No, Pokémon Go is not an urban fantasy for the new flaneur

2016-07-14T15:27:00-04:00

Have you heard? There’s this game called Pokémon Go, and it’s responsible for a radical new relationship to the city!

Think pieces are clogging Twitter and Facebook expounding the virtues of the augmented reality game that has lead distracted pedestrians off cliffs, into muggings, and straight to a corpse, while simultaneously and dramatically taking away attention from more pressing topics like, say, police brutality.

Here’s a pessimistic (cynical and snarky) round-up of some of the commentary making its way through the internet tubes:

“In our collective hunt for silly cartoon monsters, Pokémon Go players are discovering history and architecture left and right,” writes Mark Wilson for Fast.Co Design in an article entitled "Pokémon Go" Is Quietly Helping People Fall In Love With Their Cities.” In the optimistic article, Wilson notes how many Pokéstops – sites where you can find Pokémon – are real-world historical buildings and landmarks. They’re also strip clubs, abortion memorials, a...

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No, Pokémon Go is not an urban fantasy for the new flaneur