Are cities spaces exclusively for the living? A project has emerged that offers a new answer to this question. BigC.Works' special project Sim Eternal City presents an innovative vision that transcends the limitations of existing urban planning through its updated manifesto.

It's been several years since Paris's 15-minute city model became the new global standard for urban planning. How convenient would it be to have work, school, hospitals, and cultural facilities all within a 15-minute walk from home? Cities where you can live comfortably without cars, where local communities thrive. The 15-minute city was certainly an attractive model.

But something was missing. Where are our grandfathers and grandmothers? Where in the city is there space for the stories of people we want to remember, those who were precious to us?

Paul, Publisher of BigC.Works Magazine and Founder of the Sim Eternal City Project, says: "Sim Eternal City is not simply an architectural project. This is a fundamental question about how cities can embrace the full spectrum of human experience. We dream of cities for the future, but simultaneously want to present realistic methodologies that can be applied right now in the cities where we live."

The most distinctive feature of Sim Eternal City is that it floats on the ocean. Four decommissioned cruise ships are connected to form a unified urban framework, with a massive plaza called 'The Tabletop' placed at the center. This plaza is not merely empty space. It's a space where weddings and commemorative ceremonies, festivals and reflection, play and meditation naturally harmonize.

Imagine a plaza that serves as a playground for children in the morning, becomes a resting place where grandmothers share old stories in the afternoon, and transforms into a quiet space for honoring precious memories in the evening. This is the essence of a 'city with narrative.'

The most impressive concept in the updated manifesto is the 'architecture of memory.' This means designing not just buildings and roads, but also how people's memories and stories flow, accumulate, and are transmitted within urban spaces.

For example, the 'Virtual Tree of Life' is a device that uses XR technology to digitally preserve and share citizens' life stories. Rather than disappearing, the stories of precious people become a living part of the city, passed down to the next generation.

Interestingly, Sim Eternal City is not a distant future concept. The project team emphasizes that this concept can be experimented with immediately in existing cities. Even before building a completely new city, we can practice '1 minute of memory time, 1 minute of connection time, 1 minute of history time' in the neighborhood parks or plazas where we live.

In fact, public memorial spaces and digital memory preservation projects are already beginning in various cities. Sim Eternal City is an ambitious plan to develop these individual efforts into a unified urban design methodology.

Another characteristic of this project is its open collaborative structure. BigC.Works doesn't intend to pursue this project exclusively. Rather, they want to build it together with various partners including urban planning agencies, technology companies, environmental organizations, cultural institutions, local governments, and investment firms.

Particularly noteworthy is their orientation toward a collaborative model that transcends the boundaries between for-profit companies and non-profit organizations. Urban problems cannot be solved by any single sector alone.

Ultimately, what Project Sim Eternal City raises is this question: What kind of city do we want to live in? Don't we want to live in a city where our stories continue beautifully throughout our lives and beyond?

Facing the realities of climate crisis and super-aged society, we need completely new imagination. Past urban planning models cannot handle future challenges. Can Sim Eternal City become the starting point for that new imagination?

The answer now depends on all of our participation.

To Get Involved
To read the complete manifesto, please visit https://www.simeternal.city.
Those interested in the Sim Eternal City special project can contact [email protected] or [email protected]. We are waiting for partners who will help envision the future of cities together.

Written by | BigC.Works Magazine Editorial Team
Photos provided by | Sim Eternal City Project