Sim City Pro

The need for tools for 21st century decision making are lacking in the areas of planning, utilities, transportation planning, economic development, environmental and human health evaluation, at all government levels. The problems are compounded and difficult to resolve when data is created by many different sources (private, public, quasi-public), in many different formats, and with different quality levels. We have data from the past but is quickly paling in comparison to the amount that is being created today and growing quicker in the future.
 
Using written reports that take up shelf space in government staff offices doesn't do anything to support decisions as fine tuning and adjustments are being made. How do we know when a decision works in line with the various policies, reports, intiatives, plans, or goals? For those who have read, understand, and remember all this when interpreting the data they are working with, the current way might work. But this is becoming less reasonable as fewer people are working in these positions, they are expected to do more, and the knowledge bank is dwindling with retirements and transitions to the private sector.
 
What we need is a solution that accomplishes 3 main tasks: incorporates data from all sources, leverages crowd sourcing of professionals and interested individuals outside of the government sphere, and provides real time feedback as decisions are being made. This modeling software would utilize the technology and architecture of programs like SimCity, AutoCAD/Revit, ArcGIS, Google Earth, among other software tools. 

The data needs to be open sourced as well so that tweaking and improvement can happen outside of the government sphere while the public sector benefits as well. For instance, lease and rent contracts are almost never publicly listed, except in marketing materials, but it can have huge implications on what kind of structures, spaces, and value we can create in different parts of a city. This data would be supplied by the private sector which can be used by the public sector as well, in exchange for use of data and tools created by the public sector. Something of quid pro quo or public-private partnership. Eventually when we realize that we can accomplish much more when true transparency is practices, the public and private sectors learn to trust that each needs other to be part of a sustainable built environment and a competitive advantage can be had by what we learn from and how we use the data to create the best places, we will have a business and social environment that will rival any that has ever existed on earth.

The creation of these tools is not cheap nor should they be free from compensation, but they also need to be available to people and organizations of all levels so we can build upon each others strengths and fill in for our weaknesses. Open source doesn't have to be no-revenue model either, maybe just not a for-revenue-only model. And when a public entity develops something that works, it is for the benefit of society's all who may be interested or willing to learn and incorporate these components that we must share these successful strategies, even if other places may become more successful by using them.