Abstract

Participatory urban planning: Towards 3D web-based solutions.
Track: 3D Cities and Campuses
Authors: Jan Halatsch, Antje Kunze

Participatory processes are keystones to cross-sectoral urban planning. The main challenge for a holistic urban planning approach is to evolve, access and combine cross-disciplinary planning knowledge within a team of stakeholders with various personal and professional backgrounds (e.g. architects, urban and traffic planners, representatives from the municipality, and public community).
Decision makers like urban planners from the municipalities, transport, health and energy experts are overwhelmed by the vast amount of information and modeling results provided by the individual experts. Often the planning decisions were evolved consecutive but determining each other.
In the planning process currently missing are (a) integrated access to the planning knowledge of specialists, (b) techniques or modes of visualization for communicating expert insights such as costs and benefits of proposed options to stakeholders in a simplified, condensed form, and (c) techniques to process stakeholder feedback in a participatory way back into systems for experts. These missing links need to be closed in order to arrive at process driven benchmarking and planning within the realm of densification processes, climate change and upcoming scarcity of resources.
Therefore, new interactive decision support tools are needed to support the cross-sectoral urban planning. These interactive tools should feature innovative 3D web-based technologies and touch-device-based assessment of urban climate, densification, construction materials or associated legal regulations. With the interactive visual feedback on the design solutions a cross-sectoral understanding will be supported and a consensus on the planning decisions will be achieved in the early planning stages.