Virtual Berlin, and Urban 3D Models for Planning and Engagement
Tags: 3D, Berlin, boston, engagement, game, modeling, models, Participation
Want to explore the urban form of London or Berlin but lack the time or plane ticket to visit in person? 3D models of real cities are coming online for exploration and interaction. Besides fun for virtual tourists, the models inform innovative planning applications.
Anyone who has ever modeled a building in AutoCad or Google Sketchup can attest that modeling an entire city sounds impossibly time-consuming. However, thanks to new technologies in data analysis, processing, and remote sensing (from airplanes! with lasers!) basic 3D urban data can now be generated automatically. This makes the 3D modeling of large areas technically feasible, although still prohibitively complex (PDF conference paper behind the link).
The first entire city to be made available on Google Earth in 3D was Berlin, Germany. Created by the State of Berlin’s Senate Department of Urban Development and a host of partnering organizations, Virtual Berlin integrates diverse 2D and 3D data for its basic model, as well as detailed photorealistic information about selected buildings. Check out the flythrough video below for a glimpse, or download the model here.
Perhaps the most exciting planning applications of 3D urban models like Virtual Berlin are for communication and engagement. A 3D model can visually communicate potential outcomes of planning or development proposals, or the location of amenities. Virtual Berlin is already in use for economic development by the Berlin Business Location Centre, which aims to attract new business to the city. The model maps available commercial real estate and local contacts in particular industries.
3D models can also facilitate more complex engagement through video game-style interactions. For instance, a recent master-planning process for Boston’s Chinatown launched a multiplayer computer game in which participants assume the roles of Chinatown residents. Immersed in the 3D environment of Participatory Chinatown and working towards goals like finding housing or employment, players comment on proposed development sites. One of its creators, planning professor Eric Gordon, describes the game as “innovat[ing] the town hall meeting by bringing in gaming [and] social networking.” See his interview below:
Still, the creation of a city-wide 3D model like Berlin’s is resource-intensive, and models must be continually managed and updated by many different partners. The evolution of a model over time does offer potential to preseve historical versions of a virtual city for exploration. An example exists in Twininty, an online “mirror world” game where users’ avatars interact with 3D models of real world cities. Building on Virtual Berlin data, Twinity constructed a virtual Berlin Wall circa 1989.
This fall, Berlin will host the 5th 3D GeoInfo conference which considers, among a host of technical topics, the application of models for “3D city and urban planning”.
Rob G said:
Jul 13, 10 at 5:54 amThanks for the link. A 3D model of Boston (although without textures) can be downloaded from the Boston Redevelopment Authority and photorealistic versions of many buildings in Boston and other cities are available in Google Earth. I think the question is not whether such data will exist, but how we can integrate it into participatory planning.
Lutz Ross said:
Jul 13, 10 at 11:22 pmI agree with Rob G. It is not a question whether 3D city models are constructed but rather how they are made available and how they can be integrated into planning processes. Right now the costs for the creation of such models are still dropping and at the same time the models are getting increasingly detailed (there is much research on automated reconstruction of more scene details such as windows, doors, street inventory, etc.). Still a question that has yet to be answered is how these models are managed, maintained, updated and integrated into spatial and environmental planning. To my mind the clue could be to establish complete digital workflows between planning professionals and administrations that would enable a constant regular update of the models through the integration of planning data (2D + 3D).
Vanessa said:
Jul 14, 10 at 12:40 pmThanks for your thoughts!
It seems that digital 3D modelling technology is arriving at a critical point where the models will be widely feasible for municipalities or regions to create. This sounds like very good news for engagement. I recently worked on a planning project where an intern laboriously created Sketchup models of all the buildings in key areas to illustrate potential neighbourhood change. The resulting models were very helpful, but far better visiual communication with the public would have been possible if we had access to a 3D model of the entire existing built environment to base these visualization on.
Lutz Ross, models that include automatic reconstruction of windows and doors would be amazing. I hope to one day have access to this kind of tool! However, your point definitely makes sense that a really useful 3D model will require establishing comprehensive digital workflows across the departments and agencies that generate and use this data.
By the way, what prompted me to write this post was a conversation with a graphics planner who told me that a city-wide 3D model is completely possible with current technology, but still too expensive to implement in the municipality where he works. He directed me to check out Virtual Berlin, which he sees as the cutting edge.
Caciocode said:
Jul 23, 10 at 9:15 pmMy first 3D Object [3D & Animation beginner]…
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