Città ludiche, città in gioco, città giocate

This chapter aims at exposing some theoretical and methodological premises about the study of urban semiotics and, subsequently, at identifying and analyzing the cultural areas in which urban play appear to rise more vigorously and to assume the most interesting forms. Firstly, we will focus on the city, approached as a complex “communicative machine” with inner workings similar to a text, and thus as a construct that can be read, written and rewritten. Also the phenomenon of digitalization will be approached thoroughly in its relationships with the city and, in particular, paying attention to its consequences and effects on the urban fabric and the ways the latter is experienced. The second part of this chapter, on the other hand, will be consecrated to playfulness, analyzing the cultural context of ludification and then focusing on the the ways in which play and games can be used to stimulate new readings, writings and enunciation of the urban territory. Many forms of play, as gamification, urban and pervasive games and location based games will be also approached in the light of their relationships with the city. Finally, the last paragraph will focus on the interactions that occur between playfulness and digital constructs when related to urban realities. In particular, thorough the analysis of phenomena as Google street view photo–bombings and the creation of artificial, digital cities in video games, we will try to shed some light on the ways play can be used on the digital versions of the cities in order to affect real–life urban areas.