
Tackling housing and ageing challenges through play
CPC-CG member Professor Alasdair Rutherford is leading a team who are revolutionising housing and ageing planning through innovative ‘serious’ games.
The games are designed to build collaboration across housing, health, and social care sectors to address the challenges posed by an ageing population and inadequate housing infrastructure in the UK.
Founders Professor Vikki McCall and Professor Alasdair Rutherford from the University of Stirling lead Socialudo, a social enterprise set up to use serious play to help organisations with strategic and creative thinking and embedding evidence into their practice.
In the game Hopetown, players assume the roles of policymakers, service providers, community groups, or property developers, each with unique objectives. Working together, they strategise to improve the well-being of residents in the fictional town of Hopetown. Players navigate decisions with consequences extending into 2030 or 2040, allowing them to reflect on the long-term effects of their choices without the pressure of real-world constraints. The game encourages creative thinking and a holistic view of community planning.
Professor Rutherford explains the approach: “By stepping into roles outside their usual domain, players gain a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities faced by other stakeholders. The interactive environment fosters empathy, strategic thinking, and a focus on improving outcomes for older people.”
A pilot in Southwark brought together key stakeholders to address barriers to local housing partnerships, laying the groundwork for further pilots and eventual nationwide rollouts.
Building on the success of Hopetown, Professor Rutherford and his team are developing additional games to address other critical social challenges. One such game focuses on helping individuals and policymakers assess the suitability of homes for ageing and disability. By providing an engaging and collaborative platform, these games highlight the importance of future-proofing housing and communities while raising awareness of the needs of vulnerable populations.
The findings emerging from people playing the games, particularly of the critical role played by collaboration and co-production, highlight the importance of the Connecting Generations Intergenerational Living Innovation Hub. This is underscored by the increasing urgency to plan for an ageing population. By 2030, one in six people globally will be aged 60 or over, while the prevalence of disabilities in older age groups continues to climb.
The Hopetown project and its related games provide vital mechanisms for building partnerships, breaking down silos, and addressing disparities in housing quality, accessibility, and environmental resilience.
Find out more about the work of Socialudo.
Further reading
Othering older people’s housing: Gaming ageing to support future-planning (International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health)
Housing and ageing: Let’s get serious- “How do you plan for the future while addressing immediate chaos?” (Social Inclusion)
Developing local housing partnerships through ‘serious games’ (Socialudo and Social Care Institute for Excellence)
How board games can help health and care workers cope with a crisis (The Times)
Let’s seriously game higher education to tackle the challenges ahead (Times Higher Education)
Posted 03/02/2025 16:06
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