Bridge Deck Runoff: Water Quality Analysis and BMP Effectiveness

INE/AUTC 10.0

Proseduraalisen tietomallintamisen käyttöönotto kaupunkisuunnittelussa

This thesis examines procedural modeling as a tool for urban plan creation. Procedural modeling historically has been used for 3D visualization of natural features, but with the release of the soft-ware CityEngine in 2008 the technology can easily be adopted also in problem domains dealing with urban environments. The study begins with a requirement analysis conducted to explore the needs urban planning imposes on the technology, based on which a functional procedural modeling production system is built using the CityEngine platform and its Computer Generated Architecture (CGA) scripting language. A solution is presented to the problem of control in procedural generation methods by introducing the concept of a selectable “Level of Control” and how its implementation in the produced system enables the planner to flexibly assume the necessary amount of control over the generated model. The finished product is then compared against the presented requirements of accuracy, efficiency, ease of use, high visual qualities, and advanced analytical capabilities. The efficiency of the system measured as the ratio between user interactions (mouse clicks and keystrokes) and modeling output in the setting of the assessment is found out to be two to three times greater than the efficiency of a more established manual modeling software. The technology as demonstrated through the produced system is concluded to be especially suitable for preliminary land use studies estimating the building potentials of extensive land areas. Directions for future research with potential to expand the applicability of the technology are discussed.Tässä diplomityössä tutkitaan proseduraalista mallintamista kaupunkisuunnittelun työvälineenä. Proseduraalista mallintamista on historiallisesti käytetty luonnonmuotojen 3D-visualisoimiseen, mutta vuonna 2008 julkaistu CityEngine-ohjelma mahdollistaa teknologian helpon käyttöönoton myös rakennettua ympäristöä koskevissa aihepiireissä. Tutkielma alkaa analyysillä kaupunkisuunnittelun teknologiaan kohdistamista vaatimuksista, joiden perusteella rakennetaan CityEngineen ja sen Computer Generated Architecture (CGA) ohjel-mointikieleen perustuva proseduraalinen mallinnusjärjestelmä. Ratkaisuna proseduraaliseen mallintamiseen liittyvään kontrollin problematiikkaan esitellään käsite valittavasta ”kontrollitasosta”, ja kuinka sen implementaatio toteutetussa järjestelmässä mahdollistaa suunnittelijan ottaa joustavasti tarpeellisen määrän kontrollia generoitavan mallin suhteen. Valmista tuotetta verrataan esitettyihin tarkkuuden, tehokkuuden, käytön helppouden, korkealaatuisen visuaalisuuden, sekä kehittyneen analytiikan vaatimuksiin. Järjestelmän tehokkuus mitattuna käyttäjäinteraktioiden (hiiren klikkaukset ja näppäimistön painallukset) ja tuotetun mallin suhteena mittauksen asetelmassa on kahdesta kolmeen kertaa suurempi kuin vakiintuneemman manuaalisen mallinnusohjelman tehokkuus. Proseduraalisen mallintamisen, sellaisena kuin se tuotetussa järjestelmässä on implementoitu, todetaan olevan erityisen sopiva alustavien rakentamisen määrää laajoille alueille haarukoivien maankäyttötarkastelujen tuottamiseen. Työn lopuksi käsitellään teknologian käyttöaluetta laajentavia tutkimussuuntia

Space colonisation based procedural road generation

Dissertação de mestrado em Computer ScienceProcedural generation of content has been studied for quite some time and it is increasingly relevant in scientific areas and in video-game and film industries. Procedural road layout generation has been traditionally approached using L-Systems, with some works exploring alternative avenues. Although originally conceived for biological systems modelling, the adequacy of L-Systems as a base for road generation has been demonstrated in several works. In this context, this work presents an alternative approach for procedural road layout generation that is also inspired by plant generation algorithms: space colonisation. In particular, this work uses the concept of attraction points introduced in space colonisation as its base to produce road layouts, both in urban and inter-city environments. As will be shown, the usage of attraction points provides an intuitive way to parameterise a road layout. The original Space Colonization Algorithm (SCA) generates a tree like structure, but in this work, the extensions made aim to fully generate a inter-connected road network. As most previous methods the method has two phases. A first phase generates what is mostly a tree structure growing from user defined road segments. The second phase performs the inter connectivity among the roads created in the first phase. The original SCA parameters such as the killradius help to control the capillarity of the road layout, the number of attraction points used by each segment will dictate its relevance establishing a road hierarchy naturally dependent on the distribution of the attraction points on the terrain. An angle control allows the creation of grid like or more organic road layouts. The distribution of the attraction points in the terrain can be conditioned by boundary maps, containing parks, sea, rivers, and other forbidden areas. Population density maps can be used to supply an explicit probabilistic distribution to the attraction points. Flow-fields can be used to dictate the flow of the road layout. Elevation maps provide an additional restriction regarding the steepness of the roads. The tests were executed within a graphic toolbox developed simultaneously. The results are exported to a geographical information file format, GeoJSON, and then maps are rendered using a geospatial visualisation and processing framework called Mapnik. For the most part, parameter settings were intuitively reflected on the road layout and this method can be seen as a first step towards fully exploring the usage of attraction points in the context of road layout.Gradualmente a geração procedimental de conteúdo tem-se tornado cada vez mais relevante, sendo maioritariamente aplicada em industrias como a dos vídeo-jogos e cinema. No que toca à geração procedimental de redes de estradas, grande parte das abordagens em torno deste tema são baseadas em L-Systems. Embora a área de aplicação dos L-Systems tenha sido originalmente para produzir modelos de sistemas biológicos, mostrou também ser um algoritmo adequado para a geração procedimental de redes de estradas. Este trabalho apresenta uma abordagem alternativa à geração procedimental de redes de estradas que também é inspirada num algoritmo procedimental de geração de plantas, colonização espacial, utilizando o conceito de pontos de atracão como base para gerar padrões de estradas. Como será demonstrado, a utilização de pontos de atracão fornece uma maneira intuitiva de parametrizar um padrão de estradas desejado. Como a maioria dos trabalhos feitos nesta área, este método tem duas fases. A primeira fase gera uma rede semelhante a uma árvore criada a partir de um ou mais segmentos iniciais da rede determinados pelo utilizador. A segunda fase trata de interligar as estradas geradas na primeira fase. Os parâmetros iniciais do algoritmo de colonização espacial, como o kill radius, ajudam a controlar a capilaridade da rede, os pontos de atracão que influenciam cada segmento irão ditar a sua relevância na rede geral, estabelecendo a noção de hierarquia de estradas, dependendo da distribuição de pontos de atracão no terreno. O controlo do ângulo entre segmentos permite a criação de padrões de estradas tanto em forma de grelha como padrões mais orgânicos. A distribuição dos pontos de atracão no terreno pode ser influenciada por mapas de fronteira, que contem as áreas válidas e/ou inválidas, como parques, mar, rios, e outras áreas proibidas. Mapas de densidade populacional podem ser usados para fornecer uma distribuição probabilística dos pontos de atracão. Campos de forças, podem ser usados para ditar o fluxo da rede de estradas. Mapas de elevação oferecem uma restrição adicional tendo em conta a inclinação das estradas. De um modo geral, as definições de parâmetros refletiram-se de um modo intuitivo nos padrões de redes de estradas gerados, e este trabalho pode ser considerado como um primeiro passo na exploração do conceito de pontos de atracão na área da geração de redes de estradas

A regional land use survey based on remote sensing and other data: A report on a LANDSAT and computer mapping project, volume 2

The author has identified the following significant results. The project mapped land use/cover classifications from LANDSAT computer compatible tape data and combined those results with other multisource data via computer mapping/compositing techniques to analyze various land use planning/natural resource management problems. Data were analyzed on 1:24,000 scale maps at 1.1 acre resolution. LANDSAT analysis software and linkages with other computer mapping software were developed. Significant results were also achieved in training, communication, and identification of needs for developing the LANDSAT/computer mapping technologies into operational tools for use by decision makers

Performance assessment of urban precinct design: a scoping study

Executive Summary: Significant advances have been made over the past decade in the development of scientifically and industry accepted tools for the performance assessment of buildings in terms of energy, carbon, water, indoor environment quality etc. For resilient, sustainable low carbon urban development to be realised in the 21st century, however, will require several radical transitions in design performance beyond the scale of individual buildings. One of these involves the creation and application of leading edge tools (not widely available to built environment professions and practitioners) capable of being applied to an assessment of performance across all stages of development at a precinct scale (neighbourhood, community and district) in either greenfield, brownfield or greyfield settings. A core aspect here is the development of a new way of modelling precincts, referred to as Precinct Information Modelling (PIM) that provides for transparent sharing and linking of precinct object information across the development life cycle together with consistent, accurate and reliable access to reference data, including that associated with the urban context of the precinct. Neighbourhoods are the ‘building blocks’ of our cities and represent the scale at which urban design needs to make its contribution to city performance: as productive, liveable, environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive places (COAG 2009). Neighbourhood design constitutes a major area for innovation as part of an urban design protocol established by the federal government (Department of Infrastructure and Transport 2011, see Figure 1). The ability to efficiently and effectively assess urban design performance at a neighbourhood level is in its infancy. This study was undertaken by Swinburne University of Technology, University of New South Wales, CSIRO and buildingSMART Australasia on behalf of the CRC for Low Carbon Living

Integrated land use and transportation modelling and planning: A South African journey

Confronted by poverty, income disparities and mounting demands for basic services such as clean water, sanitation and health care, urban planners in developing countries like South Africa, face daunting challenges. This paper explores the role of Integrated land use and transportation modelling in metropolitan planning processes aimed at improving the spatial efficiency of urban form and ensuring that public sector investments in social and economic infrastructure contribute to economic growth and the reduction of persistent poverty and inequality. The value of such models is not in accurately predicting the future but in providing participants in the (often adversarial) planning process with a better understanding of cause and effect between different components of the urban system and in discovering common ground that could lead to compromise. This paper describes how an Urban Simulation Model was developed by adapting one of the leading microsimulation models (UrbanSim) originating from the developed world to South African conditions and how the requirements for microscopic data about the base year of a simulation were satisfied in a sparse data environment by introducing various typologies. A sample of results from three case studies in the cities of Tshwane, Ekurhuleni and Nelson Mandela Bay between 2013 and 2017 are then presented to illustrate how modelling supports the planning process by adding elements of rational analysis and hypothesis testing to the evaluation of proposed policies