Narrative Cities, an international creative collaboration between MA Creative Practice for Narrative Environments at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, University of the Arts London and the Department of Comprehensive Design at the Chinese Academy of Art, Hangzhou.

Narrative Cities provides new ways for visitors to experience world cities at a deeper and more memorable level than just following the standard tourist guides and “doing the sights”. The project links like-minded visitors and inhabitants so that people can explore the city through personal recommendations, meet local residents, participate in the life of the city and discover the stories of the city for themselves.

Here we show the design schemes, devised by mixed teams of students, based in the UK and China. The visitor experiences are developed from research into social settings and cultural values in Hangzhou and London inspired by the following categories: eating, listening to music, buying clothes, playing sports, a sense of home and understanding friendship.

The project was launched in October and students communicated through video conferencing, email and Skype. It wasn't always easy!