Introducing South Waikato Junction, and River View (Riverside) & More Insight into Ben's planning methodologies! City Centres with their density, bustling cosmopolitan life and the chaotic environment need friends. And most often it is the inner suburbs that provide that friendship. Introducing South Waikato Junction and Riverside; with South Waikato to be an inner suburb … Continue reading The City Centre Gets a Friend | Waikato Part 6.2 | #citiesskylines2
Tag: Urban Geography
DRILL THAT OIL. Also hello Howick | Waikato 5.1 | #citiesskylines2
Industry powers the city while I need 13,000 new working residents for Waikato The Drill Baby Drill MAGA and Shane Jones bravado aside, resources and subsequent industry are often the primary reason cities are founded, live, and sometimes die (if the resource is depleted or deindustrialisation went horridly wrong and urban renewal did not happen … Continue reading DRILL THAT OIL. Also hello Howick | Waikato 5.1 | #citiesskylines2
Bridges, Ports, Railways and Highways | Waikato 5.0 | #citiesskylines2
Time for those Bridges, Ports, Railways and Highways Bridges, Ports, Railways, and Highways. No endless business cases, no political partisan pontification, no dithering apart from a fast growing city catching me a tad short. Just a spatial plan, a long-term-plan, and some serious construction! With Waikato hitting 60,000 (large town or small city status) it … Continue reading Bridges, Ports, Railways and Highways | Waikato 5.0 | #citiesskylines2
Transit by Design: Designing Transit That Works | Waikato Part 3.1 | #citiesskylines2
Time for a reading on Transit by Design before implementing said transit into Waikato The Spatial Plan is written, the infrastructure is in place, I finally laid down the Zones, and we are ready to let the first cims and businesses move in. BUT FIRST we have one more of the puzzle to complete. I … Continue reading Transit by Design: Designing Transit That Works | Waikato Part 3.1 | #citiesskylines2
The Infrastructure that Binds: Waikato – Part 2.2. #CitiesSkylines2
After some roadblocks, preparations for first residents and businesses to move into Waikato continue to take shape The glue that binds a city together continues apace with the placing of the (larger) public infrastructure into Waikato. As I note in the video, some of the more localised infrastructure like local roads, and pocket parks will … Continue reading The Infrastructure that Binds: Waikato – Part 2.2. #CitiesSkylines2
Can AI be used in Planning? And could an existing Urban Simulator like #CitiesSkylines 1 and 2 assist?
Could Large Language Models (AI) be used as a tool in Planning? It was used in my submission to the Planning Bill that had included "blueprints" if my submission was to be followed. So, could it now be used alongside an urban simulator like Cities Skylines which has already been used as an illustrator and … Continue reading Can AI be used in Planning? And could an existing Urban Simulator like #CitiesSkylines 1 and 2 assist?
New Cities for 2026: Introducing Waikato. #CitiesSkylines2
Time for a new City, well one of two new cities for 2026. Introducing Waikato using the Elizabeth County map from the Paradox workshops. Waikato will be one of two new cities for 2026 and Cities Skylines. The second city will be Neo Manukau Ranges that will use the same map (but updated) as the … Continue reading New Cities for 2026: Introducing Waikato. #CitiesSkylines2
Back to #CitiesSkylines after 5 month break. MOAR CONTENT INCOMING!
Content to grace both Cities Skylines 1 AND 2 It has been a while, since November with Cities Skylines 2 and October with Cities Skylines 1. However, real life happens including moving, redundancy, and reforms in your real life profession - Planning. All can be quite the distraction for a discerning Cities Skylines player. But … Continue reading Back to #CitiesSkylines after 5 month break. MOAR CONTENT INCOMING!
A Day in Motion: Discovering Marsden Point’s Transit Heartbeat
A city with a pulse is a city in motion! A similar post was done as part of the Ben Does Planning Series. A Day in the Motion on Ben's Cities blog is where we just sit back and reflect on all that is Marsden Point in Cities Skylines 2. Marsden Point: a City in … Continue reading A Day in Motion: Discovering Marsden Point’s Transit Heartbeat
Building a City from Scratch: An Introduction to Urban Planning Through Manukau Ranges. #CitiesSkylines2
From Blueprint to a Living Metropolis Have you ever wondered why your home is on one side of town and the factories are on the other? Or why the subway entrance is precisely on that corner? These are not accidents; they are the result of urban planning, a discipline of deliberate choices that shape our … Continue reading Building a City from Scratch: An Introduction to Urban Planning Through Manukau Ranges. #CitiesSkylines2









