In a quest to develop a plan to house the additional 1 million people expected to grow New Zealand's largest city in the next 30 years, Auckland is asking residents to submit ideas by using a "housing simulator" game.
"From participatory budgets to civic engagement games, cities are coming up with all kinds of new ways to bring citizens into the planning process," writes Ben Schiller. "And here’s another nice idea: a 'housing simulator' from Auckland."
The simulator allows residents to play with allowable building heights in different types of urban environments, the mix of house sizes, and how much greenfield development to allow, in order to increase Aukland's housing supply by 400,000 new homes.
"Officials hope the tool will help residents engage with its Unitary Plan, a blueprint for the city’s future. 'Auckland’s a big and varied place, but the simulator gives people a really simple way to visualize some of the decisions that need to be made through the unitary plan,' says Auckland councillor Michael Goudie, in a press release. 'It shows the trade-offs between heights in our centers, growth in density across suburban Auckland and growth out into rural areas.'”
FULL STORY: You Be The Planner: Figure Out How To Grow A City Responsibly

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails
Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail
The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power
Utilities are calling on states to hold data center operators responsible for new energy demands to prevent leaving consumers on the hook for their bills.

MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns
MARTA’s board announced Thursday that its chief, who is from Canada, is resigning due to questions about his immigration status.

Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant
A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Caltrans
City of Fort Worth
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
City of Portland
City of Laramie