The Laboratorio di Simulazione Urbana Fausto Curti is a research facility of the Department of Architecture and Urban Studies at the Politecnico di Milano. Founded in early 2007 by Fausto Curti and Peter Bosselmann, director of the Environmental Simulation Laboratory at the University of California at Berkeley, the laboratory deals with urban design and simulation. Through an interdisciplinary approach centered on the perceptual aspects and environmental issues, and with the support of various simulation methods, the different activities of the laboratory contribute to cross-reading of the complex relationships between urban design and physical context, thus ensuring a better control of the cumulative outcomes. Our research has a threefold mission: to innovate: using innovative methods of investigation and simulation to be integrated to more traditional methods of analysis, design and evaluation. to experiment: verifying through experimentation the outcomes of design alternatives in order to facilitate the understanding and to show the consequences of planning decisions. to communicate: effectively communicating the results of urban changes in order to facilitate the confrontation between planners, policy makers, developers and citizens.