CItyMaker

The design of urban plan involves a complex interpretation and management of morphological structures, existent and proposed, as well as several kinds of measurements of the urban environment -again, existent and proposed -from which several urban indicators can be calculated and used for supporting design decision. Typically, design models are developed on different software than the ones used to perform analysis. For designing, urban designers use CAD (Computer Aided Design) platforms and for analysis they traditionally use Geographic Information Systems (GIS) or other topology based software. Therefore, linking GIS and CAD in a common design workflow seems crucial for improving the information supporting design decisions. This paper presents the structure of an urban design platform connecting spatial data with a parametric design environment. The goal is to allow an interactive flow of information during the design decision process contributing for what can be regarded as a common design practice. Using the structure described in the paper designers can test trial designs in a context and analyze them in many different ways by: (1) using the GIS analytical functions; (2) calculating indicators that can be measured from the geometric structure; and (3) fine tuning designs by manipulating the design parameters to match goal parameters.

The design of urban plan involves a complex interpretation and management of morphological structures, existent and proposed, as well as several kinds of measurements of the urban environment – again, existent and proposed – from which several urban indicators can be calculated and used for supporting design decision. Typically, design models are developed on different software than the ones used to perform analysis. For designing, urban designers use CAD (Computer Aided Design) platforms and for analysis they traditionally use Geographic Information Systems (GIS) or other topology based software. Therefore, linking GIS and CAD in a common design workflow seems crucial for improving the information supporting design decisions.
This paper presents the structure of an urban design platform connecting spatial data with a parametric design environment. The goal is to allow an interactive flow of information during the design decision process contributing for what can be regarded as a common design practice. Using the structure described in the paper designers can test trial designs in a context and analyze them in many different ways by: (1) using the GIS analytical functions; (2) calculating indicators that can be measured from the geometric structure; and (3) fine tuning designs by manipulating the design parameters to match goal parameters.

Keywords: Parametric urban design; density studies; decision support systems.