Nested Urban Scales: A Pervasive Geogame Model for Collective Energy Efficiency and Action

Malini Srivastava and Mariangel Meza
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Malini Srivastava: School of Architecture, University of Minnesota, USA
Mariangel Meza: School of Architecture, University of Minnesota, USA

Urban Planning, 2026, vol. 11

Abstract: As global energy demand continues to rise, energy efficiency remains one of the most cost‐effective strategies for managing consumption, and behavioral energy efficiency (BEE) plays a crucial role in reducing energy use in buildings. Energy games designed to address BEE through real‐life actions typically focus on a location or a singular building typology such as homes, offices, or schools. While these games provide location‐appropriate energy‐reducing actions, they rarely focus on the simultaneous and multiple identities players hold in location‐based games. For example, players may be part of a household in a residential game while simultaneously being a neighbor at the block scale, and part of the larger community at the city scale. In this article, we begin by defining serious pervasive energy geogames (GeoSPEGs) at the intersection of serious games, pervasive games, energy games, and geogames. Then, we present a case study analysis of efargo, a residential GeoSPEG, where the players (homeowners or renters) hold simultaneous identities and allegiances related to their household, their neighborhood block, and their city. The game structure allows for aligned individual and collective game incentives, creating potential for cooperative and competitive play. Next, we compare and synthesize the pervasive game design models utilized for the efargo case study with the “unified geogame design patterns.” We conclude our analysis with a proposal for a GeoSPEG design model that intersects and combines existing design frameworks for pervasive and geogames utilized during the design of the efargo game, and we introduce “nested urban scales” as a fundamental geogame design pattern.

Keywords: behavioral energy efficiency; game design model; geogame; pervasive game; serious energy game (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cog:urbpla:v11:y:2026:a:10781

DOI: 10.17645/up.10781

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