Intuitive Cities: Skylines players have recreated real life locations within the city-builder in the past, however the Swedish Building Service Svensk Byggtjänst is now using the game to plan the development of a new city district.
Alongside Paradox and officials from the city of Stockholm, a workshop is set to run on September 3 and 4 to “explore possible methods for this district to become sustainable, and versatile enough to support the needs of its residents,” according to a statement.
Norra Djurgårdstaden will add 12,000 new homes and 35,000 workspaces to help combat accommodation shortages in the area, and the idea is to simulate the district in-game to test different scenarios.
In addition to professional city builders and planners, Cities: Skylines players are also involved in the project, offering ideas and modifications in-line with the workshop’s goals. Skylines Modder Alexander Oberroither will be flown in from Austria to take part in the workshop in person.
“A citizen dialogue that functions well is key for urban city planning, now and in the future,” says head of communications at the Swedish Building Services Erik Kalmaru. “Computer games have shown to be a very effective tool to build engagement and generate ideas, but also to visualise the process. We undertook a previous project with Minecraft and Mojang which developed into a project spanning the world, and we look forward to seeing what using Cities: Skylines as a tool will generate.”
