Skylines of the mind

Abstract

City building games (CBGs) like SimCity and Cities: Skylines offer a rich world of play, what Will Wright, the creator of the original SimCity, described as “software toys.” Yet, their importance as cultural products is not limited to entertainment: they often serve as a formative initial introduction to urban systems, and therefore have the power to influence the way millions of people view, and ultimately help shape, our urban world. The underlying rules and assumptions built into CBGs, as well as the ways players work within these constraints, can tell us about how we envision cities, both as they currently are, and how we would like them to be. The primary aims of this chapter are twofold. First, I consider the ways in which city building games have likely influenced, and been influenced by, best practices in urban planning and policy. Second, by considering the game’s mechanics, underlying assumptions, and the ways in which both developer and gaming community have prioritized certain facets of urbanity within the game, I hope to illuminate critical disjunctions between the city of reality and the city of the mind.