Top Urban City Building Games in 2019

A middle schooler reviews the top three city building games on the market in 2019.

1 minute read

May 19, 2019, 1:00 PM PDT

By Chris Steins @planetizen


The middle-school author reviews his top three picks for urban building games:

  • SimCity
  • Cities Skylines
  • Minecraft

"Video games don't have to be the stereotypically addicting games that fry your brain. Many can actually teach us very valuable lessons, including how to build and plan cities, such as these ones. As we head into the digital age, technology will become increasingly abundant and will be used for many tasks that we might think of as impossible today."

Saturday, May 18, 2019 in Grant Reviews Blog

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Get top-rated, practical training

Concrete Brutalism building with slanted walls and light visible through an atrium.

What ‘The Brutalist’ Teaches Us About Modern Cities

How architecture and urban landscapes reflect the trauma and dysfunction of the post-war experience.

February 28, 2025 - Justin Hollander

Complete Street

‘Complete Streets’ Webpage Deleted in Federal Purge

Basic resources and information on building bike lanes and sidewalks, formerly housed on the government’s Complete Streets website, are now gone.

February 27, 2025 - Streetsblog USA

Skating rink under freeway in Bentway park in Toronto, Canada.

Montreal’s Gorilla Park Repurposes Defunct Railway Track

The park is part of a global movement to build public spaces that connect neighbors and work with local elements to serve as key parts of a city’s green infrastructure.

February 24, 2025 - The Globe and Mail

People walking down Bourbon Street in New Orleans at night.

Bourbon Street Could Be a Model for Pedestrian Spaces

The conversation around pedestrianizing public streets isn’t new — think Times Square. Could one of America’s oldest streets lead the way in a revival of the pedestrian mall?

46 minutes ago - Streetsblog USA

Rush hour traffic jam of cars, buses, taxis and trucks on the Williamsburg Bridge in Brooklyn, New York City with the colorful glow of sunlight in the background.

Multiple Lawsuits Aim to Save NYC Congestion Pricing

Environmental and transit advocacy groups, along with the MTA, are suing USDOT over its recent crusade to end the cordon pricing program.

1 hour ago - Sierra Club

Massachusetts state capitol with gold dome in Boston, Massachusetts.

Massachusetts Gov. Makes Case for Road Funding Reforms

A package of proposed bills would change the state’s road funding formula to ensure more money flows to rural areas with limited resources.

2 hours ago - WAMC

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.