Customized Visualizations of Urban Infill Development Scenarios for Local Stakeholders

Infill development has been seen as one of the solutions to urban challenges. However, it changes the dynamics and visual appearance of the neighborhood. As infill development usually requires the acceptance of local stakeholders, their perceptions of the resulting intensified housing have a significant role. In this study, customized visualizations illustrating scenarios of infill development were made from the perspective of individual apartments in neighboring residential building. The usefulness of customized visualizations for local stakeholders was studied in the Tammela test area. A 3D virtual model of the existing environment was created. Models depicting the alternative infill buildings were added to the 3D model, which was used to create customized visualizations. These visualizations were utilized in the interviews of local stakeholders. The findings indicate that the customized visualizations help stakeholders conceptualize the impact, and plan and manage the infill development. Visualizations can also be seen as a tool for a resident-driven approach to intensifying housing

Browser based 3D for the built environment

Abstract Digital 3D geometric models have become a central tool for geo-information. For many participatory and collaborative applications, distributing these models easily is essential. Several technical solutions exist for creating online systems that facilitate the study of 3D models in the context of the built environment. To provide an overview on browser based interactive 3D visualizations, we present a set of existing systems applied in Finland, and discuss their common properties and differences. To obtain first-hand experience, we experiment with an online 3D application development platform. The systems studied show a high potential for browser based 3D applications: interactive visualizations with multi-user characteristics and dynamic elements can be built by leveraging the 3D web technologies. Finally, we suggest a framework for discussing browser based 3D systems, covering the spectrum of possibilities available in modern web-based 3D for built environment applications