Can a Game Teach You to Build a Sustainable City?

Let’s talk about how the city-building simulation game Cities: Skylines shows how we can build a sustainable city.

Written by Ibtasam & Zarif, Edited by Sadat

Ever wondered how cities function beneath the surface?

Through Cities: Skylines, we’re not just building virtual cities we’re stepping into the shoes of urban planners, engineers, and environmentalists. Instead of telling you what kind of game Cities: Skylines is, we will explore together different aspects of its game mechanics and connect it to real life examples. We will also compare it to other game mechanics to show some contrast.

Fig. Game Traffic System vs Google Maps Traffic System

In Cities: Skylines, building roads and bridges is just the start. To keep your city moving, you must also manage its traffic flow. The game uses a real-world traffic maps system like Google Maps where red indicates high traffic congestion, while green low. A traffic flow meter on the top left corner provides an overview of your city’s overall traffic health.

This simulation goes beyond gameplay, it’s a tool for understanding and predicting traffic patterns. In fact, urban planning researchers, like Jenitta Pragalathan, have used similar predictive models in her research to reduce congestion and queue times in real-life cities. Cities: Skylines offers a hands-on way to explore these concepts, making complex traffic systems easier to approach.

Fig. Power Grid Visualization

In the real world, power companies generate electricity through power plants and distribute it via complex grids. Cities: Skylines utilizes the same process, challenging players to build and manage their own power infrastructure. From coal plants to renewable sources like hydroelectric, geothermal, nuclear and others, players must balance energy production and environmental impact.

Electricity generation in the game introduces pollution, affecting air, water, and land much like in real life. This pushes players to explore green energy options, such as wind turbines, geothermal plants, and solar panels. By integrating these sustainable solutions, Cities: Skylines emphasizes the importance of reducing a city’s carbon emission without turning the lights off.

To help in making decisions, the game uses visual overlays to show power distribution across the city. Areas with power are identified as blue, while those without remain dimmed, allowing players to spot issues at a glance.

For instance, in the provided image of a Wave Power Plant, players can easily access critical data like cost, power output, and pollution levels. While this plant produces zero environmental pollution, it generates 40 units of noise pollution, a significant factor in city planning. This added layer of strategy encourages players to carefully consider where to place such facilities to minimize negative impact to residential areas.

Another fun fact is it tweets notifications like a bird that’s missing from the internet recently. These notifications help you stay up to date on the city’s updates and issues.

Cities: Skylines offers players a simplified but insightful picture of water management. While it doesn’t capture the full complexity of real-world water systems, it highlights critical components like supply, drainage, and the impact of freezing temperatures. This helps raise awareness of the challenges urban planners face, from maintaining water flow to preventing costly infrastructure damage.

Fig. Cities: Skylines heating vs real life heating

A functional heating system is equally vital, especially during winter. In Cities: Skylines, frozen waterlines serve as a reminder of how infrastructure can fail under extreme weather. Players must ensure their city is equipped with proper heating solution to prevent the loss of lives and property. In reality, frozen pipes can paralyze entire cities, affecting water supply, sanitation, and even emergency services.

Fig. Cities: Skylines Natural Disasters

In Cities: Skylines, the Natural Disasters DLC introduces dynamic challenges, including snowstorms, energy blackouts, storms and floods that test a city’s resilience. These events require players to implement effective strategies and emergency protocols to maintain essential services during crises. By managing these scenarios, players gain insights into real-world urban planning, emphasizing the importance of preparedness and infrastructure robustness.

Fig. Frost Punk Heat and Cold Visualization

Games like Frostpunk take this concept even further, turning heating into a central survival challenge. Players face ethical dilemmas and resource scarcity, making tough decisions to keep their city warm. Combining Frostpunk’s depth with Cities: Skylines, a broad urban simulation could create an immersive and realistic experience, blending strategic planning with moral decision-making. Such a game could deepen players’ understanding of urban resilience while making the stakes feel more personal and immediate.

Cities: Skylines offers an innovative platform for students and professionals in urban planning, environmental science, public services, transportation and other areas. By simulating real-world scenarios, the game enables users to experiment with city’s layouts, infrastructure development, and policy implementation, providing a hands-on understanding of urban dynamics.

Fig. Garbage and Landfill Meter and Crime Rate Meter

The game’s interface includes visual indicators such as crime and garbage levels, happiness meter which, while not directly available in real life, offer immediate feedback on the city’s well-being. These metrics engage players by highlighting the consequences of their decisions, fostering a deeper connection to urban management.

Fig. Cities Skylines All Factors of the Game

Cities: Skylines encompasses various aspects of city management, including governance, infrastructure, and foundational urban concepts. Players assume the role of city planners, making decisions on zoning, taxation, public services, and transportation networks. This comprehensive approach allows users to grasp the complexities of urban development and the interplay between different city components.

Cities: Skylines has been recognized as a valuable educational tool in various academic studies. For instance, a study titled “Perceptions of Students for a Gamification Approach: Cities Skylines as a Pedagogical Tool in Urban Planning Education” explored the game’s effectiveness in teaching urban planning concepts. The research involved in-depth interviews with students, revealing that the game’s visual elements helped them develop a conceptual understanding of urban planning. However, the study also noted that while the game engages in critical thinking and problem-solving skills, its internal limitations may hinder students from confidently applying knowledge in real-world scenarios.

Another research article, “Study of the Training of Environmentalists through Gamification as a University Course,” examined the use of Cities: Skylines in environmental education. The study found that integrating the game into university courses increased student engagement and provided a practical understanding of environmental management challenges. The interactive nature of the game allowed students to experiment with different environmental policies and observe their outcomes, thereby enhancing their learning experience.

Additionally, the paper “Gamification of Education: Cities Skylines as an Educational Tool for Real Estate and Land Use Planning Studies” discussed the game’s application in real estate and land use planning education. The research highlighted that while Cities: Skylines offers a simplified city planning experience, it provides a comprehensive view of a city’s various functions. The study suggested that with certain modifications, the game could effectively support educational uses, particularly in problem-solving scenarios related to city planning.

These studies underscore the potential of Cities: Skylines as an educational resource, offering interactive and engaging ways to explore complex urban planning and environmental concepts.

Despite its educational benefits, Cities: Skylines has limitations in accurately simulating real-life urban planning. The game’s visuals and mechanics, while detailed, cannot fully replicate the complexities of actual city environments. Moreover, the game’s scale and intricacy may be daunting for some users, potentially hindering its effectiveness as a teaching tool. These challenges underscore the need for supplementary educational resources to provide a more comprehensive understanding of urban planning principles.

Absolutely, games like Cities: Skylines have the potential to profoundly shape the future of city planning and urban management, and they represent the beginning of a shift where gaming and real-world applications converge.

Testing Ground for Urban Concepts

City-building games provide a risk-free space to explore urban design, infrastructure, and policies. Both planners and students can test innovative layouts, experiment with policies, or observe the impact of new transit systems all without real-world consequences. For instance, you could design a “car-free” city in the game and analyze its effects on traffic, pollution, and citizen satisfaction. These experiments might spark real-world initiatives or even inform policymaking.

City planning often feels distant and complex to the general public. Now, imagine city councils or governments using a customized version of Cities: Skylines to let citizens experiment with urban policies, budgeting, or zoning changes. This could raise public awareness, encourage community input, and foster collaboration between citizens and city officials.

Ultimately, Cities: Skylines is more than just a game it’s a tool for reimagining what’s possible. It pushes us to think creatively, make tough choices, and envision better cities. These types of games are powerful learning platforms. They can shift the perception that games are purely for entertainment, showing they can also be valuable educational tools. So, are you just a player, or could you be a city architect of the future?

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Also check out our previous content on how a telephone can be turned into a video game, Dialing into sustainability through alternative controllers.

Written By

Ibtasam Hasan

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