If you’re a child of the 90’s, you no doubt remember when Sim City ruled the day. The city-building computer game created in 1989 captivated boys and girls the world over with the virtual creation of roads, budgets, and specially designated zones.
Fast-forward 30 years, and something else becomes clear. The game also inspired an entire generation of urban planners.
“I wouldn’t be where I am today without ‘SimCity,’” Nicole Payne, a program official for the National Assn. of City Transportation Officials in New York City, told the Los Angeles Times.
Cuong Trinh, a senior transportation planner for Caltrans, echoed that sentiment.
“That's what really got me thinking about urban planning and ‘SimCity,’ where you put in trains, where you help people move.”
The game “helped remind me of the importance of local government, which is what I ended up doing for a living,” said former Campbell, California City Councilman and sitting Vice President of Transportation and Housing at Silicon Valley Leadership Group Jason Baker.
As The Times notes, Sim City also had an antiquated way of looking at planning issues, and it’s one that is rapidly changing. There were no mixed-used buildings or bike lanes. Decisions of where to build what were based strictly on demand, with little to no concern for socioeconomic realities or the environment.
That’s changing for newer versions of urban planning games, just as it is for today’s city planners. As issues like homeless, mass transit, and climate change take center stage in the planning industry, they’re being incorporated into breakthrough games like Block’hood and Common’hood too.
That’s a wonderful development for the next generation of builders and activists shaping our cities. Just remember where it all began.