The Ludic City: Exploring the Potential of Public Spaces [Paperback]

This international and illustrated work challenges current writings focussing on the problems of urban public space to present a more nuanced and dialectical conception of urban life.

Detailed and extensive international urban case studies show how urban open spaces are used for play, which is defined and discussed using Caillois' four-part definition  competition, chance, simulation and vertigo. Stevens explores and analyzes these case studies according to locations where play has been observed: paths, intersections, thresholds, boundaries and props.

Applicable to a wide-range of countries and city forms, The Ludic City is a fascinating and stimulating read for all who are involved or interested in the design of urban spaces.

Introduction: The 'Function' of Urban Public Space  1. A Theorisation of Everyday Urban Social Life  2. Understanding Play in Public  3. The Spatiality of Social Interactions  4. How to Study Play in Cities  5. Paths  6. Intersections  7. Thresholds  8. Boundaries  9. Props  10. The Shape of Urban Play: 1960s Functionalism Revisited  11. The Dialectics of Urban Play: Fun Follows Form, Fun Follows 'Function'

Featuring extensive observation of behaviours in public spaces and detailed studies of Melbourne, London, Berlin, New York and Brisbane, this book represents a fresh and detailed depiction of play in the specific context of urban public space.