Under the label of “playful city” an emerging interdisciplinary field is currently addressing playful citizen creativity and engagement in future city policies. Various UU researchers currently work on these issues and wish to consolidate their efforts. On May 1 2019, a delegation from different UU departments met to discuss shared interests and collaborations. We…

The Mobile City is an independent research group founded in 2007 by Martijn de Waal and Michiel de Lange. The Mobile City investigates the influence of digital media technologies on urban life, and what this means for urban design and policy. How can we employ digital media technologies to make our cities more just, improve…

Platform-Scenography (P-S) is a network of and for professional scenographers and dramaturgs that investigates public (urban) space from a scenographic perspective. [urban interfaces] members Sigrid Merx and Liesbeth Groot Nibbelink are core members and initiators of the platform. P-S curates so-called live action research events in which they collectively explore and map urban spaces with…

This project aims to develop a network that will give visibility and strengthen the cooperation of the initiatives working towards ecological sustainability and social change in the Utrecht Region. Initiatives in the broadest sense of the word: from formal associations to citizen movements, social enterprises to neighborhood initiatives. This network puts initiatives on the map,…

Often, smart city initiatives assume that technology is universally beneficial. Yet, in practice, smart technology can empower or disempower, exclude or include stakeholders. Tensions occur because the impacts of technology on the city are not univocal: different people frame them differently. Acknowledging, debating, and acting upon controversies may help to shape responsible smart city futures. …