In fact, that’s why Google was the incubator for Niantic Labs, the now-independent company that created Pokémon Go with Nintendo, as well as its predecessor Ingress (which is like Pokémon Go but with a post-apocalyptic freedom-fighter vibe). And that’s a serious chunk of civic information that’s incredibly valuable to the cities where people are playing. Although early alarms were sounded about how much information that Pokémon Go is collecting from users, it’s really not any different from using any app that tracks your location. Now just imagine another layer-the geodata that 21 million daily users are generating by playing the game. Imagine that: For 21 million of you, a game layer over a map of your city just became more usable than the map itself. 21 million! That’s a figure that will likely surpass the daily users of Google Maps in the coming days. Pokémon Go now counts nearly 21 million daily users. More eyes (and feet!) on the street are always a good thing-for safety, for vibrancy, for economic activity.
Just the fact that more people are out there using the sidewalks is an obvious benefit. Pokémon might be a fun complement to an already bustling urban center, but it’s a downright gift to cities that have been struggling to get people to explore their downtowns.ĭowntown Fresno has NEVER been this busy after 8pm. But the notable thing about Pokémon is that this all has happened with no public health initiative, no marketing campaign, no infrastructural changes.
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Some of these things-like thousands of young people swarming a city park of their own free will-represent the kind of civic engagement that cities have previously tried to achieve with well-funded improvements.
Players gathering in public places, talking to neighbors they hadn’t met before, discovering buildings they never knew existed, making a few very awkward discoveries, and probably shedding a few pounds in the process. You’ve heard all the stories, and if you live in a relatively densely populated area, you’ve likely experienced them yourself. The charming vignettes of a video game uniting strangers on sidewalks (and luring them into lakes) seem cribbed from some utopian vision of the future. But another remarkable phenomenon is underway: Just by getting people to embark upon those journeys for Jigglypuffs, Pokémon Go is actually making cities better places-without any major financial investments from those cities themselves. It has been updated alongside the 12/12 release of new Pokemon in Pokemon Go.įor the past seven days-has it really only been a week?-Pokémon Go has transformed millions of people’s relationships to where they live. This story was originally published on July 15, 2016.