Playful Mapping for Climate Adaptation: Two Case Studies From Jakarta's Coast

Abstract

While playful methods are increasingly used in participatory mapping processes, their strategic value, particularly in relation to climate adaptation, remains underexamined. This paper explores the potential and limitations of playful mapping approaches in climate adaptation, focusing on two qualitative case studies in Jakarta's flood-prone Kampung Akuarium: memory mapping with children and speculative gameplay with residents and government officials. Both approaches are examined in terms of their methodological strengths and weaknesses as well as their impact and scalability. The findings show that playful and participatory mapping tools open spaces for storytelling, imagination and collective reflection. They make visible immaterial cultural heritage and emotional aspects often excluded from technocratic planning, allowing participants to articulate the cultural dimensions of urban transformation. Yet, these insights often remain symbolic without pathways for institutional uptake. The paper argues that the context-specific potentials and the downsides of playful methods need to be evaluated carefully. Where their contribution to adaptation processes outweighs their resource-intensiveness, they should be treated not only as experiential formats but as strategic instruments embedded in long-term, co-creative research infrastructures.