eres2010_130_Henneberry_MODELLING_THE_RELATI(4)

The paper describes the development and application of physical-financialmodelling techniques to the analysis of relations between development design –covering the broad characteristics of a scheme, such as land use mix, developmentdensity and built form – and financial viability. It is divided into two parts

sections, sketches, perspective drawings, photomontages and physical models were used to portray existing environments and proposed changes to them. A key figure in the development of visualization techniques was the English landscape architect Humphry Repton (1752–1818). In his famous Red Books, produced for most projects he worked on (stately homes and large estates), he pioneered perspective techniques, by showing the existing situation as well as the proposed changes in the landscape by using a movable flap to unveil the underlying proposal.

Later developments in visualization include the immensely popular panoramas of the early 19th century, the equivalent of today’s IMAX cinemas. In the 20th century physical models (for example, of new housing schemes) became popular in planning and design. They were also used to simulate virtual journeys through urban landscapes (Markelin and Fahle, 1979) using microscopic cameras to record on video tape. While scaled models are normally used in practice, on occasion even a 1:1 representation – that is, a real world model - is produced. The degree of abstraction or realism of the latter can range from, for example, a simple pole structure, required in Switzerland to show the volume of a proposed building, to a deceiving realism that can be achieved by full colour printing on plastic sheets to simulate a whole building with its facades (to depict, for example, the proposed reconstruction of a palace in Berlin that was destroyed during World War II).

Advances in computer technology have supported the development of visualization techniques for use in the design and planning process. Whilst computing power was limited, approaches such as electronic artistic impressions (Al-Kodmany, 1999) and photomontage (Lange, 1994) were used. Another common visualization technique is the production of three-dimensional models that can be rendered as still images or as pre-recorded ‘fly-through’ or ‘walk-through’ animations. This technique has no real time dependence. Images and videos can be rendered in a photo-realistic style, although this may take many hours to achieve. With speed increases in computers, more sophisticated techniques have been developed which allow for interactive visualization of three dimensional models within the design and planning process for landscape (Lange, 2001; Bishop, 2005); for example, to plan the position of wind turbines (Lange and Hehl-Lange, 2005). Advances in dedicated 3D processing hardware have made real-time visualization possible, especially through the use of computer game engines to provide interactive eye-level walkthroughs for 3D visualizations (Herwig and Paar, 2002).

However there are still challenges to overcome to create real-time visualization tools (Bishop, 2005). One is to provide a sufficient level of detail in the visualization to convince the viewer to accept the visualization as representative of the modelled area (Lange, 2001; Appleton and Lovett, 2003). Another is the production cost of creating such visualizations that are tied to the complexity of the model (An, 2005; Lange, 2001). Geographic Information System (GIS) data sets can be used to help in the production of 3D models (Hoinkes and Lange, 1995) and the use of these data can speed up the model development time considerably. These challenges were addressed in part of a research project examining sustainable development in urban river corridors.1

1 URSULA, funded by EPSRC (see Acknowledgement for details).