Simulated Urban Infrastructure Analysis
Budget: $30 – $250 CAD
The agglomerations of urbanization that we call cities are hugely complex systems that intersect trillions of variables (perhaps infinite), billions of material flows, millions of operations, thousands of people (often millions), and hundreds of different building/landscape types and programs. Cities are hugely complex systems.
Thus, in a course dedicated to introducing urban infrastructures and systems, a city simulation game, like Cities: Skylines, becomes an opportunity to explore—in a contained "fish bowl" of sorts—a targeted band of variables and their response/relationship to a narrow subset of city infrastructures (e.g., transportation, energy, water, waster, etc.) and systems (e.g., zoning, policies, taxation, etc.).
BDCI: Launchpad introduced Cities: Skylines through the City Game-A-Thon that challenged participants to design a 2-tile city with a minimum population of 22-36K through normal game progression. This project will go a few steps further and ask for the rigorous application of urban design strategies to study how urban variables respond as a result. This project aims to break the orthodoxy of traditional course assignments (like an essay) and make use of a highly refined software program (in this instance, a game) that is responsive to agent-based decisions (the player) in real time.
This project will encourage you to:
• Practice spatial intelligence and visual thinking skills;
• Practice translating 2D plans into 3D urban models:
• Explore an urban design precedent and the logics it might demand for its effective "functioning;"
• Critically reflect on the relationship between attributes in a virtual built environment and simulated impacts on human behavior;
• Critically think on the differences between a city simulation game (finite number of imperfect variables) and a real city (infinite number of complex variables); and,
• Cultivate a design intuition on the relationship between effective urban morphologies and the infrastructures and systems they embed. SOFTWARE
The software you will require for the successful completion of this project are as follows:
• Cities: Skylines
• Adobe Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign)
• Adobe PDF
• Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel) INSTRUCTIONS
UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY
Using unlimited build mode, you will build two parallel-reality cities.
First, build a 10x10 city grid that most closely matches your assigned city grid precedent (the "cell' size in Cities: Skylines is approximately 8x8m, so you will have to round up or down at times). Conduct research to mimic/deploy the correct road type/width (correct number of lanes, presence of sidewalks or planted medians/trees, etc) within your city. Use research to also determine the average profile of zoning/density policies present within your city grid precedents (low vs high density, residential vs commercial, commercial vs office) and mimic their distribution in your city. Once your city has reached the maximum population number as limited by the grid size and the zoning/ density policies, pause it.
Second, repeat the process above, but change all the roads to different types that more directly support pedestrian mobility or public transit (like bus routes). However, make sure any road replacements maintain the same width as the first version. Use your own judgement (and notes from class lectures) to determine the most ideal zoning types that would promote high employment and economic productivity, increase city attractiveness, and raise land value.
Once your city has reached the maximum population number as limited by your new choices, pause it.
In a slide-deck-style report, execute a comparative analysis of both cities and the differences between them. Look at various metrics and compare and contrast. What things changed? What things improved? What things got worse? In order to have two cities that are suitable for comparison, placement of amenities (like schools, police stations, firehalls, libraries, etc...) will have to remain consistent between both iterations. The only changes between both cities should be the type of roads and the zoning/density classification. Trees and landscape features can also be added to the 2nd city if not present in the 1st. For the correct functioning of both cities, an industrial zone and other utilities will have to also be considered and added even if not faithful to each city grid precedent. In these cases, simply make sure these areas are the same for both city iterations so that a comparison can remain accurate.
The deliverables for this project will be produced individually outside class time:
• A slide deck presentation (17'x11', landscape orientation, PDF) that documents (through screenshots) the two different cities, the research that supports your choices in their design, the different metrics between both options, and a conclusion that synthesizes these observed differences.
Use your software skills learned in DSGN 211 (Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign) to make a compelling presentation that is augmented with carefully crafted visuals, annotations, and layout. Use the Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel) to document your notes and metrics before translation to the final slide deck.
This project is due at 9am on Monday, October 27th. My city for this project is Savannah USA (110 x 50m) below is the brief for this project and an example
Thus, in a course dedicated to introducing urban infrastructures and systems, a city simulation game, like Cities: Skylines, becomes an opportunity to explore—in a contained "fish bowl" of sorts—a targeted band of variables and their response/relationship to a narrow subset of city infrastructures (e.g., transportation, energy, water, waster, etc.) and systems (e.g., zoning, policies, taxation, etc.).
BDCI: Launchpad introduced Cities: Skylines through the City Game-A-Thon that challenged participants to design a 2-tile city with a minimum population of 22-36K through normal game progression. This project will go a few steps further and ask for the rigorous application of urban design strategies to study how urban variables respond as a result. This project aims to break the orthodoxy of traditional course assignments (like an essay) and make use of a highly refined software program (in this instance, a game) that is responsive to agent-based decisions (the player) in real time.
This project will encourage you to:
• Practice spatial intelligence and visual thinking skills;
• Practice translating 2D plans into 3D urban models:
• Explore an urban design precedent and the logics it might demand for its effective "functioning;"
• Critically reflect on the relationship between attributes in a virtual built environment and simulated impacts on human behavior;
• Critically think on the differences between a city simulation game (finite number of imperfect variables) and a real city (infinite number of complex variables); and,
• Cultivate a design intuition on the relationship between effective urban morphologies and the infrastructures and systems they embed. SOFTWARE
The software you will require for the successful completion of this project are as follows:
• Cities: Skylines
• Adobe Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign)
• Adobe PDF
• Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel) INSTRUCTIONS
UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY
Using unlimited build mode, you will build two parallel-reality cities.
First, build a 10x10 city grid that most closely matches your assigned city grid precedent (the "cell' size in Cities: Skylines is approximately 8x8m, so you will have to round up or down at times). Conduct research to mimic/deploy the correct road type/width (correct number of lanes, presence of sidewalks or planted medians/trees, etc) within your city. Use research to also determine the average profile of zoning/density policies present within your city grid precedents (low vs high density, residential vs commercial, commercial vs office) and mimic their distribution in your city. Once your city has reached the maximum population number as limited by the grid size and the zoning/ density policies, pause it.
Second, repeat the process above, but change all the roads to different types that more directly support pedestrian mobility or public transit (like bus routes). However, make sure any road replacements maintain the same width as the first version. Use your own judgement (and notes from class lectures) to determine the most ideal zoning types that would promote high employment and economic productivity, increase city attractiveness, and raise land value.
Once your city has reached the maximum population number as limited by your new choices, pause it.
In a slide-deck-style report, execute a comparative analysis of both cities and the differences between them. Look at various metrics and compare and contrast. What things changed? What things improved? What things got worse? In order to have two cities that are suitable for comparison, placement of amenities (like schools, police stations, firehalls, libraries, etc...) will have to remain consistent between both iterations. The only changes between both cities should be the type of roads and the zoning/density classification. Trees and landscape features can also be added to the 2nd city if not present in the 1st. For the correct functioning of both cities, an industrial zone and other utilities will have to also be considered and added even if not faithful to each city grid precedent. In these cases, simply make sure these areas are the same for both city iterations so that a comparison can remain accurate.
The deliverables for this project will be produced individually outside class time:
• A slide deck presentation (17'x11', landscape orientation, PDF) that documents (through screenshots) the two different cities, the research that supports your choices in their design, the different metrics between both options, and a conclusion that synthesizes these observed differences.
Use your software skills learned in DSGN 211 (Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign) to make a compelling presentation that is augmented with carefully crafted visuals, annotations, and layout. Use the Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel) to document your notes and metrics before translation to the final slide deck.
This project is due at 9am on Monday, October 27th. My city for this project is Savannah USA (110 x 50m) below is the brief for this project and an example