How To Make Cities More Fun

For starters: Talking mailboxes, videogames for pedestrians waiting to cross the street and cartoon animals on the sidewalk Let’s face it: Urban living can be kind of grim. People become isolated from each other. They get trapped in routine. They grow so familiar—and bored—with their surroundings that they hardly notice them anymore. Now artists, scientists, business and civic officials around the world are trying to get their cities to lighten up. It’s a movement I’ve seen firsthand working with the Imagineering Institute in Malaysia. Building on the idea of interactive public art, these disparate groups of people, including me and my colleagues, are taking to the streets and setting up projects that add some fun to people’s days. Imagine mailboxes that can hold conversations with passersby. Gadgets that project moving cartoon animals onto walls and pavements. A machine that lets you play a videogame while waiting to cross the street.