The Virtual And The Real In Planning And Urban Design

The Virtual and the Real in Planning and Urban Design: Perspectives, Practices and Applications explores the merging relationship between physical and virtual spaces in planning and urban design. Technological advances such as smart sensors, interactive screens, locative media and evolving computation software have impacted the ways in which people experience, explore, interact with and create these complex spaces. This book draws together a broad range of interdisciplinary researchers in areas such as architecture, urban design, spatial planning, geoinformation science, computer science and psychology to introduce the theories, models, opportunities and uncertainties involved in the interplay between virtual and physical spaces. Using a wide range of international contributors, from the UK, USA, Germany, France, Switzerland, Netherlands and Japan, it provides a framework for assessing how new technology alters our perception of physical space.

Addressed to professional cartographers interested in moving into multimedia mapping, as well as those already involved in this field who wish to discover the approaches that other practitioners have already taken, this book/CD package is equally useful for students and academics in the mapping sciences and related geographic fields wishing to update their knowledge of cartographic design and production.

Why technology is most transformative when it is playful, and innovative spatial design happens only when designers are both tinkerers and dreamers. In Urban Play, Fábio Duarte and Ricardo Álvarez argue that the merely functional aspects of technology may undermine its transformative power. Technology is powerful not when it becomes optimally functional, but while it is still playful and open to experimentation. It is through play--in the sense of acting for one's own enjoyment rather than to achieve a goal--that we explore new territories, create new devices and languages, and transform ourselves. Only then can innovative spatial design create resonant spaces that go beyond functionalism to evoke an emotional response in those who use them. The authors show how creativity emerges in moments of instability, when a new technology overthrows an established one, or when internal factors change a technology until it becomes a different technology. Exploring the role of fantasy in design, they examine Disney World and its outsize influence on design and on forms of social interaction beyond the entertainment world. They also consider Las Vegas and Dubai, desert cities that combine technology with fantasies of pleasure and wealth. Video games and interactive media, they show, infuse the design process with interactivity and participatory dynamics, leaving spaces open to variations depending on the users' behavior. Throughout, they pinpoint the critical moments when technology plays a key role in reshaping how we design and experience spaces.

This open access book examines collaborative approaches to urban transformation processes and guides smart co-design applications in such contexts. It presents a selection of co-design methods that can be fruitfully integrated with mobile applications, focusing on the CitySense app, the result of two H2020 European Projects. This innovative solution favours a virtuous co-creation process involving decision-makers, architects, developers, and citizens. It provides a service for assessing the existing urban context and possible design solutions from the community perspective. It enables the study of citizens’ perceptions by pairing Augmented and Virtual Reality with the “Experiential Environmental Impact Assessment: exp-EIA©” method, which integrates psychological and architectural perspectives. This approach shapes all phases of the design process, encouraging evidence-based design and decision-making, and also supports the definition of a proper design brief before investing and the pre-assessment of the urban design project’s experiential outcomes before construction. The book starts by presenting the evolution of citizens’ involvement from traditional to smart solutions, and then provides a general framework of co-design options using smart applications (especially the CitySense app). The overall approach fosters a phygital (physical + digital) approach by outlining possible ways of enhancing fruitful public/private collaborations with a view to making shared, high-performance urban decisions.

Artificial Intelligence in Urban Planning and Design: Technologies, Implementation, and Impacts is the most comprehensive resource available on the state of Artificial Intelligence (AI) as it relates to smart city planning and urban design. The book explains nascent applications of AI technologies in urban design and city planning, providing a thorough overview of AI-based solutions. It offers a framework for discussion of theoretical foundations of AI, AI applications in the urban design, AI-based research and information systems, and AI-based generative design systems. The concept of AI generates unprecedented city planning solutions without defined rules in advance, a development raising important questions issues for urban design and city planning. This book articulates current theoretical and practical methods, offering critical views on tools and techniques and suggests future directions for the meaningful use of AI technology. Includes a cutting-edge catalogue of AI tools applied to smart city design and planning Provides case studies from around the globe at various scales Includes diagrams and graphics for course instruction

This book explores how environmental urban design can benefit from established and emerging representation and simulation techniques that meet the need for a multisensory approach. Bringing together contributions by researchers and practicing professionals that approach the topics discussed from both theoretical and practical perspectives and draw on case-study applications, it addresses important themes including digital modeling, physical modeling, mapping, and simulation. The chapters are linked by their relevance to simple but crucial questions: How can representational solutions enhance an urban design approach in which people’s well-being is considered the primary goal? How can one best represent and design the ambiance of places? What kinds of technologies and tools are available to support multisensory urban design? How can current and future environments be optimally represented and simulated, taking into account the way in which we experience places? Shedding new light on these key questions, the book offers both a reference guide for those engaged in applied research, and a toolkit for professionals and students.

"This book covers a multitude of newly developed hardware and software technology advancements in urban and spatial planning and architecture, drawing on the most current research and studies of field practitioners who offer solutions and recommendations for further growth, specifically in urban and spatial developments"--

"This book provides an overview of online research methods in urban and planning studies, exploring and discussing new digital tools and Web-based research methods, as well as the scholarly, legal, and ethical challenges associated with their use"--Provided by publisher.