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BMW Guggenheim Lab: Urbanology Game
Part urban think tank, part community center and public gathering space, the BMW Guggenheim Lab was conceived to inspire public discourse in cities around the world and through the Lab’s website and online social communities.
BMW Guggenheim Lab launched its first mobile laboratory, led by international, interdisciplinary teams of emerging talents in the areas of urbanism, architecture, art, design, science, technology, education, and sustainability on August 3, 2011. This past weekend marked the close of phase one in a creative exploration of new ideas, experimentation, and ultimately the creation of forward-thinking solutions for city life. New York was the first stop of a six year program, which will ultimately make its way to nine major cities world wide.
What is the Lab?
The public is invited to attend and to participate in free programs and experiments at the Lab. In addition, the BMW Guggenheim Lab website and social communities provide opportunities for participants around the world to engage with and to contribute to the ideas and experiments generated by the Lab.
Urbanology Game Presents Residents with Real World Urban Delimas
Urbanology is a game conducted within the BMW Guggenheim Lab , which examines the complex ways in which cities develop. It puts participants in charge of their own city by presenting them with a variety of real-world urban dilemmas. Every decision made impacts their city negatively or positively; often in ways that might not be expected. The accumulated impacts build a matrix of priorities for the participants future city. This matrix can then in turn be compared to the equivalent matrices of real-world cites. At the end of the game, a custom algorithm takes eight major categories (innovation, transportation, health, affordability, wealth, lifestyle, sustainability, and livability) into account, and then calculates the closest real-world equivalent to the city you've created.
As the BMW Guggenheim Lab makes its way around the world, they are documenting the process and feedback through their travel diary blog. The blog is a forum for to digest and find context for the ideas that being encountered as the Lab makes its journey.
Next stop on the BMW Guggenheim Lab tour?
Berlin and Mumbai. We will keep our readers posted as more cities are scheduled, results are published and new interactive games are available.
About the Author
Founder and CEO at Urban Interactive Studio
Chris Haller heads up Urban Interactive Studio (UIS), a technology consulting firm specializing in web and mobile solutions for urban planning agencies and firms. He's the founder of EngagingCities.com where he helps urban planners understand and use the Internet and gives practical advice.
