dessalles

Google Earth 4.3 was released yesterday which, with the introduction of photo-realistic 3D buildings and a sunlight simulator, inches Google closer to being the proprietor of impressively realistic models of every major city on the planet. Above, a view of the San Francisco skyline just before sunset. Below, the skyline from the soon to be released Grand Theft Auto IV. I wonder how much longer until Google manages to catch up with the realism of today’s videogames? Right now, they seem to be at about Flight Simulator 2004…so, 4 years behind.

GTA IV has modeled its game world of Liberty City after New York City (replete with a “Statue of Happiness”). And what I’m eager to learn is how the game experience will differ for local New Yorkers who’ll be playing with their own existing mental maps of the city. Will we find ourselves with a distinct advantage over our online, multi-player opponents, unfamiliar with the broken grid of lower Manhattan? Will they know to take the West Side Highway or 10th Ave? continue reading »

Fourth phase: all major central settlements form one urban system.

From Ekistics: An Introduction to the Science of Human Settlements by Constantinos A. Doxiadis (Oxford University Press, 1968).