The ludic production of space: gamification and spatial experience

Abstract

This thesis traces the changes in the spatiality of play with a focus on conceptual and structural transformations play has undergone in the modern times. These transformations lead to the dissolution of the boundaries between play space and physical space. Later, the emergence of gamification brings to the completion the fusion between play and life. With the development of location based social networks, gamification turns the spatial experience into a part of play. In order to understand the implications of this transformation, Lefebvre’s conception of the production of space is used as a conceptual tool. It is argued that play seeps into each element of the spatial triad and becomes a part of the production of space. The possibility of the creation of the differential space through gamification is discussed.