The participatory game resonates with the public. Data, themes and insights from the first year of Your City, Your Space
We found out that outdoor game stations genuinely engage the public. In total, 272 visitors took part in the participatory game. Collecting stamps on a card and the chance to receive a small reward at the end proved motivating not only for children, but often for adults as well. The most popular games were My Story (an outdoor graph about participants) and Our City (a wheel of fortune inviting participants to view the city through the eyes of people with different needs). The Prague Tomorrow memory game was perceived as more challenging, especially by children, as instead of matching identical images, each pair connects a current view of a place in Prague with its possible future form. You can find more about the game stations and the event in the first article of this series.
Children were overall the most engaged group of visitors – 48% of participants were under the age of 10, followed by young people aged 11–20, who made up 28%. In one location, pupils took part directly during school hours as a follow-up to the workshop; elsewhere, children arrived after school with friends or accompanied by parents. Another notably represented group were adults aged 36–50, who accounted for 12% of participants. These were most often parents picking up children from school, parents on parental leave, or other active local residents.
Besides the weather, a major factor influencing attendance was the level of promotion by the local municipality and primary school, as well as the event’s location. In neighbourhoods where we were stationed in a busy spot and promotion was stronger, turnout was noticeably higher. Most visitors arrived in pairs or small groups – friends, parents with children, or couples. Among children, the ratio of girls and boys was generally even, while adult participants were predominantly women. Many visitors discovered the event by chance and were drawn in by its visual design and the stamp-collecting principle. For some the game stations appeared from the outside to be aimed mainly at children; however, actively approaching hesitant passersby proved effective, and most ultimately joined in.
One of the questions within My Story focused on how people use public space. Most commonly, respondents spend time there with friends or family (30%) or engage in sports and other physical activities (26%). A significant share also attend cultural and social events (14%), while for 13% of participants, public space primarily functions as a place they simply pass through.
Many visitors also wanted to discuss broader questions related to how the city functions and everyday life in Prague or their district, conversations we very much welcome. Recurring topics reflected long-standing frustrations, including traffic congestion and the difficulty of finding effective solutions, urban development without sufficient communication, concerns about the loss of street trees, and challenges linked to the housing crisis.
While there are no simple answers to these complex issues, we aim to offer people at least a deeper insight into how the city is planned and managed, as well as into specific projects related to their questions. At the district level, discussions often turned to local history, ways of taking part in local decision-making, what works well and is valued in the area, and what people feel is missing – such as more greenery or cultural and sports opportunities for youngsters.
Beyond the stops within the Your City, Your Space project, the participatory game has also appeared at other events organized by the Prague Institute of Planning and Development and the Prague City Hall. We also now loan the game stations for municipal events and for activities run by organizations focused on public space.
The Your City, Your Space project begins in each location with a workshop involving students from the upper grades of local primary school. More on how we open up the topic of urban participation with children in the next article.