Well, we have lived through a century of people who wanted to "remodel" the world. Modelling means, as far as I know, developing a systematic and dynamic structure of an alternative world. That is different from certain other kinds of imagining -- for example, considering ways in which people might alter their basic orientation (e.g. recasting their approach to nature or personal relations). That is also different from bringing people together to negotiate a better world together. Or changing the world person by person. I don't know which of the above I advocate, but I am a modeller, and I am wary of people who develop models and then set out to change the world. So (to me anyway) it is important.
yours, Peter T.