S I M U L A T I N G  T H E  F U T U R E

The Environmental Simulation Center (ESC) was established at the New School for Social Research in 1991. Since 1997, the ESC has been an independent not-for-profit organization practicing planning and urban design. The mission of the ESC is to improve the livability of communities through the application of information technology to the community planning, design and development processes, thereby extending capabilities of decision-makers and citizens.

The ESC's approach recognizes that our cities and towns are complex, constantly changing environments, which have resulted in planning and design techniques that are more reactive than proactive. We believe that new technologies are allowing planners and decision-makers to perform their jobs in ways that were never before possible. A planning office that embraces these technologies can both track and account for change as it occurs. This allows for radically up-to-date decision-making and for plans, guidelines, and policies that adapt and evolve like the places they are designed to manage. The ESC has pioneered the practice of planning in an information-rich, interactive computing environment, and assists clients who are transitioning to an technology-rich planning environment. 

We use these techniques not only to illustrate designs, but to communicate and evaluate a design as it evolves. By integrating words, numbers, and images in one simulation environment, the design, scope, and physical impact of proposed projects can be assessed in real-time. In a technologically-mediated workshop setting, the ESC works with clients to interactively plan and design alternatives, formulate and test strategies, and develop implementation techniques. This unique design approach enables open and informed decision-making, and is instrumental in helping communities reach consensus.

At the ESC, solutions to complex planning and design issues are application-driven rather than technologically-driven. Solutions are tailored to the uniqueness of the place, circumstances, and client needs. The ESC's staff are, first and foremost, planners and architects. We believe that technology serves as a means to an end – not an end in itself – and that the technological advances that the ESC has made are relevant only because they were developed in the context of real-world planning and design projects and responded to the greater needs of planning and design in the 21st century.