SimCities und Simkrisen: Keynote at the International City Gaming Conference 2017

The SimCity series functions as a manifestation of capitalist realism, promoting a normative, growth-oriented ideology that obscures the complex social realities of urban life. By reducing the multifaceted nature of city-making to quantifiable variables and cellular automata, these simulations present a technocratic veneer of neutrality that masks inherent political tensions, such as class struggle, racial segregation, and environmental constraints. Rather than serving as objective representations of reality, these games act as subjective simulacra that reflect the specific mental models and biases of their designers, often functioning as non-transparent tools for political persuasion.

The reliance on these models within urban planning and educational contexts presents a significant risk, as they oversimplify the mechanisms of sustainable and inclusive development. The top-down, exclusionary ownership models inherent in traditional city-building games reinforce a tabula rasa approach to urbanism that ignores the lived experiences of marginalized populations. Consequently, the widespread adoption of these simulations as definitive guides for urban management threatens to misrepresent the nature of systemic conflict and social equity in modern cities.

To address these limitations, a shift toward process-oriented and participatory design is essential. By fostering system literacy, communities can move beyond passive consumption of pre-packaged simulations and instead engage in the creation of models that reflect their own localized, context-specific urban dynamics. Empowering marginalized groups to participate in the design process allows for the development of tools that highlight conflicting interests rather than offering an illusion of total control. Ultimately, games should be utilized as instruments for critical reflection on urban life, encouraging users to challenge the status quo and engage with the complexities of the built environment rather than accepting the deterministic logic of traditional simulation software.