SIM (ONE – OUT)Everyone remains in the same role _ except one

The game that simulates a decision-making process for large scale urban interventionsWORKSHOPParticipants: 10-15 studentsDuration: 3 days + preparatory period

Course: Planning SystemsSecond 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

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

Figure 1 Example of a study area_ Old train station of Tirana (34ha)

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 pin-up, 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:

- 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