Summary

The speaker starts with the topic of cities and how people have ideas for their dream cities, then introduces the game “Cities: Skylines” that allows people to build and share their own cities.

In the main part, the speaker shows three examples of different city designs created by players of the game, ranging from realistic to futuristic. She explains the logic and inspiration behind each design and how they reflect the players’ vision of urban living.

In the end, the speaker discusses some real-world applications of the game, such as urban planning and public participation. She also suggests that the game might be a way to explore new solutions for the challenges of urbanization and to shape our own future.

Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYUmI5kGsYk

Transcript

00:00

We humans are becoming an urban species, so cities, they are our natural habitat. That is where we live. In 2014, over 54 percent of the world population was living in cities, and I can bet you that so many of these people have thought of how they would do things differently, like if I only had the tools to change things in my city, what would I do? What would my dream city be like? And these tools, this is just what we gave them. Two years ago, my team and I, we released a game, "Cities: Skylines." It is a game about building cities.

00:55

So I have always been interested in cities as systems. It's something that I find immensely interesting. But what I didn't understand was that I am not alone in this. People love cities. They are interested. They have ideas. The game was an instant hit. So far, over three and a half million people have played it.

01:21

And it's not just about playing. We also have really awesome sharing systems. So people play, they create cities and then they are sharing these creations, showing off what they have made. And what I will show you is some of these cities created by the players.

01:44

So the game is about self-expression, creativity, not just overcoming the challenges posed by the simulation. It is about showing what your cities look like.

02:00

So I have a couple of videos. These are from YouTube. And these are some of the most interesting city designs I have seen. So they are all different, and I hope you like all of these.