Tourism Management Perspectives 24 (2017) 86–93

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Tourism Management Perspectives

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tmp

Research note

Co-creating the city: Digital technology and creative tourism

Lénia Marques a,⁎, Carla Borba b
a
CEMRI (Centre of Studies on Migrations and Intercultural Relations), Universidade Aberta, Portugal
b
Department of Hospitality and Tourism, UFPE, Cidade Universitária, Recife, State of Pernambuco 52171-011, Brazil

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Concepts such as the “playable city” provide the basis of concrete projects for cities around the world facing the
Received 13 May 2017 challenge of reconciling the needs of residents and tourists. By analysing a case study of Recife's initiative within
Received in revised form 20 June 2017 the playable city concept, “Playtown”, this paper investigates how digital technologies can play a role in the co-
Accepted 5 July 2017
creative remaking of a city, revitalising both its material and socio-cultural fabric, through the means of co-crea-
Available online xxxx
tion processes involving different stakeholders. These co-creative processes help to democratise citizenship as
Keywords:
well as tourism (creative) practices, which are becoming more about participation and engagement. The connec-
Co-creation tion to technology also makes the link between tangible and intangible culture more interactive and playful. This
Creative tourism paper presents therefore new insights at the crossroads of urban development and creative tourism, by focusing
Design thinking on co-creation around digital technologies.
Playable city © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Urban studies
Heritage
Digital technology

1. Introduction
Many cities nowadays are struggling to reinvent themselves in a way
that is meaningful for their citizens and, at the same time, attractive to
tourists. Digital technology has been opening new pathways for devel-
opment in many areas (e.g. Cabiddu, Lui, & Piccoli, 2013). The present
paper investigates potential processes for cities to become more engag-
ing both with their residents and tourists, by means of digital technolo-
gy, in a process of co-creation. A case study methodology is used, by
looking into the playable city of Recife in Brazil. This paper presents
therefore new insights at the crossroads of urban development and cre-
ative tourism, by focusing on co-creation around digital technologies.
2. Creative tourism and urban spaces
Creative tourism was a term coined by Richards and Raymond
(2000), and later adopted and re-defined by the UNESCO Creative Cities
Network (2006). Since then, many different definitions have accompa-
nied the evolution of creative tourism practices and products. These def-
initions range from very narrow characterisations to very broad
concepts (Richards, 2015). Recent studies have analysed some of these
changes and a study by the OECD has reiterated the importance of cre-
ative tourism within the creative economy (OECD, 2014).
⁎ Corresponding author at: CEMRI (Centre of Studies on Migrations and Intercultural
Relations), Universidade Aberta, Portugal.
E-mail address: lenia.marques@ua.pt (L. Marques).
The relationship of tourism with creativity is not new and over time
it has taken on a series of different shapes (Richards, 2011; Richards &
Marques, 2012). This growing relationship also corresponds to a recog-
nition of the (economic) value of creativity (UNDP/UNESCO, 2008),
which has been expanding to other types of value more related to
knowledge or human capital.
The growing importance of creativity, the creative economy, the cre-
ative industries and creative tourism, which are here considered as
inter-related, has also been analysed in relation to cities, urban develop-
ment and phenomena of gentrification, as evidenced by a raft of studies
related to culture-led regeneration (Anttiroiko, 2014; Bagwell, 2008;
Evans, 2009; Montgomery, 2003; Scott, 2006; Zukin, 1995). Creativity
is often seen as a panacea, although there are also critical views on it.
Despite these issues and dangers, urban developers and urban planners
have been considering creative approaches and solutions for the chal-
lenges which many cities are facing. In particular creative districts are
expanding and taking on new forms (Evans, 2009; Marques, 2017;
Marques & Richards, 2014). New ways of looking at the city are being
proposed, often involving citizens in an attempt to engage them in ‘cre-
ative placemaking’ (Markusen & Gadwa, 2010). A successful example of
change in the city through playful engagement is Bogota, the capital city
of Colombia, whose citizens have been invited to experience urban
space in a different way, trying to provide solutions to the problems
there (Montgomery, 2013; Parra-Agudelo, Choi, & Foth, 2017).
When thinking about tourism development and its relationship to
the city, one also cannot ignore the fact that the geographical space of
the city is primarily a lived space created by residents (Landry &
Bianchini, 1995; Simmons, 1994). Therefore, new approaches to

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2017.07.007
2211-9736/© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 L. Marques, C. Borba / Tourism Management Perspectives 24 (2017) 86–93
tourism development increasingly involve local citizens (Marques,
2013; Meijer, Grimmelikhuijsen, & Brandsma, 2012) and often use
new technologies to map and present the features of the city that are
of interest to citizens and tourists alike.
Concepts such as the “playable city” provide the basis of concrete pro-
jects for different cities in the world which are faced with the challenge of
reconciling the needs of residents and tourists. Through playfulness there
is engagement from different stakeholders. The interpretation and prac-
tices of a “playable city” relate to co-creation in the way the city is made
playable (bottom-up projects) but also in the way it is experienced,
both by residents and tourists, as it promotes the interaction with the
space. As pointed out by de Lange (2015) and discussed by Nijholt
(2017), the playfulness of the city is increasingly connected to the
“smart city” concept, which involves a relationship to technology.
Around the world, different playful initiatives are popping up under
different forms. For example, in Denmark there is the CounterPlay festi-
val (http://www.counterplay.org/; http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=pQ9Rz9nP_AE) which “is supposed to be a prototype of the ‘playful
society’, where we explore what it would mean to learn, work and live
more playfully” (What is this?, http://www.counterplay.org/). There
are also initiatives which focus on children, as the USA Playful City ini-
tiative, which aims at “Transforming Spaces into Great PLAYces”
(http://kaboom.org/playability). However, contrarily to what could be
interpreted at the first view, the idea behind the Playful City (and its
awards) entails being a competitive advantage for cities, as explained
in their video available here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
SvrEDOq8JYM. Other examples include the City of Play, in Scotland
(http://www.thecityofplay.co.uk/) and the Dutch project Play-Full and
Playful cities (http://issuu.com/thecityofplay/docs/playfu_l__cities_
netherlands).
All these initiatives have the concept of “play” embedded in them,
but the way they interpret it and implement it in the fabric of urban
space is different. Although these projects seem to be mainly in western
countries, the “Playable city” network has been developing and
expanding its influence in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
The project “Playable city” originated in Bristol (U.K.) in 2012 and it
has now developed into a “Playable City Network” (http://www.
playablecity.com/cities/). Although the concept can be globally used –
“Playable City is a framework to think differently about the city – any
Fig. 1. Detail of a sidewalk with the brand Porto Digital, 2015, by Lénia Marques.
87
city” –, it is also locally adapted, by identifying local challenges and in-
volving local stakeholders, many of whom are in the creative industries.
It is in this framework that the articulation between the playable city
and creative tourism is beneficial, on the one hand, by increasing the
levels of participation and engagement in the city, with residents and
tourists (for example through the use of digital installations); and on
the other hand, the interaction with the city contributes to a better un-
derstanding of as well as emotional link to the place, with the advan-
tages of not only putting the city on the map (destination branding),
but also of positioning it as modern and more attractive.
Of the different cities involved in the Playable City Network, the re-
cent developments in Recife (Brazil) are particularly interesting from a
number of perspectives. By analysing a case study of Recife's recent ini-
tiative within the playable city concept, “Playtown”, this paper investi-
gates how digital technologies can play a role in the co-creative
remaking of a city, revitalising its material and socio-cultural fabric,
through the means of co-creation processes involving different
stakeholders.
3. Playtown (Recife), a case study
Recife is the largest metropolitan area in the north-eastern region of
Brazil. With 1,555,039 inhabitants, the city's economy is varied, relying
heavily on the Suape harbour, the technology park and being the second
medical hub of Brazil. The city has traditionally had cultural potential
not only based on festivals and other events, but also on creative talents
from the fields of design, fashion, film or music. In the last ten years
these creatives have integrated their productions with technological de-
velopments, which has led to the emergence of many new businesses.
The downtown area, called Old Recife (“Recife Antigo”), has gone
through many changes in recent years. As in many other declining his-
toric areas, such as those in the centre of Lisbon, Barcelona or New York,
buildings were transformed in museums, restaurants or banks, as a way
to revitalise the space. For example, Porto Digital Technological Park
was created in July 2000 as the result of the implementation of a public
policy strategy, and it hosts a digital creative cluster (http://www.
portodigital.org/home). This top-down initiative, which led to public
and private investment, has been acting as a driving force for the area
(Rebelo, 2013) (see Fig. 1).
88 L. Marques, C. Borba / Tourism Management Perspectives 24 (2017) 86–93
Many public policy actions have been implemented. One of the most
successful for residents to regain some sense of ownership of the urban
space, was a leisure programme consisting of temporary bike lanes
which would be used on Sundays and holidays (see Fig. 2).
This initiative provided citizens the opportunity to experience and in-
teract with the city in a different way. This project started in March 2013
and was very well accepted by citizens. This initiative arose as an attempt
to balance the success of Porto Digital in attracting a creative group of pro-
fessionals from Monday to Friday with the development of leisure use
during the weekend. The aim was to make people reuse the historic
downtown area of Old Recife as a key area for leisure on weekends.
Many other public policies were drawn to the area, such as stimulating
technology business to move there and be close to Porto Digital, which
is nowadays internationally known. With this success, also came chal-
lenges of gentrification (see Figs. 3 and 4). However, the area and projects
are still in development, and, as in other areas, the more successful these
initiatives are, the more questions related to gentrification will be raised.
Although Recife is a city with significant problems ranging from traf-
fic to social equality, and pollution, some cultural actors and stake-
holders from the technology park got together with other creatives
from Bristol (U.K.) and came up with the idea of making Recife a better
place to live and, at the same time, enhancing its touristic potential. Dur-
ing a residential lab in 2014, which involved 500 people (http://www.
playablecity.com/cities/recife/), new ideas for bringing art and technol-
ogy together as a means of engaging people in activities connected to
urban spaces emerged. The outcomes of the work were deemed so pos-
itive and successful for the city that the Tourism and Leisure Depart-
ment of Recife made a bid to a national call launched in 2015 for
investment in creative projects for cities with the aim of increasing
the number of tourists. Recife was awarded 2 million Reais (around
542.000 Euros) to implement the project called Playtown (http://
Fig. 2. Road painting for cycling areas, 2015, by Lénia Marques.
www.playtownrec.com.br/playtown/; http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=fc-vvOBSLP8).
Playtown started in 2016, initially involving mainly representatives
from the municipality and creatives from the Porto Digital technology
park. CESAR was the consulting and innovation company responsible
for creating the methodology and coming up with an executive project.
The implementation of the selected artefacts in the neighbourhood will
be the last phase for which companies will have to bid for. Playtown's
aim is to encourage innovation through free artefacts that stimulate
human interaction with different spaces of the city through the use of
(digital) technology, as explained in this video (in Portuguese only):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgPrZOSSoeQ. Besides the videos
on its own Youtube channel, Playtown also has its social media channels,
with accounts on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/playtownrec/)
and Instagram (http://www.instagram.com/playtownrec/).
The project runs through three phases during which participant ob-
servation was conducted throughout 2016. In each project phase, differ-
ent co-creation processes were implemented, involving citizens, the
local administration and creatives. The first phase, “Workshop Cidade
Lúdica” (Playable city workshop), consisted of an open lecture where
the Porto Digital team presented many experiences in different parts
of the world (full video here, in Portuguese only: http://www.
youtube.com/watch?v=l-GjLPvNmvg). With around 400 participants,
ideas were discussed of what was already happening in Recife and
what other ideas could be implemented within the scope of Playtown.
This event was followed by the “Hackathon”, which was a twenty-
hour event (over a weekend) for sharing ideas and developing new con-
cepts. The organisers created videos to explain the concept of hackathon
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxRFt7JAk6Y, video in Portu-
guese only) and instigate people to participate (http://www.youtube.
com/watch?v=NFvxIuFJOlY, video in Portuguese only).
 L. Marques, C. Borba / Tourism Management Perspectives 24 (2017) 86–93 89

Fig. 3. Contrasts - Old and regenerated buildings in Old Recife (Recife Antigo), 2015, by Lénia Marques.

This hackathon counted with 70 participants, chosen from 200 ap-
plicants who presented themselves and explained how they could con-
tribute to Playtown. These stakeholders were people from different
backgrounds and professional fields (http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=xbv1z0_tVY4). This intensive weekend of working with de-
sign thinking approaches (Cooper, Junginger, & Lockwood, 2009;
Stickdorn, Schneider, Andrews, & Lawrence, 2011) led to a total of twen-
ty-one concepts for artefacts (see Figs. 5, 6 and 7).
The third and final phase of the project (still ongoing) is related to
work on the winning artefacts by prototyping seven of them in an im-
mersion lab (call for the immersion lab, in Portuguese only, http://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6Kj1MxdoaA). A commission is respon-
sible for choosing the seven project winners out of twenty-one (e.g.
augmented reality games, funny mirrors, musical bins, interactive map-
ping, floating islands). After the immersion lab, the seven artefacts
should then be implemented and integrated in the city. The project

Fig. 4. Old Recife (Recife Antigo) - regenerated buildings, 2015, by Lénia Marques.
90 L. Marques, C. Borba / Tourism Management Perspectives 24 (2017) 86–93

Fig. 5. Map of Old Recife (Recife Antigo) for Hackathon Playtown, 2016, by Carla Borba.

suffered a few delays in this final phase, due to national political issues.
To date, there is scant evaluation of the implementation, impact and leg-
acy of the project.
However, the initiatives at the heart of the Old Recife are involving
citizens in the re-design of the urban space, as can be seen in the
video providing an overview of the project: http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=GljnTfctBZo.
In fact, these artefacts from the Playtown project are to be installed
in strategic points of Old Recife. Through the technological advance-
ments and the know-how of creatives and software developers of
Porto Digital, as well as from the collaboration of many people from dif-
ferent areas, including tourism development, Playtown has been a
means to regenerate a derelict premium space of the city. However,
despite the new dynamics that have been turning it into a cultural, artis-
tic and creative hub, some challenges persist. The neighbourhood is
used mainly during the day time, since there are few residential build-
ings. The tourist accommodation offer in situ consists of a single hostel.
Having the involvement of local citizens, whether residents of the
neighbourhood or users of the space, is essential to ensure the good
use of facilities and amenities, as well as to retain the improvements al-
ready achieved (see Fig. 8).
The co-creative processes should continue at different levels in the
interaction with residents and tourists, improving their relationship to
the city and changing their perspectives. A ludic (playful) element is
brought into the space of the city, which also acts as a catalyst for im-
proving visitor experiences and resident quality of life.

Fig. 6. Process for Participants of the Playtown Hackathon, 2016, by Carla Borba.
 L. Marques, C. Borba / Tourism Management Perspectives 24 (2017) 86–93 91

Fig. 7. One team at work at the Playtown Hackathon, 2016, by Carla Borba.

4. Concluding remarks
Although the facilitation of Playtown was made possible by a top-
down initiative, the processes used in the project are highly bottom-
up. Even though the overall aim is to increase visitor numbers and to op-
timise the experience of visitors, policy-makers also realise that this is
not sustainable without the involvement of local stakeholders. There-
fore this is an example on how a project can engage residents, creatives,
policy-makers and local businesses in developing city place-making
processes (Comunian, Chapain, & Clifton, 2010).
These processes and initiatives are not without their critics, who see
these artefacts as a distraction from real problems and as part of the im-
position of a subliminal coercive social force for inducing normative be-
haviours in society (O'Sullivan, 2016). These criticisms are in line with
other leisure discourses where, for decades, debates have raged around
the political and sociological agendas in policy-making for play, among
other activities (e.g. Rojek, 2010).
Through this type of interaction, spaces in a formerly derelict district
are becoming better spaces to work in (Porto Digital) or to enjoy
(Playtown). The idea is, as Baggini (2014) states in his piece, “the city

Fig. 8. Delinquency in Recife Antigo (Old Recife), 2015, by Lénia Marques.

92 L. Marques, C. Borba / Tourism Management Perspectives 24 (2017) 86–93
that plays together stays together”. The use of technology comes in two
interrelated forms: on the one hand, technology supports the creative
industries that form most of the creative cluster of Old Recife; on the
other hand, it also facilitates the creation of new meaningful (touristic)
experiences.
The (ongoing) outcomes result from different projects where in-
creasingly co-creative processes are being used, for example, in the ap-
plication of design thinking approaches in the organization of events
(Richards, Marques, & Mein, 2015). Design thinking is an approach
which reverses traditional problem-solving, by bringing into the discus-
sion creative features, often aiming at co-created solutions (Cooper et
al., 2009). These co-creative processes help to democratise citizenship
and empower citizens through playfulness, because “playful citizens
then are not passive users of their city, but adopt a more active role as
co-creators of their environments or ‘city hackers’” (de Lange, 2015, p.
433). This same viewpoint is spreading in tourism practices, which are
becoming more about participation and engagement. Creative tourism
in particular is focused on high levels of involvement, where the higher
the level of participation, the better and more meaningful the experi-
ence (often connected to learning and creative potential of both visitor
and host) (Richards & Wilson, 2006). These experiences can be more or
less organised, ranging from the nearly inexistent – the “it might hap-
pen” (Marques, 2012) to highly organised networks such as the Creative
Tourism Network (http://www.creativetourismnetwork.org/) or the
UNESCO Creative cities network (http://en.unesco.org/creative-cities/
home).
Creative tourism is on the one hand about increasing levels of partic-
ipation and on the other hand it also involves the relational aspect of the
touristic exchange. More than just being a creative tourism product, the
local stakeholders also become producers and users, including the tour-
ist who will visit and interact with the structures of the city, blowing
new life into a prime area of the city (the old town) which is largely
underused.
The connection to technology also makes the link between tangible
and intangible culture more interactive and playful. Digital playfulness
is a means of bringing life to an otherwise dull and faded cityscape, pro-
viding new interpretations of the city to its residents and visitors, mak-
ing each one of them not only an active place maker but a
“changemaker” (Playable city). The developing network of playable cit-
ies around the world suggests the concept thrives on the interactive
dyad of global challenges and local responses. However, the benefits
of such initiatives can only be clearly seen over the long term and
there is a need for monitoring and evaluation. The critical assessment
of creative development will also need to take on board the benefits
gained by both citizens and tourists, as well as the potential dangers
of commercialisation and gentrification.
Funding
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agen-
cies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the reviewers, Porto Digital, CESAR
Tourism and Development, the Tourism and Leisure Department of
Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE), Recife Tourism Office,
PlayTown organisers and André Durão, Beatriz Gondim Matos, Thais
Vidal, Larissa Almeida from Loa Experiences, and Camila Bandeira from
Proa Cultural.
References
Anttiroiko, A. -V. (2014). Creative city policy in the context of urban asymmetry. Local
Economy, 29(8), 854–867.
Bagwell, S. (2008). Creative clusters and city growth. Creative Industries Journal, 1(1),
31–46.
Cabiddu, F., Lui, T. W., & Piccoli, G. (2013). Managing value co-creation in the tourism in-
dustry. Annals of Tourism Research, 42, 86–107.
Comunian, R., Chapain, C., & Clifton, N. (2010). Location, location, location: Exploring the
complex relationship between creative industries and place. Creative Industries
Journal, 3(1), 5–10.
Cooper, R., Junginger, S., & Lockwood, T. (2009). Design thinking and design manage-
ment: A research and practice perspective. Design Management Review, 20(2), 46–55.
de Lange, M. (2015). The playful city: Using play and games to foster citizen participation.
In A. Skaržauskienė (Ed.), Social technologies and collective intelligence (pp. 426–434).
Vilnius: Mykolas Romeris University.
Evans, G. (2009). From cultural quarters to creative clusters–creative spaces in the new
city economy. In M. Legner (Ed.), The sustainability and development of cultural quar-
ters: International perspectives (pp. 32–59). Stockholm: Institute of Urban History.
Landry, C., & Bianchini, F. (1995). The creative city. Vol. 12.Demos.
Markusen, A., & Gadwa, A. (2010). Creative placemaking. Washington, DC: National
Endowment for the Arts.
Marques, L. (2012). Boosting potential creative tourism resources: The case of Siby (Mali).
Journal of Tourism Consumption and Practice, 4(2), 111–128.
Marques, L. (2013). Constructing social landscape through events: The glocal project of
's-Hertogenbosch. In G. Richards, M. de Brito, & L. Wilks (Eds.), Exploring the social im-
pact of events (pp. 84–94). Oxford: Routledge.
Marques, L. (2017). Creative clusters in urban spaces. In J. Hannigan, & G. Richards (Eds.),
The SAGE handbook of new urban studies (pp. 343–356). London: Sage.
Marques, L., & Richards, G. (Eds.). (2014). Creative districts around the world. Breda:
CELTH/NHTV URL http://creativedistricts.imem.nl/.
Meijer, A., Grimmelikhuijsen, S., & Brandsma, G. J. (2012). Communities of public service
support: Citizens engage in social learning in peer-to-peer networks. Government
Information Quarterly, 29(1), 21–29.
Montgomery, C. (2013). Happy city: Transforming our lives through urban design.
Macmillan.
Montgomery, J. (2003). Cultural quarters as mechanisms for urban regeneration. Part 1:
Conceptualising cultural quarters. Planning Practice and Research, 18(4), 293–306.
Nijholt, A. (2017). Towards playful and playable cities. In A. Nijholt (Ed.), Playable cities:
The city as a digital playground (pp. 10–20). Singapore: Springer.
OECD (2014). Tourism and the creative economy. Paris: OECD.
Parra-Agudelo, L., Choi, J. H. J., & Foth, M. (2017). The city as canvas for change: Grassroots
organisations' creative playing with Bogota. In A. Nijholt (Ed.), Playable cities: The city
as a digital playground (pp. 189–210). Singapore: Springer.
Richards, G. (2011). Creativity and tourism: The state of the art. Annals of Tourism
Research, 38(4), 1225–1253.
Richards, G. (2015). Creative tourism report. Arnhem: ATLAS.
Richards, G., & Marques, L. (2012). Exploring creative tourism: Editors introduction.
Journal of Tourism Consumption and Practice, 4(2).
Richards, G., Marques, L., & Mein, K. (2015). Introduction: Designing events, events as a
design strategy. In G. Richards, L. Marques, & K. Mein (Eds.), Event design: Social per-
spectives and practices (pp. 1–13). Oxford: Routledge.
Richards, G., & Raymond, C. (2000). Creative tourism. ATLAS news, 23, 16–20.
Richards, G., & Wilson, J. (2006). Developing creativity in tourist experiences: A solution
to the serial reproduction of culture? Tourism Management, 27(6), 1209–1223.
Rojek, C. (2010). The labour of leisure: The culture of free time. Sage Publications.
Scott, A. J. (2006). Creative cities: Conceptual issues and policy questions. Journal of Urban
Affairs, 28(1), 1–17.
Simmons, D. G. (1994). Community participation in tourism planning. Tourism
Management, 15(2), 98–108.
Stickdorn, M., Schneider, J., Andrews, K., & Lawrence, A. (2011). This is service design think-
ing: Basics, tools, cases. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
UNDP/UNESCO (2008). Creative economy report 2008: The challenge of assessing the crea-
tive economy towards informed policy-making.
Zukin, S. (1995). The cultures of cities. Vol. 150.Oxford: Blackwell.
Web references
Baggini, J. (2014). Playable Cities: the city that plays together, stays together. The Guardian
Thursday 4 September 2014 URL http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/sep/04/
playable-cities-the-city-that-plays-together-stays-together, Accessed date: 17 May
2017.
City of Play (11 January 2017). Play-full and playful cities: The infrastructure of play in the
Netherlands. URL http://issuu.com/thecityofplay/docs/playfu_l__cities_netherlands,
Accessed date: 17 May 2017.
CounterPlay (d). URL http://www.counterplay.org, Accessed date: 17 May 2017.
CounterPlay'17 (Festival Video) URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ9Rz9nP_
AE, accessed 17 May 2017.
Creative Tourism Network (d). URL http://www.creativetourismnetwork.org, Accessed
date: 17 May 2017.
Kaboom. Play is a Competitive Advantage for Cities, Video published on Youtube 14 June
2015, URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvrEDOq8JYM, accessed 17 May
2017.
Kaboom – Playful City USA (d). Playability - transforming spaces into great PLAYces. URL
http://kaboom.org/playability, Accessed date: 17 May 2017.
O'Sullivan, F. (2016). The problem with ‘playable’ cities. CityLab Published online 7 Novem-
ber 2016. URL http://www.citylab.com/design/2016/11/playable-cities-projects-
crosswalk-party/506528/, Accessed date: 17 May 2017.
Playable City (d). URL http://www.playablecity.com/, Accessed date: 17 May 2017.
Playable City. Recife http://www.playablecity.com/cities/recife/, accessed 17 May 2017.
 L. Marques, C. Borba / Tourism Management Perspectives 24 (2017) 86–93 93

Playable City Network (d). URL http://www.playablecity.com/cities/, Accessed date: 17 UNESCO (2006). Towards sustainable strategies for creative tourism. URL http://unesdoc.
May 2017. unesco.org/images/0015/001598/159811e.pdf, Accessed date: 17 May 2017.
Playful City USA (d). URL http://kaboom.org/playability/playful_city_usa, Accessed date: UNESCO. Creative cities network. URL: http://en.unesco.org/creative-cities/home,
17 May 2017. accessed 17 May 2017.
Playtown (d). URL http://www.playtownrec.com.br/playtown/, Accessed date: 17 May
2017.
Lénia Marques is a researcher at CEMRI (Centre of Studies
Playtown Rec. Hackathon playtown. Video published on Youtube 13 June 2016. URL:
on Migrations and Intercultural Relations), at the
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbv1z0_tVY4, accessed 17 May 2017.
Universidade Aberta in Portugal. She previously worked
Playtown Rec. O que é o projeto playtown? Video published on Youtube 12 April 2016.
as a Senior Lecturer in Events and Leisure at Bournemouth
URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgPrZOSSoeQ, accessed 17 May 2017.
University, and as a Lecturer in Imagineering and Research,
Playtown Rec. Playtown | FAQ | Hackathon. Video published on Youtube 3 June 2016. URL:
at NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences, The Nether-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxRFt7JAk6Y, accessed 17 May 2017.
lands. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the
Playtown Rec. Playtown | Laboratório de Imersão | Inscreva-se. Video published on
World Leisure Organization and the co-author of Event De-
Youtube 5 July 2016. URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6Kj1MxdoaA,
sign: Social perspectives and practices (2015), Intercultural
accessed 17 May 2017.
Crossings: Conflict, Memory and Identity (2012) and “Ex-
Playtown Rec. Playtown | Quem pode participar. Video published on Youtube 18 March
ploring Creative Tourism” (2012), a special issue of the
2016. URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFvxIuFJOlY, accessed 17 May 2017.
Journal of Tourism Consumption and Practice. Her current
Playtown Rec. Playtown Recife. Video published on Youtube 7 April 2016, URL: http://
research focuses on innovation and creativity in events,
www.youtube.com/watch?v=fc-vvOBSLP8, accessed 17 May 2017.
leisure and tourism.
Playtown Rec. Workshop Cidade Lúdica - Completo. Video published on Youtube 31
March 2016. URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-GjLPvNmvg, accessed 17
Carla Borba graduated in Tourism in 1995. After her Mas-
May 2017.
ter, she completed a PhD in Anthropology at the Federal
Playtown Rec. Playtown results. Video published on Youtube 21 September 2016. URL:
University of Pernambuco in Brazil (2010). She is a lectur-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GljnTfctBZo, accessed 17 May 2017.
er at the Department of Tourism and Hospitality at the
playtownrec. Facebook Page. @playtownrec. URL: http://www.facebook.com/
Federal University of Pernambuco. Her research is in the
playtownrec/, accessed 17 May 2017.
fields of tourism management, governance, policy, culture
playtownrec. Instagram. URL: http://www.instagram.com/playtownrec/, accessed 17
and creative economy. With a large experience in Tour-
May 2017.
ism, she collaborated in several public projects, namely
Porto Digital – Parque Tecnológico (d). http://www.portodigital.org/home, Accessed
as project director of PRODETUR, as the president
date: 17 May 2017.
EMPETUR and as advisor for the Secretary of Tourism of
Rebelo, P. (2013). Recife's tech hub takes on Brazil's wealthy south. BBC Future. 16 Octo-
Brazil.
ber 2013. URL: http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20131016-brazil-tech-hubs-big-
ambitions, accessed 17 May 2017.
The City of Play (d). Urban Innovation by Design. http://www.thecityofplay.co.uk,
Accessed date: 17 May 2017.