A Game of Urban Resilience: Playing the Social-Ecological System of a Rapidly Developing Caledon, Ontario, Canada

Abstract

Considerable land in the Town of Caledon, located in Ontario, Canada, is protected by the Greenbelt including sections of the Niagara Escarpment and the Oak Ridges Moraine. Caledon is also subject to an expected rapid population increase, which is at the expense of cultural landscapes and ecosystem functions. As a rural town with agricultural industries and conservation authorities, provincial urban development pressures present Caledon as a case study for engaging with complex and interconnected social, ecological, and planning problems. Through the design of a serious game as a tool for community education and engagement in urban planning, this thesis investigates the relationship between sprawling urban form, ecological illiteracy, and the growing acceptance of environmental degradation.

A board game modelled on Caledon’s social-ecological systems, titled Paving Paradise, has been developed to generate dialogue and address the central conflict of urban sprawl, and positions social-ecological urbanism (SEU) frameworks as a solution. SEU is a method of urbanization that applies concepts of systems resilience against urban design, where social-ecological systems are maintained and supported through social institutions and built environments to enhance a city’s resiliency. Paving Paradise functions as a speculative planning model, where urban form is influenced by top-down policy, but transformed by community resilience, adaptation, and ecological stewardship. Designed for community members, the game assigns players distinct roles and asks them to balance individual objectives with collective success to build a socially and ecologically resilient Caledon. Through play, participants engage in dialogue that fosters empathy and encourages new perspectives on the many dimensions of resilient urban growth.

Games can serve as a medium to communicate and link complex ideas in accessible ways, giving agency to individuals not specifically trained in various aspects that impact their community. The designed game leverages the educational and engaging properties of game mechanics, acting as a method to communicate social-ecological systems while simultaneously fostering discussion, negotiation, and collaboration. Within this research, mapping is used to synthesize and extract Caledon’s existing social-ecological conditions, and SEU design proposals are illustrated and applied to a neighbourhood in Caledon to show improved human-nature connections, ultimately forming the narrative and logistical foundation of the game. The game’s core mechanics are adapted from an existing tile-laying board game centered on territorial expansion, but they are further informed by game theory and refined through multiple rounds of playtesting and participant interviews. Paving Paradise creates conditions for players to imagine and collaborate on a shared landscape, becoming an effective tool for collective learning and social mobilization.

Paving Paradise does not aim to provide solutions or design guidelines. Rather, it simplifies complex and interlinked ideas of policy, urban form, and social-ecological systems to offer a platform for engaging willing participants, in and out of Caledon, on creating and nurturing a resilient urban environment.