Background

‘MY WARSAW?’ was a series of Future City Games in Warsaw on the identity of the city, the placement of culture and business within the Polish capital, and the issue of centralisation within the city. The games were part of Warsaw's preparations for the title of the European Capital of Culture 2016.

The first game entitled “MY WARSAW? – the identity of the city. How to develop a feeling of identity with Warsaw ?” was played on the 5th of December in  Śródmieście Culture Centre on Smolna Street.

Objectives

Warsaw is a city with a fuzzy identity – torn between the past and visions of future, without a well-defined idea for the present. Its inhabitants, only one third of whom were born in Warsaw, do not identify closely with the city. The players of the Future City Game looked for ideas on how to change this. The ideas generated will be taken into consideration in Warsaw’s attempt to become the European Capital of Culture for 2016.

Winning idea

We fell in love with Warsaw

Identity is a relationship between a person and a place. Identity is created on a local level – through small initiatives that are noticed beyond the local level.

The winning idea is to make the façade of the Palace of Culture accessible to residents and to project pictures of their favourite places in Warsaw. The pictures will be uploaded through a website. Throughout the city there will be special booths in which you can take a photo with a favourite place in the background. The favourite places in Warsaw will be marked on a city map, and districts will compete to become the most favourite places in Warsaw.

Winning ideas from the other teams

Agent – a social project

The idea is to create a way of cooperating between the city and its residents. It would include assigning Agents – sociologists, active citizens, influencers or cafes, NGOs who would identify the potential of specific places and create plans to utilise it. Working between the administration and residents, they could improve the communication of needs, possibilities, ideas and rules.

Senses of Warsaw

We build our identity with the city on an everyday basis, through everyday activities. Identity is a set of beliefs connected with the city, which are based on different levels: the whole city, a district, a street, a backyard. We become used to our city andtend to stop thinking about the ways in which we function within the urban landscape. We need a new way of looking at our city through our senses, which is why we could initiate new festivals: a festival of light, scent, silence and taste.

Neighbourhood exchange

People choose anonymity and movement between their house, garage, workplace and supermarket isolating themselves from their neighbours and their closest surroundings. Neighbourhood exchange is a well-known initiative that integrates the community. One group of our players wanted to initiate a neighbourhood exchange, but they only managed to talk to four residents from the twenty-seven flats they visited. In spite of that, they managed to draw up a list of items to sell and stick it on the elevator wall – perhaps this will initiate such an exchange in the future.