Sara Candiracci & Dasha Moschonas – Cityscapes Reimagined: The Playful Approach to Urban Design

Sara Candiracci and Dasha Moschonas, authors of the “Playful Cities Design Guide,” will explore the integration of play into urban design. The guide offers innovative ideas for embedding playful elements into city planning suitable for all age groups. In their masterclass, they will discuss how to incorporate play elements in urban spaces, design inclusive play areas for diverse demographics, and highlight the significance of play in skill development and fostering a connection with our environment. This session promises a deep dive into the transformative power of play in urban settings.

About Sara Candiracci and Dasha Maschonas

Sara Candiracci is an urban planning and development expert, and a social researcher, with more than two decades of experience in designing and leading programmes and projects focused on more equitable, inclusive, healthy and resilient cities. She is Arup’s Global Social Value & Equity Leader, driving the firm’s ambition to embed social value & equity knowledge and practice in all disciplines across the business, to elevate the social impact of Arup’s projects. Prior to Arup, she has worked with UN Agencies, Development Banks and NGOs, establishing and implementing urban development projects and programmes together with cities and partners in Africa, Latin America and South-East Asia. She holds a PhD in urban planning, with a thesis on the role of cultural heritage in place-making and sustainable development in East Africa. Examples of her work are the Proximity of Care Design Guide; the Playful Cities Design Guide: Play for Anyone, Anywhere; and the Cities Alive Publication Designing Cities that work for Women. Her work has been featured in several articles, including by dezeen, Forbes, BBC, City Monitor and Thomson Reuters.

Dasha Moschonas is a design researcher, architect, and planner, working in the intersection of social and physical dimensions of space. She is a participatory design specialist, experimenting with design processes in infrastructure and public space projects. Dasha worked across professional cultures and geographies, in Serbia, Netherlands, UK, Australia, Belgium, Indonesia and Fiji, and is able to combine theoretical and practical knowledge in bringing various stakeholders into the designing process. She completed a practice-based PhD in Architecture, in a research project on the global scale “Revitalising Informal Settlements and their Environments”, designing and implementing the participatory strategy for water and sanitation infrastructure. Currently, she works on projects that nurture playful and nature-positive cities.