The game, you see, represents a cyber city, that is, a city that exists in the cyberspace found within the computer. It does not really exist apart from the screen facing the player and the little cyber numbers in the memory chips. It does, however, represent some very real parallels to the outside world and real cities.
If the player – let us rather refer to him as the property developer, or developer – does not closely follow the rules that determine real-life city growth, the game just peters out and the developer loses. How does the game work?
The developer starts off with a lump sum of money and a blank piece of earth. The game is started by building residential sites and infrastructure. The little electronic men and their wives will not occupy these residential sites if there is no electricity, roads or potable water. Careful – not all water supplies are potable. The developer needs to build electric power stations and make sure that the residential sites are near good, clean water supplies. Once the first streets are laid out, little houses will start popping up.
But beware again. If no provision is made for commercial sites or industrial sites, the little electromen have no way of supporting their sparkling little families, and the residential sites start emptying, population figures drop and oh no! Revenue starts dropping. Revenue? Yes, the developer needs revenue to proclaim more residential sites, more commercial sites and more industrial sites.
Very soon the population starts complaining about schools, universities and colleges. Turn a deaf ear to these electronic pleas, and guess what? Population figures drop, revenue drops and expansion becomes impossible. Supply schools, hospitals and all the rest, and do the people stop complaining? Oh no, in the more densely populated areas crime starts rearing its ugly head, and the developer needs to build police stations and fire stations.
Eventually the developer will end up with a fair - sized city, and rake in a comfortable income every month. There is a town council with advisors, one for roads and public transport, one for finances, one for policing and fire prevention and so on. The budgets that these officials ask for has to be reviewed annually and adapted to fit the gross income figures.
A very intricate little game. But is it really a game? When mismanagement of cities and towns occur, one finds disparaging links between this virtual scenario and real life – that is what I said at the beginning. A few years ago I went to visit family in South Africa. We found the infrastructure caving in – the first signs of mismanagement of public funds. The roads were potholed. I don’t mean backwoods or country roads, we are talking of main thoroughfares, freeways and highways.
Those fortunate ones who have been to Angola recently, did you notice the roads? Or the absence of such? Breaking down of the infrastructure is the first sign of mismanagement, or even, as in the case of Angola, total lack of management leading to a total lack of infrastructure. The war took its toll, is their excuse. What excuse Zimbabwe? What excuse South Africa?