While the topics covered in a real-world comprehensive plan—health, circulation, provision of services and facilities, fiscal health, redistribution, etc.—line up with those discussed in Solasta’s comprehensive plan, the process of actually writing the plan differs dramatically (Levy 184-187). The real-world process contains five distinct action items: research, clarification of community goals, plan formulation, plan implementation, and review and revision (Levy 188). Firstly, Solasta’s plan took, at most, a week or so to complete. Professor Burton suggested that plans for real cities can take upwards of a couple years. Concerning research, Solasta planners only needed to pull up the statistics and data that has already been collected. Real-world planners often need to search out data more diligently; it is not already neatly compiled for them.
To formulate community goals, real-world planners must consider the desires of their citizens. There is often disagreement and conflict, which makes drafting a plan even more challenging. In Cities: Skylines, the planner need only consider the “happiness” ratings for their citizens. The construction and decisions are not directly impacted by a will of the people. Formulating a comprehensive plan requires the collaboration of many real-world planners, which leads to more debate and decision-making. As the sole crafter of the Solasta plan and the city itself, there was no need to take time to speak with other planners. Implementing the plan is also much easier and faster as a Cities planner. Having complete control over land use and spending, Cities planners can follow through on their ideas without any politics. Real-world planners must adapt and revise based on political influence and changing demands.
REFERENCE
Levy, John M. (2017). Contemporary Urban Planning (11th ed.). Taylor & Francis.