After a decade of waiting, today's the day planning geeks have been waiting for. SimCity has arrived! To celebrate, Fast Company has assembled "some of the most interesting urban thinkers...to see who would make the best fake metropolis."
John McDermott provides the play-by-play for Co.Exist's city building tournament. "For this competition, in February, Co.Exist and Greg Lindsay--the co-author of the future cities book Aerotropolis and Co.Exist contributor--assembled six teams of urban think tanks to pit their planning chops against each other in the new version of the city planning game." The teams included reprentatives from MIT, the University of Columbia, Fast Company, Kohn Pederson Fox (KPF), Studio Gang, and OpenPlans.
"The thought was that coupling the players’ collective genius with SimCity’s planning dashboard would result in a vision of a potential urban future, a blueprint for the future of cities. That would not turn out to be the case."
Read the full story: Using The New Sim City, 6 Urban Planners Battle For Bragging Rights
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Who Wants to Play SimParkingLot?
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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.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
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Northwest rail fans eager for Sept. 30 debut of Amtrak’s Airo fleet
Get ready for that new train smell and more seats. But they won’t go faster or run more frequently on the Cascades route in Washington and Oregon.
Caltrain may slash over one-third of its stations
If Bay Area voters reject two transit tax measures, Caltrain, BART and AC Transit will see steep service cuts.
A 'dangerous' precedent: North Carolina successfully pressures communities into voting for toll roads
Two mayors resigned from the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization after it voted in favor of the toll roads.
Austin landlords only need to address mold when it covers 25 sqft. A resolution looks to change that
The city manager will propose updates to the city code regarding regulations around mold in May.
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Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
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University of Cincinnati Online
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The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello