What is Speculative Design

The chapter explores disruptive uses of serious games to achieve radical urban visions through the presentation and critical discussion of three recent case studies developed in graduate and postgraduate university courses. The chapter addresses the underpinnings of game-based design practices and discusses their untapped potential to spark imagination and bring about new urban visions. The focus is on subverting the expectations of the aims, methods, and results of spatial design projects in the context of higher educational institutions. Most importantly, games and play are used to radically address pressing technical, societal, and environmental topics in a disruptive way, generating new urban visions that push the limits of what is considered probable, desirable, and even imaginable.