Belgian town redesigns playground with Roblox

The city of Roeselare will let kids decide on the style of the playground themselves through a digital environment

The city of Roeselare in Belgium plans to blend digitalisation with its child-friendly approach to urban planning. The city wants to redesign a playground in Pastoorsbos by using a virtual playspace in Roblox. This will be open to children and when the design is complete, the municipality will try and use as much of the Roblox project as possible.

The people who use the playground will be the ones designing it

One of the biggest innovations of the project is that the city of Roeselare in Belgium will use digital technology to democratise the creation of this playground. According to the city, the playground in Pastoorsbos will be renovated in 2024.

However, authorities do not have a clear plan for the redevelopment and do not know the final layout of the playground. Instead, what they plan to do is give that over to local children, who will use Roblox – a popular platform where users can create their own games and choose from an ever-expanding catalogue.  

City authorities have explained that this extra effort would be well deserved, considering that children would have the agency to design their own space. The project is being developed with the help of Howest University of Applied Sciences in the context of the European project NLAB4CIT.  

Inside the ‘game’, kids will have to work with a fictional budget and pick out their favourite outdoor play equipment from a drop-down menu and place it where they like it. Moreover, the work will be done in groups, where members will be able to let their imaginations run wild.

When the design phase of the project is complete, the city will try and incorporate as many of the children’s wishes as possible into the real-world redevelopment.

Screenshot from Roeselare's Roblox design space, Source: City of Roeselare