Urban design, transportation, and the natural environment are a few of the tools used to improve the health and vitality of a city. Urban design is the organization of a city on a large scale and involves accounting for traffic and use of the natural environment. A design is drawn up to satisfy problems that have arisen, and it must address traffic and circulation, which is impacted by transportation planning and the available modes of transit. For this reason, transportation planning is inextricably tied to urban design and the solutions that it generates. Cities are more accessible and, thus, happier with good traffic flow and multimodal transportation systems.
The natural environment plays a role in many aspects of planning as well, from its destruction to its preservation. Whether it is a decision to tear down trees for further land development or the establishment of a park, the ways in which planners utilize the natural environment is key to the health and happiness of a city. Access to the natural environment gives cities more variety, and protecting the natural environment is a large part of the effort to protect the earth and its natural resources.
Cities: Skylines does a pretty good job of reflecting how urban design, transportation, and natural environment impact citizen happiness. When businesses need more workers, it is likely because there is not enough housing or that the existing housing is not accessible to workplaces. Citizens will also complain about a lack of parks or too much noise and industrial pollution. This is a reflection on the amount of natural environment that the city has. Traffic flow will become more congested if other modes of transportation are not offered, and this will start to show at intersections and on busy roads. While Cities directs the planner to correct mistakes that lead to such scenarios, it may not be so evident in the real world. It’s not so easy to just demolish some buildings to put in a park or metro stop. Making these decisions for a real city can be very political.
Reference: Levy, John M. (2017). Contemporary Urban Planning (11th ed.). Taylor & Francis.