“Stone soup”: A participatory urban game for better planning practices

Abstract

If urbanism and architecture have the tools to conduct urban planning practices, when the objective is to adopt a participatory approach, there are several ways to implement it. "Stone Soup” is an urban game that aims to improve urban planning practices through community participation. More specifically, we developed it, considering adaptation and mitigation to climate change on the one hand, and urban health on the other. The name derives from a Portuguese myth in which a substantial soup is made from sparing ingredients. In the game form, it was developed in the context of the CliCCHE Erasmus+ project, integrating a participatory approach. In this article, we will review participatory approaches in architecture and in urban planning in the Portuguese context. After that, we will describe the “Stone Soup” urban game, one of the methodological tools proposed in the context of CliCCHE. This tool aims to take the perspectives of different social actors into account, from residents and local associations to municipal technicians, architects, and academic professionals, and to encourage urban planning strategies more adequate to the present and to the climate challenges of our cities, promoting equal and horizontal participation.