A dynamic environmental simulator that will enable people to experience a walk or a drive through scale models of urban, suburban, or natural environments is described. The potentials and limitations of the simulation are discussed. (JP)

The Institute for the Future offered a course in urban simulation at Wesleyan University (Conn.). The course, described here, asked the class to create its own urban simulation, based on Middletown, Conn., and to play the simulation themselves. This paper describes the structure of the simulation, reviews some of its results, and illustrates the…

The Developer's Manual No. 3 is part of a set of 21 manuals (AA 001 009-001 029) used in APEX (Air Pollution Exercise), a computerized college and professional level "real world" game simulation of a community with urban and rural problems, industrial activities, and air pollution difficulties. The first two sections, which are the same in each of…

The Developer's Manual No. 7 is part of a set of 21 manuals (AA 001 009-001 029) used in APEX (Air Pollution Exercise), a computerized college and professional level "real world" game simulation of a community with urban and rural problems, industrial activities, and air pollution difficulties. The first two sections, which are the same in each of…

Students solve the dilemma of planning for a decent standard of living while protecting the quality of our environment. Students act out the roles of members of a simple economy: producers, consumers, resource developers, environmental planners. An instructor's manual describes equipment, time needed, and steps for playing. (AV)

CITY III is a computer-assisted simulation game of an urban system involving player operation of and interaction with economic, social, and government components. The role of operator in the game is to take the handwritten inputs (decisions) from the CITY III participants, process them, and return output which initiates the next round of…

METRO-APEX is a computer based gaming simulation in which students study a large urban city and its surroundings by playing the roles of city and county politicians, industrialists, environmental control officials, city planners, land developers, and labor groups. METRO-APEX was played once a week for five weeks as part of one credit course in…

CITY III is a computer-assisted simulation game in which participants make decisions affecting the economic, governmental, and social conditions of a simulated urban area. In CITY III, the computer stores all the relevant statistics for the area, updates data when changes are made, and prints out yearly reports. The computer also simulates…

Published materials that have proven useful in the design of the Institute For The Future's first urban simulation model are listed. References include publications dealing with (1) simulations and games, (2) urban and regional models, (3) educational gaming, (4) research and planning applications, (5) methodological perspectives, and (6)…

CITY III is a computer-assisted simulation game which allows the participants to make decisions affecting various aspects of the economic, governmental, and social sectors of a simulated urban area. The game director selects one of five possible starting city configurations, may set a number of conditions in the city before the start of play, and…

Gaming-simulation in professional practice, education, and research is discussed. Simulation assists in exploring and resolving incongruent values and interests of clients, users, and architects; conveys complex interactive systems students are trying to understand; and elicits responses to alternative actions and contributes to theory development…

Summary descriptions of selected urban simulations and games that have been developed outside the Institute For The Future are presented. The operating characteristics and potential applications of each model are described. These include (1) the history of development, (2) model and player requirements, (3) a description of the environment being…

CITY III, a computer-assisted simulation model to be used in the study of complex interactions and consequences of public and private decision-making in an urban setting, is described in this report. The users of the model, with the help of a computer, become public and private decision-makers in a simulated city and, by interacting with one…

It is time that sociology made use of the increasingly popular teaching device of linking computer simulation and gaming. It is needed because in teaching courses in urban sociology, human ecology, and urban planning, we have found that: a) most class exercises present the community as a statis phenomenon; b) there is no quick and easy way to…

This is a progress report of a project in the process of developing an interdisciplinary secondary school curriculum on the Canadian urban environment. The primary goal is to encourage constructive involvement in urban life and community decision-making, and develop a personal and social competence that will engender a greater commitment to the…