Stockholm City Planners to Utilize City Building Sim

People have long imagined what the real-world applications for building sims could be, and now the dream has become a reality as Paradox Interactive’s Cities: Skylines is going to be used to build a new district on the outskirts of the Swedish capital of Stockholm.

The area, known as Norra Djurgårdsstaden, will be one of Europe’s largest urban developments focused on sustained living and giving a much-needed boost to Stockholm’s economy and rising population. The new development hopes to bring in 12,000 new residential units and 35,000 new workspaces.

Next month, Cities: Skylines will be drawn up to explore all the sustainable possibilities for the district as well as being versatile enough to meet the needs of all its new residents. As well as just allowing players to build a city, the game also focuses on traffic congestion, civil policies, and infrastructure, which all have real-world applications and can be used during the planning process. Susana Meza Graham, COO of Paradox Interactive had this to say about how Cities: Skylines is being used in this manner:

“More and more people are realizing the potential that games have – they’re already a medium that engages people all of all ages and countries, to develop and influence all aspects of our society. We truly commend the City of Stockholm and The Swedish Building Services in their ambition to find new and forward-thinking ways of solving real societal challenges.

We are thrilled that Cities: Skylines was chosen to help contribute to this change right in our own backyard, and are excited to work with all involved parties to bring this project forward, not in the least our very dedicated community of players and fans.”

As well as officials from the publishers, developers and city officials, the development has also been including Swedish citizens in the process, getting their feedback, contributing ideas and ways the game could be modified to accomplish the task.

This isn’t the first time that Sweden has used a computer in this kind of manner. In October 2013, together with Mojang, Swedish developers and designers built a new Stockholm using Minecraft. The project allowed members of the public to build buildings on a reimagined virtual canvas of Stockholm.

Check out the modeled version of Djurgårdsstaden below and let us know what you think!