SimCity as energy advertisement

for many of us current planning students, one of our first experiences with planning was playing the seminal computer game SimCity. Of course the original game instilled those transcendent planning concepts such as Euclidean zoning and greenfield (blank slate) development, but as we dutifully separated commercial from residential areas and attempted to make our own Brasilias we grew to love the idea of working in cities and working with cities.


Enter Chevron in 2007 who in conjunction with the Economist Group just released Energyville, a game which owes a lot to the original SimCity in design and appearance. In the goal of Energyville, you are the mayor who must choose how to "power" his or her city for the next few decades. Not surprisingly, you learn that oil is essential to the future of your city, and the most effective way of moving forward is by creating a balanced portfolio of energy sources. I did manage to complete the 'simulation' by powering my city with 50% solar electricity, which should win me some sort of award and/or worldwide acclaim.

So, pass a few hours in Energyville, or better yet, play the original SimCity for free on-line.

Playing SimCity for Real

This article from the New York Times is notable for many things, including its headline: Playing SimCity for Real. Here is the author's take on the roles of planners in the Centennial project: "Planners like Jackson use an array of sophisticated software programs, based on demographic and market research, that enable them to calculate the population and density required to animate new neighborhoods. Such programs also help them figure out how many schools and police stations they may need. To see their work as a real-life version of the computer game SimCity isn’t far off."

'animate new neighhorhoods'? I'm not so sure about that.

In the article Robert Lang of the Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech states that the future of urban development is "remaking the postwar landscape" by transforming our automobile-oriented suburbs and that "Los Angeles is really the nation's largest infill project." LA and other western cities might just provide clues to the future of urban planning as they will run out of space long before the less geographically constrained eastern portions of the United States.

the capital of Djibouti is Djibouti

I don't know if you've seen the new advertisement for Coca-Cola Zero but it is notable for a few reasons. One is that the gentleman in it gives a shout out for the man who is probably most people's favorite president: Millard Fillmore. He also asks the young man the question, do you know what the capital of Djibouti is? The capital of Djibouti is Djibouti.

Which brings me to one of my favorite subjects: memoir history. My current academic interests can be traced directly back to two computer games I played avidly as a child. They are Sim City and Where in the World is Carmen Santiago? In the honor of the latter, here are some selected interesting facts about capitals of African nations.

The capital of Djibouti is Djibouti. Djibouti is also home to the only US military base in sub-Saharan Africa. Liberia has the only capital outside of the United States named for a US President. Monrovia is named for the 5th President of the United States and Virginia favorite: James Monroe. South Africa has three capitals. According to the CIA World Factbook Pretoria is the administrative capital, Cape Town the legislative capital, and Johannesburg the judicial capital.

Below picture of Djibouti's port taken by CharlesFred