Smart City Engagement through Games

A new town development in Germany developed a game that promotes future mobility solutions to their future citizens. The game called MiniLautern created a city mobility simulation where the general public can participate in informing a more sustainable mobility solution. Citizens can play the game by creating a fictional character and design a specific mobility need for them. The game then offers various routes that were generated to educate and raise awareness of the shift away from private vehicle use towards public multimodal mobility services. This game then collects data of possible mobility needs that can be translated into the developing the new smart city district. By using a typical game, gamification patterns, and psychological theories, the MiniLautern introduces the players to the new sustainable mobility measures of the new town and slowly changes the habits of future residents. The game was also designed with a flexible architecture so that it can be easily adjusted for future circumstances. 

Reference:

Elberzhager, F., Mennig, P., Polst, S., Scherr, S., & Stüpfert, P. (2021). Towards a digital ecosystem for a smart city district: Procedure, results, and lessons learned. Smart Cities, 4(2), 686-716.