Project Italia: A construction of a slice of Italian coastal urban living

Project Italia is designed to incorporate many Italian city planning elements while remaining entirely original. The main city is centered around a small cove, similar to the real cities of Portoferraio, La Spezia, and Nettuno. The waterfront and marina is walkable and designed to attract tourists, and a slight slope away from the water houses stepped rooves, reminiscent of Monaco. This both follows the natural contour of the land as well as allows those living further inland a view of the bay. Newer buildings can be found increasingly far from that downtown, as well as some uniform housing projects built during the middle of the 20th century. There are some wealthy mansions on the mountain overlooking the bay, and winding roads throughout the cliffs. Citizens commute to the office park on the outskirts of the city, both from the downtown and from the rural town further inland, founded in the middle of fields and pastures. Past the village, a highway winds up the mountain and out of the region.

This city file can be used to test the effects of changes on the functionality of cities. For example, adding a large, nine-building housing project near the mansions increased traffic in an unsuitable intersection and drove demand for a nearby plaza. However, city files have applications further than hypothetical changes in hypothetical cities: replicas of real cities can make use of this strategy in order to make real-world urban planning decisions. Project Italia is a proof of concept.