In terms of bridging the gap between the app and the real world, it’s the sort of thing that will start slowly but could potentially grow very quickly. For example, let’s say that a community with a population of 5,000 people were to start using the application. They could very quickly buy some land, wrestle with the local authorities, and install some housing modules, solar panels, shower block etc. People could then use the application to register the land and pay the monthly “tax” back into the application. As someone who has lived in a caravan i would definitely be up for this. So now there’s “tax” money going into the application, which can be used to develop and expand the community. I’m particularly focused on land because here in the UK we have a huge concentration of land ownership. I think around 1% of the population own around 80% of land. Naturally, a lack of space and high living costs will put society under unnecessary pressure.
With regards to Smart Contracts, they’re not 100% necessary for the local stuff but for any national or international features, I think they would need to be used. For the local features it would work something like this…
People use the app to elect a local IT official/company. The local official will clone the app, and their name and post/zip code will be a part of the URL e.g. safe://devolution.bobsmith.uk.tq10. People who live in that post/zip code will use this URL. The local IT official has control over how it works and has access rights to certain parts of the app. This allows them to make changes to the code and install updates. Community members can elect a new official, who will clone the app, and redirect members to the new URL e.g. safe://devolution.janejackson.uk.tq10. Now Jane will have the access rights. The restricted areas/datasets can be used to store the encryption/decryption keys which can be used to verify certain operations such as redeeming credits, generating random numbers for the slot machine, or verifying correct answers when a user sits a course. I don’t know how to do any of the permissions/crypto stuff yet so i’m open to any advice or info. I hope that makes a sense (it sort of does to me).
Regarding the SAFE API stuff, I posted this a couple of weeks back… My attempt at a simple CRUD app (safe://simple.crud)
If I get a chance I’ll update/improve the CRUD app and make a youtube tutorial for newbs like me.
EDIT: yeh sorry about the sound quality. The slot machine sounds were way too loud. I may need to put a warning on the vid 
What I will probably do is do what @tobbetj suggested and make a shorter video and sort out the sound levels.