Playful digital interventions in placemaking: Constructing a typology for playable digital interventions in public spaces (PDIPS)

While digital interventions in urban public spaces have been widely discussed in recent years in terms of their playability and their engaging design features, however, research on different types of playable digital interventions in urban public spaces from the perspective of urban design is relatively limited. This paper examines current precedents of playable digital intervention to develop a typological classification of open-ended Playable Digital Interventions in Public Space (PDIPS). With a focus on the applicability of playable digital elements to urban design, this paper collects relevant PDIPS representative precedents through association words online searching, then classifies the precedents by common feature extraction, and finally performs secondary analysis on the types to derive corresponding subtypes according to related theories. This paper identifies 5 main types and 11 sub-types of PDIPS typology, which are thematically organized by space composition, spatial perception, interactive mechanism, technology application, and implementation direction. The discussion on the applicability of playable digital elements to urban design in this paper provides insights into how such interventions can enhance public spaces and improve the urban experience for people. It also explores the potential and possibility of embedding such interventions in future urban design, offering guidance to urban designers.