Playful Urbanism in Oakland Chinatown

In Nov 2024, I had the incredible opportunity to participate in a street redesign community event in Oakland Chinatown!  It was such a joy to see the streets buzzing with energy, ideas, and a sense of shared purpose!

Collaborated with Sticky Rice Club, we designed and led a community scavenger hunt game around the blocks of Oakland Chinatown as part of a street redesign event organized by East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation, Sticky Rice Club, and Oakland Department of Transportation. As part of the street sidewalk display, we also created a Chinatown urban sketch art directory map and showcased the urban sketching work I've been doing to document the precious moments of Chinatown's day-to-day life and trying to enhance the common place-specific memory about Oakland Chinatown. In addition, I also created three immersive VR simulation for the proposed street redesign visions on 10th Street using Streetmix and 3DStreet.

Events like these remind me how public spaces can bring us together. They inspire us to reimagine what our streets can be—a place for everyone to belong, connect, and thrive.

Thank you to everyone who made this day possible, and to the community for embracing the vision of a better Oakland Chinatown!

As part of the event, Sean from Sticky Rice Club and I co-designed a scavenger hunt game that took participants on a playful journey through the neighborhood. Watching a diverse group of people—from kids to elders—exploring, discovering, and enjoying the game was truly heartwarming.

Sean, the lead of StickyRice Club, and I walked around the street to pick some "random" cool symbols or signs of Chinatown and on the left is the Scavenger Hunt Game Task Sheet with them laid out. The right is the prize sheet we prepared for the game, designed by Sean. Kudos to Sticky Rice for getting food prize support from vendors around the area!!

With the help of EBALDC and Stick Rice, I was also honored to showcase my urban sketching art, which I’ve created over the years while wandering through this vibrant community with my sketchbook.  The art was displayed on a map, giving a visual story of the places and moments that make Chinatown so special. Seeing people engage with my sketches and share their own connections to these spaces was an unforgettable experience.