Digital Urban Modeling and Simulation

347 Pages·2012·76.581 MB·English

by  Gerhard Schmitt (auth.), Stefan Müller Arisona, Gideon Aschwanden, Jan Halatsch, Peter Wonka (eds.)

Communications
in Computer and Information Science 242
Stefan Müller Arisona
Gideon Aschwanden Jan Halatsch
Peter Wonka (Eds.)
Digital Urban Modeling
and Simulation
1 3
VolumeEditors
StefanMüllerArisona
Singapore-ETHCentre
FutureCitiesLaboratory,Singapore
E-mail:[email protected]
GideonAschwanden
Singapore-ETHCentre
FutureCitiesLaboratory,Singapore
E-mail:[email protected]
JanHalatsch
ETHZurich
ChairofInformationArchitecture
Zurich,Switzerland
E-mail:[email protected]
PeterWonka
ArizonaStateUniversity
DepartmentofComputerScienceandEngineering
Tempe,AZ,USA
E-mail:[email protected]
ISSN1865-0929 e-ISSN1865-0937
ISBN978-3-642-29757-1 e-ISBN978-3-642-29758-8
DOI10.1007/978-3-642-29758-8
SpringerHeidelbergDordrechtLondonNewYork
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2012941233
CRSubjectClassification(1998):H.4,H.5,I.2,H.3,C.2,H.2
©Springer-VerlagBerlinHeidelberg2012
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Preface
In the last few years, the use of computers to study and solve urban planning
and design problems has become widespread. More recently, and also thanks to
the advances of computer technology, the focus has shifted toward integrative
approaches that attempt to look at urban systems at multiple scales, both in
terms of space and time. However, such approaches also imply being connected
to a growing number of fields, and it can be hard to keep track of the connec-
tions and – more importantly – of the connection points. Thus, many solutions
computerandinformationsciencemighthavetoofferaresimplynotrecognized.
This book is thematically positioned at the intersections of urban design,
architecture,civilengineeringandcomputer science,andit aimsto providespe-
cialistscomingfromrespectivefieldswithamulti-angleoverviewofstate-of-the-
art work currently being carried out. It addresses both newcomers who wish to
obtainmoreknowledgeaboutthisgrowingareaofinterest,aswellasestablished
researchers and practitioners who want to keep up to date. In terms of organi-
zation, the volume starts out with chapters looking at the domain from a wide
angle and then moves focus toward technical viewpoints and approaches.
We wish to thank all authors – without them, this volume could not have
beenrealized.ParticularthanksgotoGerhardSchmitt,ChairofInformationAr-
chitecture andDirector of the Singapore-ETHCentre, who supported this work
from the very beginning and provided valuable input throughout. Finally, we
would like to thank Leonie Kunz and Stefan Go¨ller of Springer for the excellent
assistance during the editing process.
July 2011 Stefan Mu¨ller Arisona
Table of Contents
Part I: Introduction
A Planning Environment for the Design of Future Cities .............. 3
Gerhard Schmitt
Calculating Cities................................................ 17
Bharat Dave
The City as a Socio-technical System: A Spatial Reformulation in the
Light of the Levels Problem and the Parallel Problem ................ 24
Bill Hillier
Technology-Augmented Changes in the Design and Delivery of the
Built Environment ............................................... 49
Martin Riese
Part II: Parametric Models and Information
Modeling
City Induction: A Model for Formulating, Generating, and Evaluating
Urban Designs................................................... 73
Jos´e P. Duarte, Jos´e N. Beira˜o, Nuno Montenegro, and Jorge Gil
Sortal Grammars for Urban Design: A Sortal Approach to Urban Data
Modeling and Generation ......................................... 99
Rudi Stouffs, Jos´e N. Beira˜o, and Jos´e P. Duarte
Sort Machines ................................................... 117
Thomas Grasl and Athanassios Economou
Modeling Water Use for Sustainable Urban Design ................... 138
Ramesh Krishnamurti, Tajin Biswas, and Tsung-Hsien Wang
Part III: Behavior Modeling and Simulation
Simulation Heuristics for Urban Design ............................. 159
Christian Derix, ˚Asmund Gamlesæter, Pablo Miranda,
Lucy Helme, and Karl Kropf
VIII Table of Contents
Running Urban Microsimulations Consistently with Real-World Data... 181
Gunnar Flo¨tter¨od and Michel Bierlaire
Urban Energy Flow Modelling: A Data-Aware Approach.............. 200
Diane Perez and Darren Robinson
Interactive Large-Scale Crowd Simulation ........................... 221
Dinesh Manocha and Ming C. Lin
An Information Theoretical Approach to Crowd Simulation ........... 236
Cagatay Turkay, Emre Koc, and Selim Balcisoy
Integrating Urban Simulation and Visualization...................... 262
Daniel G. Aliaga
Part IV: Visualization, Collaboration and Interaction
Visualization and Decision Support Tools in Urban Planning .......... 279
Antje Kunze, Remo Burkhard, Serge Gebhardt, and Bige Tuncer
Spatiotemporal Visualisation: A Survey and Outlook ................. 299
Chen Zhong, Tao Wang, Wei Zeng, and Stefan Mu¨ller Arisona
Multi-touch Wall Displays for Informational and Interactive
Collaborative Space .............................................. 318
Ian Vince McLoughlin, Li Ming Ang, and Wooi Boon Goh
Testing Guide Signs’ Visibility for Pedestrians in Motion by an
Immersive Visual Simulation System ............................... 339
Ryuzo Ohno and Yohei Wada
Author Index.................................................. 347
Part I
Introduction
A Planning Environment for the Design of Future Cities
GerhardSchmitt
ChairofInformationArchitecture
ETHZurich
[email protected]
Abstract. Intheglobalcontext,thepopulationofcitiesandurbanizedareashas
developed from a minority to become the majority. Now cities are the largest,
most complex and most dynamic man-made systems. They are vibrant centres
ofculturallifeandenginesthatdrivelocalandglobaleconomies.Yet,contem-
poraryurbanizedareasareenvironmentally,sociallyandeconomicallyunsustain-
ableentitieslayingincreasingpressureonthesurroundingruralareas.Traditional
methods of planning and managing large cities that lead to this situation have
reachedtheirlimits.Theplanninganddesignprocessesthereforeneedaradical
re-thinking. Onthecomputational side, thisnecessitates theintegration of new
methodsandinstruments.Ontheplanninganddesignside,thisrequiresthein-
volvementofstakeholdersanddecisionmakersmuchearlierthannormallydone
inthepast.Thecombinationofinteractivedesignandcomputationwilldemon-
stratetheeffectsandsideeffectsofurban-ruralplanningorre-development.We
buildourdesignresearchapproachondynamicsandscale:viewingcitiesandset-
tlementsasentitieswithdynamicurbanmetabolisms,weproposetoapplystocks
and flows simulations tothe building scale (small,S-Scale), tothe urban scale
(medium, M-Scale), and to the territorial scale (large, L-Scale). Our long-term
goal isthesustainableurban-rural system.Planningandimplementationexam-
plesfromSwitzerlandandETHZurichScienceCityserveastestcases,withthe
intenttousethefindingsfordevelopmentsinotherpartsoftheworld.
1 Introduction
Fortoolongandincreasinglyso,thetransformationofexistingandtheplanningofnew
citieshavebeenfollowingspecificinterests,ideologiesorimaginedconstraints.Espe-
cially the growing apart of urban design and urban planning has lead to less desired
results(Lampugnani, 2010). Itappearsthatcomparedto scienceand engineering,not
muchprogresshasoccurredin this field – or has evenbeenreversed– in view of the
seeminglyoverwhelmingcomplexityofmoderncities.Forexample,localheatandpol-
lutionislandsasaresultoftheincreasingnumberofmegacitiesreducethequalityof
lifeinthosecentresandleadtoincreasedvacationmobilityofthosewhocanaffordit–
aviciouscircle.Neithermarketforcesalonenortop-downplanninghaveleadtothecre-
ationofsustainablecities.Ontheotherhand,the“integrated”or“holistic”approaches
towardscity planningoften turnoutto be fairlyarbitraryin their result, lackingclear
modelsorneglectinglocalcontextandshapingforces.Thevirtualizationofthecity,as
expectedbysomeinthe1990sandbeyond,didnotoccurandwillmostlikelybecome
partofthephysicalandrealcity(Boyer,1996).
S.Mu¨llerArisonaetal.(Eds.):DUMS,CCIS242,pp.3–16,2012.
(cid:2)c Springer-VerlagBerlinHeidelberg2012
4 G.Schmitt
Therefore,itisnecessarytocombinemoderninstrumentsandmethodsortoinvent
newonestoallowforthesimulationofsuccessfulscenariosforsustainablefuturecities
(BettencourtandWest, 2010). We proposeto see and modelcities as urban-ruralsys-
tems and as material and informationorganismswith their own metabolism. And we
proposethemethodofstocksandflowswiththeassociatedinstrumentstocreatesce-
nariosfortransformingexistingandfordesigningnewcities.Specialcaremustbetaken
toincorporatethelocalstakeholders,the legislativeauthorities,politicsandeconomy,
aswellasthegeographic,socialandenvironmentalcontextintheprocess.Asaconse-
quence,thetransformationtowardssustainabilityofSingaporeorcitiesinSwitzerland,
EastAfricaorSouthAmericashouldleadtosimilarpositiveeffectsfortheinhabitants,
butthephysicalappearancemayberadicallydifferent.Forthedevelopmentandtrans-
formationoffuturecities,thisdesignviewdefinestherequirementsforthemodel,the
methodsandtheinstruments.
2 Future Cities
Werequirefuturecitiestobeattractive,sustainableandinbalancewiththeirruralsur-
roundings. The most crucial criterion is long-term social sustainability. This requires
thaturbandesignandarchitectureareof highquality;thattransportationandthe mo-
bile parts of the city are integrated with the static, structural and spatial elements of
thecity;thataslittleexternal,non-renewableenergyentersandleavesthecity,result-
ingin lowgreenhousegasemissionsettlements;thatbuildingmaterialsandwaterare
recycledcontinuously;andthatthe cityis designedandbuiltnotonlyforthe affluent
andactive,butalsofortheveryyoungandtheelderly.Ifthefuturecitystartswithan
over-fulfillingofthesepositiverequirements,chancesarehighthatthesepositiveindi-
catorswill strengthenwith the growthof the city and lead to long-termsustainability
(Bettencourtetal.,2010).
Whileitisrelativelyeasytospecifythesedemands,itishardtoproposeare-design
ora designfora city thatcan fulfilthem.Once started,a city is nevercompletedand
constantlychanges:itisadynamicsystemforwhichacompletemodelneedsyettobe
foundordefined.Inspiteoftheimportanceofthestartingconditions,acityisprobably
thesystemthatisinfluencedandchangedmostbyitsowndevelopment.Imposinggrand
masterplansfornewcitiesonthescaleofLeCorbusier’sun-builtVilleContemporaine
from 1922,his partially built Chandigarhdesign from 1951(Sharma, 2009) or Oscar
Niemeyer’s Brasilia from 1957 has not been attempted for decades. Yet the idea of
grandmasterplanningwiththegoalofsustainabilityre-emergesinFoster+Partners’
proposalforMasdarCityinAbuDhabiorinseveralEco-CityplansinChina.
3 The RoleofContext
Thetransformationofexistingorthedesignofnewcitiesisneveranabstract,context-
freeactivity.Context–understoodasthesurroundingsocietal,governmental,economi-
cal,environmentalandtechnologicalconditions–isafundamentalfactortoconsiderin
thetransformationofexistingandinthedesignofnewsustainablecities.Justlooking
at the examples of the Ville Contemporaine, Brasilia or Masdar, it becomes obvious
APlanningEnvironmentfortheDesignofFutureCities 5
how strongly the context of culture and national identity (society), climate (environ-
ment), and economy have influenced the design. Yet none of these designs, with the
exceptionofMasdar,couldbenefitattheirtimefromintegratedmodellingofthequan-
titative aspects of sustainability or other properties – they relied more on declaration
thanonsimulation.Onereasonofcoursewasthatduringthedesignoftheearlierex-
amples,nopowerfulcomputerswereavailabletosimulatetheoutcomeofdesigndeci-
sionsandtheirpossiblesideeffects.Also,therewasahierarchicalratherthanateamor
stakeholderplanningprocessintheearlierexamplesthatprecludedpossiblesynergies.
It is this schism between architects, urban designers and the other disciplines, which
widenedovertimeandleadtodifferentlanguagesandexpressionsthataredifficultbut
necessarytoreconciletodayforanewplanningenvironment.
Inordertobeusefulforcomputersupporteddesignandsimulation,therealcontext
needsa representationinthe computationalrealm.We acknowledgethattheresulting
model and description of the real context in the computational world will be incom-
pleteinthe beginningandwillnotfullydescribeallaspectsoftherealcontext.Buta
definition of the modelrepresentingthe contextin its crucial aspects is the precondi-
tiontocomputemeaningfulscenarios.Itisalsothepreconditiontoextendthe“digital
chain”processtotheurbanandterritorialscale.Thedigitalchainprocesstiestogether
thedesign,constructionandmanagementphaseofastructureindigitalrepresentations
that are compatible and are preserved for use in the next phases. The Department of
ArchitectureofETHZurichhastestedtheapproachinteaching(Schoch,2005),andat
thebuildinglevel(D-ARCH,2011).
Fortheplanningenvironmenttodesignsustainablefuturecities,weproposetobegin
withthemodellingofthemostrelevantcontexts,namelythelocalconditionsrelatingto
population,demographicsandhealth(society),economy,water,energy,material,space
andinformation.
4 Setting Priorities
Thefirstpriorityinthetransformationofexistingandforthedesignofnewsustainable
cities must be the creation of a common communication base, common aims, and a
commonmodel.Preconditionforthisisbridgingthewideninggapsbetweenarchitects,
urbandesigners,planners,engineers,sociologistsandotherdisciplines.Implementing
this priority is best achieved by defining the common goal of sustainable urban-rural
systems and a communicationbased on the commonmodel. The platform associated
withthismodelmustdeliveraddedvaluetoallparticipants.Suchaplatformdoesnot
existtoday,butcouldbethecontributionofInformationTechnologytothere-designor
designoffutureurban-ruralsystems. We thereforeproposetodefineandbuildsucha
digitalsimulationplatform.
Government organizations are well suited for this approach as they can
tender large projects top-down. Examples for this are the Australian Com-
monwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO, 2011)
or the Singaporean Inter-Ministerial Committee on Sustainable Development
(SingaporeanInter-MinisterialCommitteeonSustainableDevelopment,2010)withits
plansfor“alivelyandliveableSingapore–strategiesforsustainablegrowth”.Yetthe