A game encountered as a youth has brought many adults to the ranks of professional planning. What, then, is the legacy of the lessons offered by SimCity and its brethren?
Daniel Hertz describes the outsized impact of SimCity on the public awareness of the concepts of planning:
By making thousands and thousands of people plan commercial, industrial, and residential districts for their virtual towns, the creators of SimCity have probably done more than anyone in the history of the world to introduce basic principles of zoning to the public.
Now that SimCity has spawned several sequels, a version for tablets, and a rival game called Cities: Skylines, Hertz is much more prepared to mine the game for lessons. As Hertz puts it, he made some notes "on what a video game can teach us about the biases and blind spots of real-life urban planning in the US…"
The list, with a lot more detail in the article, includes the following:
- You must zone—and use single-use zoning.
- You must give cars primacy on the street.
- Parking doesn’t exist.
- It’s all about the built environment.
- There are no politics.
FULL STORY: What I learned playing SimCity
Cities: Skylines as an Urban Planning Tool
Computer simulations continue to play a novel and important role in urban planning, especially in finding new ways to engage the public and add some fun to the process of planning for the future of cities.
How a City Planner Plays SimCity
A gaming video on the popular City Beautiful YouTube channel shows of the Sim City skills of a professional city planner.
Friday Funny: The Ultimate SimCity
Behold Magnasanti, the ultimate city built using the SimCity game with no cheats, with a population of 9 million residents.
What ‘The Brutalist’ Teaches Us About Modern Cities
How architecture and urban landscapes reflect the trauma and dysfunction of the post-war experience.
‘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.
The VW Bus is Back — Now as an Electric Minivan
Volkswagen’s ID. Buzz reimagines its iconic Bus as a fully electric minivan, blending retro design with modern technology, a 231-mile range, and practical versatility to offer a stylish yet functional EV for the future.
Healing Through Parks: Altadena’s Path to Recovery After the Eaton Fire
In the wake of the Eaton Fire, Altadena is uniting to restore Loma Alta Park, creating a renewed space for recreation, community gathering, and resilience.
San Diego to Rescind Multi-Unit ADU Rule
The city wants to close a loophole that allowed developers to build apartment buildings on single-family lots as ADUs.
Electric Vehicles for All? Study Finds Disparities in Access and Incentives
A new UCLA study finds that while California has made progress in electric vehicle adoption, disadvantaged communities remain underserved in EV incentives, ownership, and charging access, requiring targeted policy changes to advance equity.
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.
City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research