3D spatial-temporal GIS modeling of urban environments to support design and planning processes

Visualization methods have been used by planners for many years, especially in the form of 3D visualization in design and 2D GIS in visualization and spatial analysis. The existing range of visualization methods, however, focuses primarily on the static state: it provides a representation of the urban environment at one particular point in time, usually using the most recent data-set available. This study attempts to build a 3D spatial-temporal GIS model of an urban environment to help study changes in the physical form of cities. The model treats time and space as mutually constitutive factors, thus allowing us to visualize the dynamic transition of an urban landscape: the way an urban area evolves over a period of time, including the growth and changes of street patterns, the sizes and shapes of buildings, and area density, as well as the general life cycle of a city as a whole.