101 offers a chance to bring bold ideas to life and spark real-world change – one card at a time," said the team.

With degrees from SCI-Arc and MIT, Şanal was inspired to make the game from her own work experience as an urban planner.

"It's a creative and accessible way for anyone – whether a professional or a curious citizen – to explore, debate, and shape the future of our shared spaces," said the team.

Other design-focused card games include a merge of Uno and I Spy designed by children and an Ikea tarot deck set informed by the company's manual instructions.

The photography is courtesy of Griyer

Project credits:
Project founder: OPEN URBAN PRACTICE / openurbanpractice.com
Project founder, chief editor: Alexis Şanal
Researcher: Semra Horuz
Project coordinators: Dilşad Aladağ, Muhammad Abdullatif, Ulufer Çelik, Ahmet F. Yenice
Interns: Julie Brun, Keimpke Zigterman
Graphic design: Okay Karadayılar
Visual curators using Midjourney and ChatGPT: Metehan Özcan, Selva Gürdoğan, Esra Kahveci, Alexis Şanal
Illustrations: Mrinë Godanca
Editor: Erica Olsen
Project manager: Jake Anderson
Photos / Production: GRIYER (Eslem Serra Özen, Mehmet Akif Sarı, İrem Mert)
ORO Editions Publishers of Architecture, Art, and Design
Publisher: Gordon Goff

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