Today, urban simulation technology is so persuasive that the National Capital Planning Commission now requires architects to submit three-dimensional computer models of all proposed projects on Washington public land. These projects are then integrated into the citywide model. We could see whether the views of the Lincoln Memorial and other historical landmarks were blocked. It was very helpful to see the memorial from the perspective of a pedestrian, which you can't do with a physical model. The basic tools for urban simulation are now within the reach of most architects.
Software is more expensive.
That money can save on costly construction fiascos. Before ground was ever broken on the mammoth Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas, for example, the developer made hundreds of changes based on reactions to the virtual model. In Philadelphia, developers of a new baseball stadium for the Phillies averted a minor disaster by consulting a virtual model built by Rosen. So he moved the stadium over 40 feet and rotated it so that the developers had the design and view they wanted. By then it would have been too late.