In this session, the discussion focusses on strategies to engage citizens in the hybrid city.

Anne Nigten, director of the Patching Zone, an transdisciplinary media-lab in Rotterdam, where Master, doctor, post-doc students and professionals from different backgrounds develops participative technology applications. The Patching Zone brings together people from different disciplines together with experts and end users. Playing is a central theme in their projects. In places that suffer from vandalism, the Patching Zone is called in to introduce a solution and through audience participation.

In Go for IT!, they developped an interactive game that could be played on the street tiles in Rotterdam. Purpose was to deal with youth hanging out on the street and causing distress in the public space.

In Recycle-X, the assignment was to mobilise the people in the street to revitalise their street in an eco-friendly way through artistic and design interventions and events. The project was a partnership with artist initiative Noordkaap and local  entrepreneurs.

Video below: talk by Anne Nigten at ‘Designing the Hybrid City’