Singapore has limited land, but its skyline is constantly changing. The city’s urban planning agency has found that 2D maps and physical models are not able to keep up with such a complex environment, its Chief Information Officer, Peter Quek said.
The Urban Redevelopment Authority is now using 3D mapping to get a more realistic view of the city and simulate future scenarios, so agencies can plan their services better.
Planners can run new types of analyses in 3D, Quek said. For example, a planner can see how a building casts shadows on its surroundings. This can be used to decide where best to plant trees to mitigate heat in the area.
Planners can also run 3D simulations to understand how a future development may impact its surroundings and create scenarios to optimise this. For instance, Singapore runs micro-climatic studies to understand how a development can improve wind flows around buildings and reduce heat for pedestrians, Quek said.
3D in action
URA is working with GIS company, Esri, to use 3D techniques to plan its newest regional centre, Jurong Lake District. In addition, it uses 3D to generate scenarios for long-term planning - 50 years or more in the future - using economic and social parameters, he said.
URA is working with other agencies and the industry for real estate developers to submit 3D models so that URA can integrate these with its own platform and ensure that they meet design guidelines and urban plans, Quek added.
There are challenges that the agency is dealing with in using such a detailed system. Image gathering is one issue. Although advanced techniques like satellite imagery and remote sensing with laser are useful for gathering data on terrain, more intensive modelling techniques have to be used for creating high quality models of the buildings. “For planning we want a very realistic view. For that kind of an experience, we need to do a lot of ground survey and take photographs, so we need to have a team of highly trained people to do that,” Quek said.
Another challenge is the software and sufficient computing power required to quickly crunch through all the images for real time analysis. The system needs high quality images of the city and it needs to instantaneously respond to planners making changes in the system, he said.
Benefits are ‘tremendous’
However, the benefits of using 3D mapping are “tremendous”, Quek believes. In the past, it was not possible to generate many scenarios for future planning, he said. “Using physical models, you generate two to three scenarios and stop there,” he said. “But with a [3D] model in place, you can generate many times the possibilities and optimise the plan.”
The data that is gathered is not just used once, he added. “You can use it subsequently and can even share with other agencies so they benefit from the whole system.”
The authority plans to complete detailed 3D models of 50 per cent of Singapore’s urban areas by end of 2015, and complete the entire model in two to three years, said Quek.
While governments have been using digital 2D maps to plan services for a number of years now, perhaps it is time to consider if an investment in 3D maps could bring higher returns.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Medha Basu
Quelle/Source: futureGov, 15.12.2014
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