Sim City... Eh?

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SimCity is a design tool that establishes general city terminology and functionality. Have fun and enjoy our findings...Eh?

Jeff Deitner

Nate Hellzen

Tyler Kirchner

Joe Lucht

Contents

SimCity Influence

"A sizable number of SimCity players who first became interested in urban design have gone on to become architects and designers, making SimCity arguably the single most influential work of urban-design theory ever created." [1]

What is SimCity?

SimCity is a computer simulation software from Maxis, a computer software company focusing in the world of Sims. SimCity was first developed in 1984-85 by Will Wright when he discovered that creating islands and city's was more fun and exciting than flying around them. The first version of the game was for Commodore 64. In 1989 SimCity was published by Maxis for the PC and Mac. Sales originally were slow with only two people, Wright and his partner Jeff Braun working the tech support. As soon as the 1990's came around Maxis and SimCity sored with Newsweek publishing a full page article on the game. Since than, SimCity has allowed the user to experience City Layouts, Ordinances, Budget, Population, Industry Needs an Municipalities.[2]

Seeing is Believing.

  • Evolution of SimCity [3]

How to Start a City: Design Methodology

  • Terrain
  • Laying Basic Roads:
Creating Circulation
Advantages: -Using project cities to test Circulation Concepts
The power to test models before they are built
  • Zoning:
Creating Zoning
Demand Indicator (RCI Indicator)
  • Displays what the city is in need of as far as zoning needs i.e. Residential, Industrial, and Commercial uses
  • Information which could be derived from city meetings and land use models
Zoning Methodology
  • Game Ratios (R = C + I)
>10,000 Residents R:C:I = 4:3:1
10,000 to 60,000 Residents R:C:I = 4:2:2
<60,000 Residents R:C:I = 4:3:1
Residential:Commercial:Industrial
  • Basic Zoning Principles
-Schools near residences
-Build parks in high crime areas
-Keep industrial and residential separate
  • Advantages
-Create real time models
-Ability to study zoning proximities and what works
  • Disadvantages (in SimCity 2000)
-Mixed-use
-Walkable communities
  • Power
Break the Bank!
-Hydroelectric & Wind Generated (Green) methods of energy are the way to go.
-Principles which we are trying to use more and more of today
  • City has begun
Design Principles:
-Create Police and Fire Stations to help support the city
-Use of public transportation i.e. buses, subways, & railroads
-Keep pollution down
-Help with vehicular circulation by keeping traffic congestion down
-Connections with your neighbors
-Build lots of parks
-Place lots of trees

SimCity for Urban Design

  • Urban Design Principles
Urban Structure- How its put together and how the parts relate
Urban typology, Density, and Sustainability- Spatial types related to use, the consumption of resources, and the production of a community
Accessibility- Safety and ease for the users of a city
Wayfinding- Understanding how a place works
Animation- Providing public activity
Function and Fit- Designing spaces for the anticipated use
Complementary Mixed Uses- Providing activities to develop contact
Character and Meaning- A sense of place to a city
Order and Incident- Juxtaposition amongst urban elements
Continuity and Change- The view of time, and respect of history and culture
Civil Society- Social capital. [4]

How Designers Use It.

  • Auburn University: College of Architecture Design and Construction

John Gaber, Associate Professor for the College holds a class which has a main project which currently uses SimCity 3000. Mr. Gaber states, "SimCity is a sophisticated program that reinforces the theories learned in the classroom for actual planning practices." He believes that planning on paper is fine, however seeing the city simulated demonstrates change over time. "Overall, students learn how traffic, population, economics, environment and politics all come together to constitute a city."

Sim Society, The future of Sims

Sim City 2000 was based on being the mayor who's only object was to make money for the city! The only planning that was done was to zone out an area and town members would decide what to build where within those parameters.

Sim Society which comes out in November of 2007 is based on the society itself and the "6 Energies" of the townmembers. Instead of the basic zoning like the passed Sim games had, players are now in charge of placing every single building and structure. This makes the planning of your city much harder because you must take into account the location of all buildings and how they will effect the surrounding area. The scale of the game seems much smaller were players have to look at the finer details and make sure that all citizens are happy.


Sim Society, The next generation of gaming [5]


“It’s thought provoking, getting them to think, maybe for the first time, about how a society works.”-- Adrian Favell

Mr. Favell teaches a course at UCLA called Contemporary Sociological Theory, from mid-century to the present day.

Uses Sim Society which simulates from the years of 2000 to 2050 and utilize development skills at the marco-level and survive as an individual at the micro-level.

The difference between any of the SimCity games compared to Sim Society is SimCity only focuses on the economic development, whereas Sim Society involves the quality of life for a community.

Sociological theory is based on the theory the designer had intended, and Mr. Favell feels that the idea is theory can be developed from many theorist, in this case being a game designer.

Pros and Cons to Video Games

Research has found that children who play video games score higher on vision tests. It has also been found that children could improve their logical thinking skills along with greater problem solving abilities. Games like SimCity make users strategies through out the game, improving their decision making skills, problem solving abilities and alertness. The US government is pondering and researching ways to integrate such games into the academic curriculum.

But doctors are still worried about some of the health risks related to gamers. These include wrist and back pains, headaches and obesity. Research also shows that children who are frequent gamers are susceptible to social problems resulting in shyness.

Future City Competition

Competition for 8th and 9th graders to develop a "Future City", students need to use SimCity to make a model of their cities. [6]


Research Links

cnwdentral [7]

angelfire [8]

somacon [9]

cnwcentral [10]

Maxis, Electronic Arts Inc. [11]

John Gaber Auburn University News, 2003

Teaching Module: Ways to teach in a one computer classroom Lory Aiwohi, Val Tina Calaycay, Scot Kiyonaga, Tom Kutsunai, Debbie Nekomoto, Petra Ozoa

Simulating Planning
SimCity as a Pedagogical Tool, John Gaber, Journal of Planning Education and Research, Vol. 27, No. 2, 113-121 (2007)
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