An interesting idea I came across in the April issue of Discover
magazine....

Here's a site which enables you to design & create your own virtual world.

http://secondlife.com/whatis/

"Second Life is a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its
residents.
Since opening to the public in 2003, it has grown explosively and today is
inhabited by nearly 100,000 people from around the globe."

Perhaps "Settlers" and/or SSI could form a group to design one or more say,
Island-3 segments; -and experiment with design, construction, and lifestyle
problems.

Among other options BTW,you can 'buy'* and develop your own island,
[which can be joined to the mainland] with Linden Dollars*, which are
[currently] convertible to actual US dollars at the rate of
L$250.00 = US$1.00

http://secondlife.com/community/land-islands.php