This paper introduces an online spatial data portal with advanced data access, analytical and visualisation capabilities which can be used for evidence based city planning and supporting data driven research. Through a case study approach, focused in the city of Melbourne, the authors show how the Australian Urban Infrastructure Network (AURIN) portal can be used to investigate a multi-facetted approach to understanding the various spatial dimension of livability. While the tools explore separate facets of livability (employment, housing, health service and walkability), their outputs flow through to the other tools showing the benefits of integrated systems.

The growing availability of spatial data heralds extensive opportunities for urban planning and design . Planning for resilience and enabling positive design outcomes requires transliterate methods of working with data and instigation of systems which can be quickly and iteratively adapted to complex multiple criteria and across multiple geographies. As such, planning support systems are critical to assist decision-makers navigate increasingly large repositories of (big) data, and develop evidence-based, replicable methodologies and easily communicated scenarios that can inform both the planning process and increase community buy-in for behavioural augmentation. To do this, we need to bring together data and information sets in a dynamic way, from disparate and vastly divergent disciplines and sources. This chapter will present a series of exemplars for environmental analysis, predictive modelling and planning support systems , particularly, the Australian Urban Research Infrastructure Network (AURIN): a federated data platform supporting urban research, design and policy formulation.

Urban heat island (UHI) effect is one of the most critical environmental issues for contemporary high-density cities. Previous studies show there is a strong co-relation between UHI and Sky View Factor (SVF), which constructs a potential linkage between UHI and urban forms. As cities grow denser and hotter, urban form manipulation strategies for mitigating heat island become an increasingly important challenge for urban planners and designers. Taking high-density urban areas which have relatively high UHI intensity and low SVF value as the study subject, we develop an experiment to test the possibility of mitigating UHI through optimizing SVF of urban forms. The method adopted involves the use of digital techniques such as parametric modelling, programming and optimization algorithms. The experiment evaluates and optimizes a large number of urban form samples at both coarse and fine scales and searches out the optimum urban form for maximum or minimum SVF values under variable urban density constraints. The results of this study show that it is workable to mitigate UHI through manipulating urban form based on SVF, and indicate significant potential for urban form optimization modelling to enlighten urban planning and design decision making concerning on UHI whilst maintaining development yields.

Many cities are undergoing rapid urbanisation and intensification with the unintended consequence of creating dense urban fabric with deep ‘urban canyons’. Urban densification can trap longwave radiation impacting on local atmospheric conditions, contributing to the phenomena known as the Urban Heat Island (UHI). As global temperatures are predicted to increase, there is a critical need to better understand urban form and heat retention in cities and integrate analysis tools into the design decision making process to design cooler cities. This paper describes the application and validation of a novel three-dimensional urban canyon modelling approach calculating Sky View Factor (SVF), one important indicator used in the prediction of UHI. Our modified daylighting system based approach within a design modelling environment allows iterative design decision making informed by SVF on an urban design scale. This approach is tested on urban fabric samples from cities in both Australia and China. The new approach extends the applicability in the design process of existing methods by providing ‘real-time’ SVF feedback for complex three-dimensional urban scenarios. The modelling approach enables city designers to mix intuitive compositional design modelling with dynamic canyon feedback. The approach allows a greater understanding of existing and proposed urban forms and identifying potential canyon problem areas, improved decision making and design advocacy, and can potentially have an impact on cities’ temperature.

Many cities are undergoing rapid urbanisation and intensification with the unintended consequence of creating dense urban fabric with deep ‘urban canyons’. Urban densification can trap longwave radiation impacting on local atmospheric conditions, contributing to the phenomena known as the Urban Heat Island (UHI). As global temperatures are predicted to increase, there is a critical need to better understand urban form and heat retention in cities and integrate analysis tools into the design decision making process to design cooler cities. This paper describes the application and validation of a novel three-dimensional urban canyon modelling approach calculating Sky View Factor (SVF), one important indicator used in the prediction of UHI. Our modified daylighting system based approach within a design modelling environment allows iterative design decision making informed by SVF on an urban design scale. This approach is tested on urban fabric samples from cities in both Australia and China. The new approach extends the applicability in the design process of existing methods by providing ‘real-time’ SVF feedback for complex three-dimensional urban scenarios. The modelling approach enables city designers to mix intuitive compositional design modelling with dynamic canyon feedback. The approach allows a greater understanding of existing and proposed urban forms and identifying potential canyon problem areas, improved decision making and design advocacy, and can potentially have an impact on cities’ temperature.

This paper details a series of collaborative, immersive Travelling Studios held in Nanjing China focused on designers working in an international context of rapid urbanisation, hyper density, cultural and industrial heritage preservation and urban renewal. The design studios were both cross disciplinary, involving masters of urban design, planning, architecture and landscape architecture students, and cross cultural, involving students studying in our faculty from Ecuador, China, Venezuela, Chile, Iran, Japan, and Australia along with Chinese students from Nanjing University. The methods adopted in the studios encouraged students to not just use, but push the boundaries of design and communication technology – exploring new and innovative ways of collaborating and thinking about cities through engagement with big data, performative modelling, emerging Chinese social media such as Baidu, QQ cloud and WeChat, and through exploration of cutting edge, low cost, immersive virtual reality technologies (Google Cardboard). Equirectangular image projection rendering technology allowed the students to produce immersive virtual reality visualisations, previously only possible using high cost hardware, to test how their propositions would feel as a human inhabiting the space of their design. They also took ‘photo spheres’ (spherical photos) at site visits, visits to cultural buildings and cultural exchanges, capturing the student learning experience which became a major component of the final exhibition and Google Plus Community site: http://goo.gl/4nUvEr. By totally engulfing students in the use of emergent technology, alternate design approaches, and radically different cultures in an immersive ‘studio steamer’ learning environment, students absorbed new knowledge and soaked up new skills preparing them for future practice in an increasingly urbanised and global work environment. These studios make a substantial contribution to design educators, providing valuable insights and methods for future studio teaching that influence, motivate and inspire students to learn in an international context.

The role of the architect and urban designer has changed arguably becoming more significant (Madanipour, 2006). The role is multifaceted and is becoming more complex (Inam, 2011), engaging with multiple scales; a diverse range of stakeholders and policy makers; an increasing number of disciplines and areas of concern (Krieger and Saunders, 2009). Architecture, like large scale city design, is a complex multi-disciplinarily ‘wicked problem’ (Rittel and Webber, 1973, Conklin, 2005). Professional practice, architectural research and education face new challenges in the need for transdisciplinarity (Burry, 2012). There is a need to balance scholarly higher learning objectives of the discipline with the preparation of students for private practice – the profession (Anderson, 2001: Carolin, 2001). Arida suggests in his book Quantum City that educators need to ‘totally rethink the teaching of architecture and urban design’ (2002) to respond to the ‘wicked’ collaborative complexity of contemporary design issues. There is ongoing debate over who is the best placed to provide such education particularly in design studio teaching (Carolin, 2001: Hawkes, 2000: Lewis, 2013) – the non-practicing research-academics or private practitioners who may or may not be considered researchers depending on your definition of ‘research’ (Downton, 2003). The cross pollination between research and private practice, practice as research, research led practice and practice led research and the relationship between studio teaching by practice professionals versus research-academics has been discussed widely (Burry, 2012; Carolin, 2001; Ledewitz, 1985; Van Schaik, 2005’ Smith and Dean, 2009; Downton, 2003). The following is a brief account of my own personal experience post completion of a practice based PhD, of a researcher and lecturer at the University of Melbourne, and director of the private architectural practice of Harrison and White. I will outline key areas I have seen as being beneficial in my attempt at a cross-pollinating three-way approach to interweaving research, teaching and practice.

Major urban renewal programs including higher density and infill developments are being planned in brownfield and greyfield areas of the cities. These have increased the challenges in urban planning and management tasks. To address the challenges multi-dimensional and multi-spatial data is required to support city planners and policy-makers. There have been substantial improvements in developing and sharing the spatial data infrastructure. Moreover, the extended semantic capacity in 3D data models enables innovations in multi-dimensional urban planning and design. However, using these technologies to identify semantic relationships between objects, in diverse spaces and dimensions, enabling the stakeholders to evaluate future plans utilizing extra/open data sources is not yet possible. This study intends to develop a generic framework supporting a multispatial and multi-dimensional planning data model. The study examines the existing Australian Urban Research Infrastructure Network (AURIN) e-infrastructure to indicate the extent in which the formulated framework can improve spatial planning tasks.

This paper discusses the challenges that designers face when modelling the anticipated behaviours of people: their movement and transactions around and within precinct scale development. Building Information Modelling (BIM) software philosophy contrasts with that of City Information Modelling (CIM)—the route by which we consider how precinct scale development, being somewhere between the two (BIM and CIM), requires a wholly different approach to information and behaviour modelling. The authors offer evidence of the value of augmenting the planners’ analytical approach with the architects’ synthesis from data leading to meaningful speculations on otherwise unanticipated future scenarios for the precinct far beyond expectation. Novel approaches to modelling behaviour at precinct scale suggest alternative readings of precincts, which require a wider set of approaches to Precinct Information Modelling (PIM) software development than simply an expansion of BIM.

The time of a singular urban design vision, at least in the western world, is behind us. The mode of professional operation has changed – there is no longer a lone ‘renaissance genius’ architect setting out a clear, singular and fixed visionary ‘masterplan’ for cities1, urban design is a collaborative, messy discipline, subject to compromise. The emphasis for urban design has changed dramatically over the past two decades, with contemporary cities required to respond to issues such as rapid urbanisation, climate change and sustainability. The growing need to shift away from 20th-century policy making driven by road infrastructure, to strategies that encourage other modes of transport34 requires a change in the composition or ‘dynamics’5 of urban form, with a major reprioritisation of urban thinking. With these changes, the role of the architect and urban designer has changed, arguably becoming more significant6. The role is multifaceted and is becoming more complex7, engaging with multiple scales, a diverse range of stakeholders and policymakers, an increasing number of disciplines and areas of concern, ranging from economic, social, environmental and cultural, civil engineering and multi-modal transport, as well as water and waste management8. Large-scale city design and densification is a complex multi-disciplinarily ‘wicked problem’9. Balancing scholarly higher learning objectives with the preparation of students for the ‘wicked’ collaborative complexity of practice is a growing concern. As Ayssar Arida suggests in his book, Quantum City, educators need to ‘totally rethink the teaching of architecture and urban design’10 to respond to the plural and unfixed nature of contemporary cities. In this essay, I pose the following questions: • How can educators provide urban design studio syllabi that encourage students to engage in urban complexity in a meaningful way, while still allowing students to put forward provocative and propositional design schemes? • How can we provide a collegial environment for a studio group to work together to develop an understanding of real urban issues, political sensitivities and conflicting lobby group interests, and their interrelated nature, while also allowing deep research into specific areas of urbanism? • How can we develop students’ ability to engage with urban form dynamics and test new methods to integrate analysis and design synthesis process? • How might studio learning be recalibrated to prepare students for contemporary practice? The method used in attempting to answer these questions has two parts. The first is a brief review of key design studio teaching models based in part on literature and in part on my personal teaching accounts. The second is the development of a hybrid design studio model that attempts to provide a method and technique framework to approach wicked urban design problems using a musical dynamics analogy. This hybrid model is tested through a single case study, using a cross-disciplinary architecture, urban design and landscape masters design studio at the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning at the University of Melbourne.

As Australia experiences record heat waves there is a critical need to better understand the potential of Urban Forestry in mitigating heat retention in cities. Melbourne's street trees continue to feel the impact of the 'millennium-drought' (1998-2007) with many irreversibly damaged and several historic boulevard plantings requiring removal over the next five years. This paper examines a new approach to street tree modelling for visualization and shade impact by bringing together advances in botanically accurate parametric L-System tree models; GIS based distribution, species and life expectancy mapping; parametric proxy-object modelling; and photometric solar analysis. The results of this study demonstrate that it is now possible to produce high quality three dimensional studies at different time intervals that are visually compelling and shows great potential as performative design decision making tools for shade, walkability and comfort. Introduction: Street trees can have a tremendous impact on the quality of public spaces relative to cost.

Cities throughout the world are currently experiencing increased levels of urbanisation resulting in pressure for densification. Questions about the impact on mental health and general liveability are being raised in response to very dense developments proposed in many cities including Melbourne, Australia. In some cases, high density towers in close proximity are proposed with anticipated ‘views’ facing directly into other residential towers. Though not a problem for ‘off-the-plan’ investors, ongoing users may be impacted, potentially not able see water, any form of vegetation or even glimpse the sky. As city densities increase, ‘view-quality’ becomes increasingly important. There is a growing need for tools which can quantify how much water, sky or vegetation can be seen from each dwelling to assess and guide the form of development. This paper explores a new analysis and design approach which perverts light simulation modelling within animation and game production software, combined with Java based raster image-processing software ImageJ, to calculate the quality of view from within buildings at a precinct scale. This approach results in the quantification of view-quality based on visual access to these specific elements either separately or simultaneously. The approach can weight view elements depending on preference using different weighting. Existing urban morphology can be assessed, as can potential urban form of proposed developments. The approach could be used by urban designers and planners when setting up precinct design guidelines to respond to the ‘visual amenity’ aspect of liveability; by architects and developers during design process; by mental health researchers exploring benefits of water, vegetation and sky views. The approach also has potential for application at ground level in assessing the visual amenity of streets as a contributing factor of walkability.

Many Australian cities are currently experiencing rapid urbanisation and densification with the unintended consequence of creating dense city fabric with deep urban canyons. Dense urban areas have a profound impact on the local atmospheric conditions in particular, the urban heat island (UHI) which can increase temperatures within urban centres considerably when compared to surrounding rural areas. As Australian cities are presently experience record heat waves with temperatures in excess of 40 degrees Celsius for five consecutive days, there is a critical need to better understand urban form and heat retention in city centres – urban heat island effect (UHI) and the associated heat related morbidity. This paper describes the development of a new three-dimensional analysis approach based on a modified daylight modelling system to improve an established method of UHI prediction – sky view factor (SVF). A rapid SVF is calculated in a digital modelling and visualisation environment allowing iterative design decision making informed by UHI and SVF impacts on an urban design scale. The new technique provides ‘real-time’ SVF feedback for of complex three-dimensional urban scenarios enabling city designers to have a greater understanding of existing and proposed urban forms and identifying potential UHI problem areas; improve decision making, community engagement and design advocacy; potentially have an impact on city’s temperature – reducing cooling energy load costs; and more importantly, potentially reduce heat related mortality

The choice of street tree species, size and placement is an integral part of street design in any city, but particularly in cities with large seasonal temperature variation such as those experienced in Melbourne, Australia. The arrangement and choice of street tree can make a street seem too dark in winter or not provide enough shade in summer. Trees have traditionally been difficult to model digitally and have been considered “polygon-heavy” (thousands of polygons) making them computationally prohibitive to use for three-dimensional modelling and rendering analysis, particularly on an urban design scale. Thus street tree assessment is typically limited to spreadsheet /database form, two-dimensional plans and sections or photographic collage to test aesthetic implications. In this paper we discuss methods which bring together developing research into mathematical algorithm tree simulation, increasing processing power in affordable personal computers along with improvements in render engines with photometric daylight analysis along with efficient ‘proxy objects’ which allow large numbers of highly detailed three-dimensional representations of trees to be rendered.We discuss the initial results of this study demonstrating that it is now feasible to use high quality three dimensional polygon street trees in urban models with photometric daylight analysis. We report that it is now possible to assess the solar amenity and shade impact of a variety of tree species at different seasonal and time intervals with an iterative design process allowing multiple scenarios to be tested effectively in short periods of time

With a rapidly growing population, Melbourne, Australia is currently re-assessing its strategic city planning policies. Whilst urban designers, planners and architects are generally advocating densification of well-connected inner suburbs through dense transit oriented development over greenfield suburban expansion, there is strong resistance to densification due to a fear of loss of amenity – particularly solar amenity. In this paper I discuss the community’s conflicting desires for both strategic densification on one hand and maintaining public open space solar amenity on the other. I then put forward an urban design proposition to accommodate both of these objectives. I describe a four-dimensional digital modelling method I call ‘Subtracto-Sun’, a technique which utilises parametric digital sun systems with real-time parametric Boolean operations. The technique creates permissible building envelopes by subtracting a solid ‘negative shadow’ object derived from angles of the sun during a given period of time. This approach results in potential development envelopes within which any buildings can be built without casting a shadow onto the public space during the designated time range. I discuss the results of four case studies in Melbourne where I have used the Subtracto Sun to inform building envelopes and planning legislation. I also discuss the possible benefits of using the system such as: improved access to daylight for footpaths contributing to a more pedestrian friendly environment encouraging walking over car use, potential retail implications, improved natural lighting of buildings lowering carbon emissions, and potential health benefits through greater access of residents to vitamin D.

Pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods with proximal destinations and services encourage walking and decrease car dependence, thereby contributing to more active and healthier communities. Proximity to key destinations and services is an important aspect of the urban design decision making process, particularly in areas adopting a transit-oriented development (TOD) approach to urban planning, whereby densification occurs within walking distance of transit nodes. Modeling destination access within neighborhoods has been limited to circular catchment buffers or more sophisticated network-buffers generated using geoprocessing routines within geographical information systems (GIS). Both circular and network-buffer catchment methods are problematic. Circular catchment models do not account for street networks, thus do not allow exploratory 'what-if' scenario modeling; and network-buffering functionality typically exists within proprietary GIS software, which can be costly and requires a high level of expertise to operate. This study sought to overcome these limitations by developing an open-source simple agent-based walkable catchment tool that can be used by researchers, urban designers, planners, and policy makers to test scenarios for improving neighborhood walkable catchments. A simplified version of an agent-based model was ported to a vector-based open source GIS web tool using data derived from the Australian Urban Research Infrastructure Network (AURIN). The tool was developed and tested with end-user stakeholder working group input. The resulting model has proven to be effective and flexible, allowing stakeholders to assess and optimize the walkability of neighborhood catchments around actual or potential nodes of interest (e.g., schools, public transport stops). Users can derive a range of metrics to compare different scenarios modeled. These include: catchment area versus circular buffer ratios; mean number of streets crossed; and modeling of different walking speeds and wait time at intersections. The tool has the capacity to influence planning and public health advocacy and practice, and by using open-access source software, it is available for use locally and internationally. There is also scope to extend this version of the tool from a simple to a complex model, which includes agents (i.e., simulated pedestrians) 'learning' and incorporating other environmental attributes that enhance walkability (e.g., residential density, mixed land use, traffic volume).

The role of the architect and urban designer is becoming more complex, engaging with economic, social, environmental and cultural concerns along with politically loaded usergroups, lobby groups and complex multi-disciplinarily ‘wicked’ problems of large scale city design and densification. This study poses the questions: How do educators provide urban design studio syllabi that encourage students to engage in such complexity in a meaningful, provocative and propositional way; and how can we encourage students to develop breadth of understanding of real urban issues and their interrelated nature but also allow depth of research into specific areas of urbanism? The method used to investigate these questions was through a cross-disciplinary urban design studio case study. The main project brief was to rework current planning documents to produce and test mini 3D Urban Design Frameworks that emphasised one particular aspect of urbanism in a reductio ad absurdum manner using the metaphor of a music recording studio mixing desk, where ‘sliders’ are manipulated to control the intensity and quality of specific instruments (urban design objectives). Students pushed one volume control ‘up to eleven’, prioritising and exaggerating a key aspect of current urban design rhetoric such as: cycle-ability; pedestrian connectivity; heritage preservation; transit oriented development; solar amenity; above all other design issues. 

The term town planning implies a planar – two dimensional – method of analysis and design. For most of the 20th Century, two dimensional analysis was seen as adequate as it could deal with the planning issues of the time. With increasing density and populations; more complex land uses, a desire to improve public spaces as well as growing environmental concerns, it has become apparent that two dimensional planning methods are no longer adequate. " 3D+ " tools must be adopted that utilise a combination of three dimensional (3D), three dimensional plus time (4D), and parametric modelling for urban analysis and design. This paper focuses on the development of a suite of 3D+ digital tools geared towards sustainable urban design. The tools have been developed either through customization (scripting) or through taking advantage of under-utilized parametric features within industry standard CAD and animation software. This has been done with the intention of beginning to address planning issues which are difficult to address using conventional 2D planning techniques. The toolkit also avoids the great expense of additional specialised software, additional hardware or the appointment of additional consultants. The tools are currently being developed and tested on urban design case studies within an award winning architectural practice in Melbourne, Australia. The tools discussed in this paper are: wheelchair access gradient analysis; agent-based pedestrian connectivity analysis, overshadowing envelope design, radiance-based daylight analysis, visual impact analysis and urban form generation. The tools are proving to be taken up and used quickly and concurrently 'in house', early in the urban design process. This suits both the limited fees and the compressed time frame of sketch design and design development within architectural practice. With careful research and reassessment of the way we use existing software for analysis and design, this paper highlights an opportunity for architects to not only address planning issues that have hitherto been beyond their reach, but also increase the contribution architects can make in the generation and advocacy of sustainable planning policy.