SIM (ONE – OUT)
Everyone remains in the same role _ except one
The game that simulates a decision-making process for large scale urban interventions
WORKSHOP
Participants: 10-15 students
Duration: 3 days + preparatory period
Course: Planning Systems
Second year
Faculty of Planning, Environment, and Urban Management
Phase 1_Preparatory phase
This phase should be finished before the 3-day workshop, and takes 2 lecture units and one day
reserved to the field trip.
a. Assignment of the area suitable for the exercise
The area is pre-assigned by the lecturer, and presented to the students 2-3 weeks before the
workshop.
The following criteria should be followed for the assignment of the area:
-
Located in a strategic position and/or being of great development interest to the city
Area varying from 20-50 ha
Possibly an area that already has a development project and is under public debate
Mixed-use, or controversial land uses
Many stakeholders have interest in the development
Figure 1 Example of a study area_ Old train station of Tirana
(34ha)
b. Getting started
During the 2 preparatory lecture units, the lecturer explains the main theories that will be needed
during the workshop:
-
Planning cultures and the Role of the planner in different planning systems
Stakeholder power and involvement in city planning (mostly case studies)
To fully understand these concepts, the students may be asked to write a short essay (1500
words) about the Role of Planner, taking up 10% of the evaluation. The essay should be
submitted before the workshop starts.
After this phase, the lecturer drafts a list of characteristics of some planner types, to be used
throughout the game. E.g.:
-the urbanist
He is the professional who only deals with functional and morphological aspects of planning, in
urban scale
-the comprehensive planner
He is the planning expert, who is closely affiliated to the local government, does things in
bureaucratic way, according to traditional urban planning theories, without taking into account the
emerging needs of the local communities and the private stakeholders
-the strategic planner
He is the kind of planner who takes into consideration the relationship of the government with the
major private stakeholders and encourages large scale interventions that benefit all
-the social planner
He is the planner who focuses on the vulnerable groups and tries to assist them to gain profit from
the investments and the public services in the city
-the market planner
He encourages the raise in land value according to market forces and tries to manage development
only on this criteria, as the most economically efficient one
-the communicative planner
He focuses on the process of planning, and mostly in the acknowledgment that the main thing in
planning is the participation of all stakeholders
-the environmental planner
He lobbies that decision-making in urban level is carried out giving special emphasis on the
environmental protection and other similar issues
c. Site visit
The week before the workshop starts, the students have to visit the site and map the first
impressions. Some of the issues to be observed are:
-
What category of people is currently working and living in the area
What type of development will occur in this area (former projects, current local plan, etc.)
Which are the major private stakeholders in the area?
Etc.
This visit will end up with a class discussion, where everyone gives their own observations. Next the
lecturer drafts the list of stakeholders and their future role during the game. In this case, the actors
can be as follows:
- 2 urban planners
- 1 local government official
- 1 environmental lobbyist
- 1 NGO-representative
- 2 small business representatives
- 2 large business representatives
- 2 informal settler representatives
- 2 Local inhabitants
- 1civil society representative
This roles can be adjusted according to the context and the number of students
Phase 2_The SIM (one-out) workshop
This part lasts 3 full days, during which the game will take place, then the results will be visualized
and later on presented in a public event.
Day 1
Morning Session:
-
Brief presentation of the game rules, objectives and expectations
Printing out the site map
Division of roles to the students (randomly) _ the 2 students who attain the role of urban
planner should further choose between the types of planners discussed above (both of
them will be the same type)
Brief brainstorming session about the expectations of each stakeholder
Afternoon Session: The Simulation of Scenario 1
-
-
-
-
The game starts with a brief presentation of the context by the 2 planners. They explain
the conditions or the proposed interventions for the area, that have been debated
publicly, or any existing strategy there
The stakeholders take turns for giving their own ideas and expectations. Before taking the
word, each of them throws a dice to determine how many proposals he/she can make at
this round. If he/she throws 2, than he/she can give two ideas. F.e: the local inhabitant
would want a new kindergarten and more public spaces, in some specific locations.
Next, after the first round, the planners try to summarize and map out the main
interventions proposed. They can use colored paper, cardboards, pins, etc. During this
process they simultaneously mention all proposals, and give their “professional” reason
whether they like them or not. The final mapping of this round will only have the proposal
of the planners, regardless of other’s proposals.
The stakeholders vote on the current situation. This voting session serves only to show the
general opinion about the process.
At this point the urban planners can choose whether they want to repeat the process of
proposals from stakeholders or not. They can also choose whose stakeholder they want to
take opinion of. The strategy depends on the type of planner they are impersonating. The
number of rounds of debate can vary from 1-10, as chosen by the planners.
After the final round of proposals, the planners take time to draft the final outcome, which
is SCENARIO 1
The government votes whether it will approve it or not.
Next, all students begin to visualize this outcome, as a masterplan, a presentation, a pinup, etc., of their choice.
Day 2
Morning Session:
-
The game will start again, only this time the 2 planners will choose (randomly) a different
type of planner
After SCENARIO 2 has been voted, the simulation continues with SCENARIO 3
Afternoon Session:
-
The students start to prepare visually SCENARIO 2 and 3, by drafting masterplans,
powerpoints, etc. It is important to also link the method of visualizing the proposal, with the
type of planner itself. E.g., an urbanist would draft a specific masterplan, in scale 1:1000,
whereas a strategic planner would just communicate graphically the proposed
interventions, in a conceptual way.
Day 3
Morning Session:
-
Brainstorming session with the lecturer, where students share impressions and conclusions
about the simulation
Preparation for the final presentation
Afternoon Session:
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Presentation of the methodology of the game
Presentation of the dynamics of the simulation for each SCENARIO
Presentation and exposition of the final outcomes
Voting by the audience for the best SCENARIO
Concluding comments by the lecturer
*This session should be an open session, preferably organized in the site, where business owners
and local inhabitants can participate and get a more thorough insight of their role in the
development of the area.
The results and process can later be published in a booklet, or online in a blog or social platforms