Imagined futures of housing policy in Botswana - unveiling spatial narratives through a phenomenological-critical-postcolonial lens

Abstract

This mixed methods study examines the citizen’s role in the production of space in the peripheral urban spaces of post-colonial Botswana, aiming to shape collective imagined futures for housing policy. Current research is silent on the citizen’s lived experience in policy formulation. At most, discourse on policy formulation in Botswana analyzes the influence of policy on spatial representations or the socio-economic outcomes of policy. There is a disconcerting silence on the citizen’s role, engagement, and agency in the production of space. In response to this silence, this research embraces African epistemology as a decolonizing approach, recognizing indigenous knowledge systems. This methodology responds to the call for scholars studying African phenomena to dismantle the barriers that obscure local perspectives. Using an exploratory sequential design, the study identified key variables from citizens’ lived experiences regarding housing and translated qualitative findings into a game. The study sample comprised participants from the peri-urban villages of Mogoditshane, Oodi, and Tlokweng, located at the periphery of Botswana’s capital city, Gaborone. The research methodology was structured in three phases: an initial phase involved narrative interviews with 31 participants, followed by the iterative design of a cooperative strategy game called MOOT City Game, and concluded by testing the game on a sample of 102 participants. An integrated interpretation approach contextualized the qualitative data and determined the nature of the game, while the quantitative data collected during the game were analyzed in relation to the qualitative findings. The first key finding of the study was its essential invariant structure: the interconnectedness of community through collaboration and cooperation in housing production was a consistent lived experience for the participants. Additionally, the study revealed a significant relationship between collaboration and imagination: participants who collaborated during the game reported higher levels of satisfaction with the game’s outcome than those who did not. Furthermore, male participants who collaborated in a game that featured Molao, or the leader, expressed higher satisfaction with the game’s outcome than their female counterparts. Ultimately, the study found that participants’ agency flourished in an environment that fostered collective imagination rather than individualistic imagination. This research underscores the value of contextualized local knowledge in crafting innovative solutions for democratizing policy formulation and advancing decolonization efforts in epistemology. Furthermore, the methodology contributes to the literature by linking gamification theory, serious games, and practical applications beyond participant engagement and motivation. The combined approach of the methodology and MOOT City Game serves as a valuable urban planning tool for policymakers, an empowering mechanism for citizens, a new way of thinking about urban planning as collaborative puzzle-solving., and an opportunity to build community beyond formal structures. Future research could involve testing the game in diverse cultural contexts and investigating the potential of the methodology to produce localized urban technologies. Keywords: Gamification; Serious Game; Imagination; Citizen Agency; Urban Planning Policy; Urban Planning Innovation; Social Production of Space; Postcolonial Urbanization