The Future City Game

The British Council with the Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) and Urbis began developing the Future City Game during 2006. The starting point for partners was the need to develop a process which stimulated creative thinking whilst also generating new ideas for city development.

This Local Work outlines the way in which the Game is played, including what makes its approach innovative, and highlights practical outputs from around the world. CLES’ experience of acting as ‘games-master’ in Blackburn with Darwen is highlighted as a case study, demonstrating how the Game can be used to inform local economic and community development. Finally we present our current work with the Game, including work in the South West of England undertaken as part of the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion 2010.