Not sure exactly when Micropolis was added, but much later than 1997.

DonHopkins · on July 13, 2023

SimCity for Unix was originally released as a commercial product from DUX Software for OpenWindows/NeWS/HyperLook in 1992:

https://www.donhopkins.com/home/catalog/simcity/simcity-revi...

Then later DUX Software released a collaborative multi player version of SimCity for X11/TCL/Tk in 1993:

https://www.donhopkins.com/home/catalog/simcity/simcity-anno...

https://groups.google.com/g/comp.newprod/c/5KWv25ckYHc/m/MgG...

Then it was finally re-licensed under GPL-3 for the OLPC as SimCity, and for any other use as Micropolis in 2008 (with the multi player stuff disabled because the X11 network protocol was not safe or simple enough for kids to use on a mesh network):

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2008/01/simcity-goes-open-sou...

https://github.com/SimHacker/micropolis

ajot · on July 13, 2023

IIRC Micropolis was "born" for the One Laptop Per Child project, so arround 2008 maybe?