The Workshop
City Fresco is a serious game that engages participants in collaborative dialogue on urban transitions and resilience. Designed by dixit.net with support from ADEME, this workshop helps diverse urban stakeholders - elected officials, local authority technicians, developers, students, and residents - understand systemic effects in urban development by examining interconnections between land use planning, construction, transportation, waste management, health, and climate considerations.
Why It Matters
Cities are central to climate and sustainability challenges, and decisions made in urban planning profoundly affect quality of life, environmental outcomes, and climate resilience. This workshop is essential for moving beyond siloed sectoral visions to understand how energy systems, transportation networks, building practices, and land use planning interconnect. This systems perspective is vital for elected officials, urban planners, and developers to make informed decisions that balance economic, social, and environmental goals.
Good to Know
More than 1,500 people from diverse backgrounds have participated in City Fresco, including elected officials, local authority technicians, developers, promoters, and students. The workshop uses 38 cards and minimal materials (paper, post-its, markers, tape) and runs for approximately 1.5 hours of gameplay plus an additional 30 minutes of structured debriefing. It was created through collaboration between urban planning and research specialists with institutional support.
What to Expect
The workshop engages teams of 5-8 participants who work collaboratively to position and link cards representing different urban dimensions and their systemic relationships. With facilitator guidance, participants discover connections between land use, construction, transportation, waste, health, and climate impacts. After establishing their system understanding, participants engage in a structured debriefing to explore implications and identify priority transitions needed for their specific urban context.