Simcity 4 In Urban Planning-Minnery
#notesFromPaper Year : Tags : Authors: Minnery Searle #simcity
Simcity 4 in two urban planning classes.
Simcity is a wonderful playground, but what are its assumptions?
Previous work has pointed out some problematic assumptions, both physical ones (e.g. water supply not needed initially) and social ones (disregards citizen participation, voting, councils, etc.)
Simcity is expensive for a classroom budget.
Students had to build two cities: High and low density
Students had negative statements about the game, but these negative thoughts might have still belied positive educational outcomes.
Students understood competing planning demands and associated trade-offs.
Students understood how zoning lead to outcomes.
Students didn’t like that the mayor was essentially a dictator.
Land was too easy to demolish / redevelop
No organic arising of the city
Students read about utopian cities and were tasked with re-making those cities. They really researched the cities, far more than control groups.
Simcity rewards economics more than social health
