3D GIS and Planning Analysis:Urban land use, density and sustainable development

CASE Award: ‘3D GIS for E-Planning’

Upgrade Presentation, 28/11/07

Duncan Smith

Seminar Outline

Introduction

Sustainable Development and Urban Form

London Context

Measuring Density and Public Transport Accessibility

Isle of Dogs and Stratford Case Studies

Discussion of Next Stages in Research

Introduction

Research Studentship part of Virtual London Project-

3D GIS of London’s built environment (Batty, Hudson-Smith 2005)

“Policies for development should

exploit theirpublic transport

accessibility through higher densities and

more mixedand intensive use.”

GLA London Plan 2004, 2006

Planning Analysis for Sustainable Development-

Develop Virtual London as a 3D GIS planning analysis tool (PSS). Use urban form and accessibility data for sustainable development indicators:

– Density of urban form and public transport accessibility. – Mix of Uses and pedestrian accessibility.

Scale of Analysis

Focus on fine scale, incorporate urban form. Most decision making in planning incremental, small scale; typically analysis/modeling at aggregated scale. Research intended to bridge between scales, local urban form implications of larger scale trends.

3D GIS Planning Tool Concept

Building Query-

Address: 10 Tramway Ave

Building Function: Office

Number Premises: 1

Business Name: Inland Revenue

Floorspace: 800m2

Density (flrspc/footprint) 3 m/m

Street Query-

Mix of uses: Res, Off, Ret, Com.

Density by use: num dwell, flrspc…

Diversity Index (?)

Street typology (?)

Accessibility Query-

PT Interchange travel times:

Bus: 1min UG: 10min Rail: 10min

PTAL Level: 6 (high)

Street Integration (?)…

New Development Details-

Building Function(s): Residential

Density: 50 dwelling units

Density and PTAL: Exceeds minimum density for PTAL level

Mix of Uses: Single use development, lowers street diversity.

3D GIS Planning Tool Concept

Realistic Goals within research context-Purpose not to create stand-alone software product. Focus on researching and developing-

– Geodata infrastructure• Land use, density, accessibility data from standard sources.

– Methodology for sustainable development indicators• Quantitative analysis of relationships between density, mix of

uses and accessibility.

– 3D interface and visualisations• Intuitive 3D visualisations of analysis within mainstream GIS.

Urban Form and Sustainable Travel

Influential research in sustainable urban form-– Jacobs (1961)- powerful critique of modernist planning. In favour of small

scale pedestrian mixed use cities. Vitality, community and safety in cities.– Newman and Kenworthy (1989)- correlation between urban density and

energy use in cities across world. Criticised but influential.

Criticisms of concept-– Ignoring new economy of ‘Edge Cities’- creating explosive growth around ring roads

and airports. Argued travel patterns more efficient (Gordon & Richardson, 1996).

– Monocentric city- congested radial transport links. Wasted public transport capacity with no reverse commuting. Dormitory suburbs with longer commuting.

– Too loosely defined concept.

New consensus (?) around ‘Concentrated Deconcentration’-– High density public transport nodes developments at edge of centre

locations (e.g. Amsterdam Zuid, Canary Wharf)

Integrated within ‘Compact City’ movement (Jenks et al, 1996)-– High density, mixed use cities. Shorter trip lengths, public transport

feasible.– Minimise greenbelt development, constrain sprawl.– Pedestrian/cycle friendly environment. Car use restricted.– ‘Sustainable communities’- linked to community and equality issues.

London and South East Region

London employment structure highly monocentric:– Current city centre boom increasing dominance.

London Plan and regenerationMajor theme of plan to direct growth to East London, bring together regeneration, equity, sustainable dev concerns. Transport Infrastructure:

– Channel Tunnel Rail Link.– Crossrail.

South East regional trends:– Growth jumped green belt to outer metropolitan area. IT

growth at M4 corridor (access to wider UK and Heathrow). Car orientated development less sustainable.

– East-West split (transport rich/poor corridors)

London a ‘Compact City’?– Urban growth during rail era, evolved as compact city. High

density centre and radial transport infrastructure. Reflected in travel patterns.

Urban Form and the London Plan

‘Opportunity Areas’-– London’s growth is planned at high density employment

clusters at public transport nodes.– Brownfield redevelopment e.g. Kings Cross, Paddington

Basin.

Multiple connected regeneration schemes:– Canary Wharf/Isle of Dogs- massive scale

regeneration project, started in 1980s.– Stratford/Olympics, Lower Lea Valley- more recent

regeneration scheme in early stages.– Wider Thames Gateway regional plan.

Research Questions

How closely is urban density related public transport accessibility at the Opportunity Areas?

Is the large scale high density nature of development creating a disintegrated urban texture?

Need to be able to measure density and accessibility to answer these questions.

Measuring Density

Scale of Analysis-This research interested in fine scale measures linked to urban form

– Building level- direct link to urban form. Divide total dwellings/floorspace by building footprint area.

Density Measures-– Residential measures- dwellings per hectare standard.– Commercial measures- employees per hectare. Floorspace

as a proxy. Basic classification: office, retail and industrial.

Data Sources-– Address Data- OS AL2 complete UK addresses with spatial

location. Accurate residential and less accurate commercial classification. Regularly updated.

– Floorspace Data- Valuation Office has floorspace data for all commercial premises. Last updated in 2005. Currently linking to OS data problematic, working with postcode units for the meantime.

Public Transport Accessibility

Defining AccessibilityAvailability of opportunities (e.g. PT service) weighted by difficulty of getting there (e.g. distance).

– User centred view of transport system.

Public Transport Accessibility LevelPTAL standard measure in London. Method:

– For each output area calculate PT interchanges within walk distance thresholds (vary by mode) on road network.

– Total services available weighted by their frequency, reliability factor and cost of walking there.

– Measures used for density and parking standards of new development across London.

Improving PTAL MeasureSimplicity of PTALs helps popularity, but also has drawbacks:

– No detailed pedestrian accessibility.– Does not consider utility of services.– Does not consider crowding/capacity of services.

Example of Canary Wharf and Isle of Dogs

Symbol of economic ‘creative destruction’-– Docks facilitating London’s huge international trade. Rapid

decline in 1970s.– ‘Biggest brownfield site in Europe’. Set up as UDC.– Olympia York get go-ahead for gigantic business district.– Developer goes bust in early 1990s recession.

Transport Links Key to Growth-– Business centre perceived as isolated. PT enhanced with

DLR upgrade and Jubilee line.– Incredible jobs growth over last ten years to 80,000+.– PT dominates mode share, similar to central London.

Questions for research-– Is the density of new development closely related to public

transport accessibility?– Is the large scale high density form of Canary Wharf

integrated with surrounding areas?

Isle of Dogs Density Analysis

Summary-– Distinct distributions of land uses at this fine scale.

– Density and PTAL measure strongly related for large scale commercial uses. DLR successful catalyst for physical regeneration on Isle of Dogs, Canary Wharf not isolated.

– New residential development taking place at very high density on riverside locations. Minimal relationship with public transport, and not encouraging a mixed use active street environment.

Methodological issues-– Visual analysis should be complimented with statistical analysis (need TfL

model)

– Property focussed method rather than business focussed. Business size, business type information, industrial businesses?

– Which social groups benefiting from physical regeneration?

Future plans for Isle of Dogs

Tower Hamlets Council taking proactive role in guiding new development. Masterplans for high density districts around DLR stations.

Millennium Quarter Masterplan (2000)-– Highest densities at DLR station. Gradual change in

building heights.– Improve mix of uses and pedestrian permeability.

Successful?– Attracting development, improved active streets with ground

floor retail.– “Residential market outperforming the office market. High rise

residential has values up to £10,764 m2” (LOPR, 2006).

– Luxury character to development. Replacing small business offices. Affordable housing?

Physical regeneration methodology needs to consider social issues.

Physical Regeneration and Social Impacts

Successful economic regeneration but social impacts questioned:

– Evidence of mismatch between business service jobs created and local skills (Foster, 1999). Education and skills funding from LDDC low. New affluent residents distinct from older community.

– Failing to achieve regeneration aims?

Demographic analysis compliment built form analysis:– Large population increase. Unemployment fallen, though not as

much as Tower Hamlets as a whole. Evidence of local jobs, but who for?

– Need to do further analysis including socio-economic groups data. Also migration data.

Built Form Indicators Relevant to Regeneration-– Affordable housing provision-

Tower Hamlets building more affordable homes than any other London Borough. 2,700 homes 2005-06 (132% percent London Plan target).

– Regeneration and Small and Medium Enterprises- Key sector for high ethnic diversity and high deprivation areas. Tower Hamlets mapped small businesses using VO data.

Stratford Case Study

Can Stratford avoid making Docklands early mistakes?

Town centre in the East London borough of Newham. Chosen as site for main Olympic development:

– Strong public transport links with two tube lines, rail and bus connections. Future links CTRL and Crossrail.

– Newham amongst most deprived authorities in UK. Regeneration focus.– Large area of brownfield railway lands to the west towards Hackney

Wick.– Synergy with pre-Olympic plan for ‘Stratford City’, retail led development

on same site.

Link between old town centre and new development of key importance.

Stratford Density Analysis

Summary-– Higher density commercial uses around shopping centre with good public transport

access. Much lower density than Isle of Dogs development.

– Low density commercial on local high streets.

Main issues surrounding form of future development at Stratford.

New Development in Stratford

Planning applications-– Applications include all the geometric, functional and floor

space data. Not standardised in a spatial database.

– Major developments include 3D CAD models (aesthetic), really looking for geometric and functional model.

Development Trends in Stratford– Lots of applications for high rise residential

developments, some better than others…

High Rise Proposals-– 310 High Street- 30-storey tower proposed (334 flats and a hotel).– GLA object to scale, design: “wide slab block”, “inappropriate façade”, “poor configuration at ground level”, ”fails to

provide a landmark building of high design quality”.

– ‘Olympian’ Tower- 26 storey mixed use tower. Ground floor retail, 5 floors office, 280 residential units.

Conclusions on including proposed developments-– Density not only issue! – Development can

encourage sustainable travel while being highly unsuitable on aesthetic grounds.

– Challenge in automating process of adding new development data.

Conclusions on Analysis Methods

Density and PTAL Analysis-– Analysis powerful way to visualise fine scale land use distributions in relation to

accessibility. Useful tool for planners making sustainable development assessments.

– Case studies show high density commercial development closely related to PTAL measure. Traditional residential and new high rise residential different spatial patterns.

– Potential improvements:• business classification data• pedestrian accessibility in PTAL analysis.• Fuller understanding of social aspects of regeneration.• Automatic methods of adding new development.

Plans for taking research forward:– Public Transport Accessibility- Need to fully test PTAL measure. Currently

accepting measure without rigorous testing. Potential improvements.– Affordable Housing- research with GLA looking at affordable housing provision,

house prices and regeneration at fine scale.– Case Study Areas- Need more contrasting case studies, so far too similar.

Perhaps Outer London, much less PT focussed.– Develop mix of use measures and pedestrian accessibility- Consider

measures around mix of uses to encourage local travel. Mix of uses measure require assessing how related buildings are in the street network, i.e. pedestrian accessibility.

– Local Authority Feedback- need more planner input to evaluate analysis methods.

Thank you for listening!

Welcome any comments and questions.

References

Batty, M. & Hudson-Smith, A. (2005), Urban Simulacra: London, Architectural Design, Vol 5, 6, pp 42 – 47.

Breheny,M.,Gordon,I.,Archer,S.(1998), ‘Building densities and sustainable cities’, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Sustainable Cities Programme, Project Outline No. 5, June 1998.

Burton, E. (2002), Measuring urban compactness in UK towns and cities, Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design 2002, 29, pp 219 – 250.

Foster (1999), Docklands: Cultures in Conflict, Worlds in Collision, UCL Press, London.

GORDON, P. and RICHARDSON, H. (1996) Beyond polycentricity: the dispersed metropolis, LosAngeles, 1970-1990, Journal of the American Planning Association, 62, pp. 289±295.

Greater London Authority (2004), The London Plan: Spatial Development Strategy for London, GLA.

Greater London Authority (2006), London Office Policy Review 2006, GLA.

Jane Jacobs (1961) The Death and Life of Great American Cities New York: Vintage Books (NA 9108.J17);

Jenks, M, Burton, E., Williams, K. (2000) The Compact City: A Sustainable Urban Form?, (Spon. London).

Newman & Kenworthy (1989), Overcoming Automobile Dependence, Island Press, Washington.