3D Urban Mapping: From Pretty Pictures to 3D GIS

The information contained in this document is the exclusive property of Esri. This work is protected under United States copyright law and other international copyright treaties and conventions. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, except as expressly permitted in writing by Esri. All requests should be sent to or registered marks of Esri in the United States, the European Community, or certain other jurisdictions. CityEngine is a registered trademark of Procedural AG and is distributed under license by Esri. Other companies and products or services mentioned herein may be trademarks, service marks, or registered marks of their respective mark owners. The Dawn of 3D Urban Mapping The world of urban mapping is changing rapidly. Just a few years ago, it was sufficient to have your city charted in only two dimensions, with features such as roads or building footprints known only in the x/y. However, the reality is the world exists in three dimensions, where roads go up and down and hills and buildings have shapes, heights, volumes, and complex interior infrastructure. Today's urban planners are now challenged to map, understand, and analyze their cities in three dimensions. Many 3D applications, such as building shadowing or storm water runoff studies, are becoming more common. Before any organization can begin the transition to 3D GIS, several key questions need to be answered. The first is probably, "What are the primary applications requiring 3D and who are the users?" Second, "What toolsets and workflows are available to convert existing 2D GIS data to 3D?" And finally, "What will the costs be and what benefits are likely to be achieved?" Once the decision to convert from a 2D to 3D GIS is made, numerous valuable applications become possible, from realistic visualizations to more comprehensive city planning activities such as flood modeling or the visibility impacts of new development. If done correctly, the transition to 3D urban mapping will extend the value, investment, and life span of existing 2D GIS data. With a significant amount of time and money invested creating and maintaining geographic information system (GIS) databases over the past 20 or 30 years, leveraging this vast amount of information is highly desirable as an enterprise moves into the 3D environment. Fortunately, with proper planning, the vast …