Playing in place : what planners can learn from play

Public participation, though an integral part of Western contemporary planning practice, is largely viewed as lacking by academics, planning practitioners, and the public at large. The obstacles to more effective planning engagement are abundant: while critique from the lenses of academics and practitioners have been focused in the realm of institutional or structural issues or lack of interest or capacity on the part of the public, this thesis argues that a greater consideration of how people understand and engage with place on an everyday level is necessary. This thesis examines play in the context of planning and place, arguing for play as a component of public participation practice. It proposes play as a participation method that creates space for navigating different understandings of the built environment. Playful engagement with the built environment-whether in the form of manipulation of objects or in movement through space-provides a different lens through which participants view their surroundings. This thesis finds that this engagement with the built environment in this space of play allows for a reconciliation of differing understandings of place and a cultivation of agency within participants.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Urban Studies and Planning.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2014

Author dc:creator

• Chan, Gary (Gary Kun)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Brent Ryan.

• Urban Studies and Planning.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/90092

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/90092