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Play and the City

On sale

8th July 2021

Price: £14.99

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Selected: Paperback / ISBN-13: 9781472144805

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Play is essential, for children but also adults. It’s how we relax and revitalise ourselves, build and maintain friendships, try new things, learn and innovate.

Cities have always been sites of play, bringing people together and pushing the boundaries of what is humanly possible. And now we need our cities to encourage and facilitate play of all kinds more than ever. If we want a world for our children to play in, we need to have a go at doing things differently.

A city that is enjoyable to live in – that provides welcoming spaces, plentiful resources, and an attitude of ‘yes, you can’ – is a playful city. A city that is good for eight-year-olds as well as eighty-year-olds is a city that’s good for all of us.

By looking at how different cities across space and time have sought to encourage and facilitate play, Bonham shows us how to conceptualise our own contemporary city as a game, and encourages us to become participants rather than spectators.

Play the city! Get involved, make a difference and help to bring your city back to life. There is help here to identify opportunities, build a team of friends and allies, take part – and win!

It’s time to make your move.

Reviews

Kete Books
The scope is broad and, like a literary game of parkour, the highly readable narrative jumps from one fast-paced fragment to the next - a string of facts, interlaced, but travelling in no defined direction ... Urges us to wander the city in wonderment: look up, look down, find a new shortcut. But most of all, turn up and join in