| Computer
graphics allows for the digital replication of
reality and can be as simplistic as a map or as
complex as an interactive 3D model of a city.
Everyday use of computer graphics in the private
sector use programs such as Adobe Illustrator,
GIS, and AutoCAD for map making and aerial image
manipulation.
HTML and multimedia platforms
allow for dynamic representation and have increasingly
become more common. Simulations are currently
created by real estate developers rather than
by municipalities, however many municipalities
are increasingly finding value and return on investment
with simulations. Urban simulations, on a large
scale, are not generally constructed by private
entities due to time and budget constraints but
the university setting provides opportunities
for research, novel implementation, and collaboration
between government and academia. An
example of the government partnership is the
Virtual Los Angles project at UCLA. As
far back as 1997, the UCLA team created a real-time
simulation of the San Francisco Bay Bridge to
assist in a decision about the bridge, where a
design flaw immediately became discernible. The
simulation helped city officials avoid bad press
for the city by changing the $1.3 billion dollar
design. "The demonstration was the centerpiece
of a California Transportation Department (Caltrans)
campaign to help citizens swallow the bitter pill
of higher taxes and increased tolls, which were
needed to finance a replacement of the earthquake-weakened
bridge."[Read
this complete article].
An example of a consultancy VR project for
community engagement can be found at HACAS
Virtual Reality for Community Regeneration.
|
| University
research labs are employing simulation VR technology
and are the guiding force behind professional
visualization methodology.
The Centre for Advanced Studies
in Architecture, University of Bath, U.K. employed
VR to assist in public participation. The center
received positive feedback from their simulations
because they made information easier for the public
to understand. This project was executed several
years ago and does not take into effect the recent
success of tele-immersion (or shared VR environments.)
[More can be read about the successes of employing
VR in England, see VIRTUAL
REALITY: A COMMUNICATION TOOL FOR URBAN PLANNING.]
The following paragraph is from this web article
highlighting significant university contributions
to urban simulations.
"Following the expansion of the
Internet, the World Wide Web (WWW) and current
trends in the industry, VR versions of the Bath
and London models have been used on various
research projects, employing Virtual Reality
Modeling Language (VRML) as well as custom made
non-immersive VR applications (Day et al, 1996).
The Bath database is, to the author’s
knowledge, the largest and most detailed one
produced as yet. Worldwide, there have been
many attempts in computer modeling urban spaces
at city scale. The UCLA Urban Simulation Team
of the Dept. of Architecture and Urban Design
(AUD), following the design of the Urban Simulator
(Liggett et al, 1995), is currently building
a model of the entire Los Angeles basin. Virtual
L.A. covers an area in excess of 10000 square
miles as part of "The Virtual World Data
Server Project". This ambitious program,
once completed, is intended to be used for urban
simulations as well as 3D interactive visualizations
of various data forms. In Berlin, the urban
development and architecture unit of ART+COM
has created the CyberCity Berlin and the Planwerk
Berlin (a 3D masterplan for the city) employing
new media in town planning drawing from their
research on communication in city planning.
In the UK, one of the first comprehensive urban
models was that of Glasgow constructed by ABACUS
at the Strathclyde University in the mid 80ies.
Recently, the University College of London (UCL)
Department of Geography has embarked in a large-scale
project researching on ways of producing built
environments using VR systems focusing on London.
Approaching the topic from a historic viewpoint,
ABACUS have subsequently constructed a model
of Edinburgh Old Town (Grant, 1993) and CASA
has produced a model of mediaeval Bath, based
in old maps and drawings of the city (Day, 1994).
Finally, a number of companies have addressed
the problem of 3D urban modelling for commercial
applications, tourism and entertainment (Virtual
Soma—the first virtual city on the Internet
in August 1995, Bigbook, Virtual Derby, etc).
It is also important to point out research work
investigating abstract data representations
based on architectural notions of space such
as Vector Zero carried out in co-operation with
Silicon Graphics Inc (SGI). Such works are vital
sources of information on the future of VR in
urban planning with particular focus on local
authority strategies and policies deployment
since they provide new ways of structuring and
presenting information."
The
Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis (CASA)
is an initiative within the University College
London to develop emerging computer technologies
in several disciplines which deal with geography,
space, location and the built environment.
Knowledge is Power
While these developments are
making progress in the employment of VR simulations
in the planning profession, more research is needed
to create a planning support system or database
cluster in which all 3D data is stored and
related to other information (through metadata),
immediately accessible, and can be projected for
interactive use by decision makers and the public.
However, people do not like to share their data
so this might be a utopian dream. In his paper,
The
Role of Virtual Reality and Urban Simulation in
Urban Planning, David Simpson
points out, "A more complicated problem to
solve is the need to train members of the profession
in the use of modeling and simulation to advance
planning decisions. Very few planning schools
offer visualization and modeling training to planning
graduates. The fact that the technology has advanced
has not meant that the academy, and more so not
the profession, has advanced with it. The ability
to create, project, and interact with 3D visual
simulations is the next logical step in the application
of technology to current theory in planning practice.
" David M Simpson is currently the Associate
Director of the Center for Hazards Research and
Policy Development, and Assistant Professor of
Planning, at the University of Louisville, in
the School of Urban and Public Affairs. He conducts
research in the areas of Technology, Land Use
Planning, and Hazards.
This is an image from the Virtual
Harlem project, a collaborative project between
UIC and several universities. This project was
used to tell a story about the cultural contributions
of Harlem, New York at the turn of the century.
Image provided by J. Leigh, EVL: http://www.evl.uic.edu/cavern/harlem/ |
