Victoria’s Manningham City Council has developed a geographical visualisation program, providing 3D models and images that greatly assist in the assessment of planning applications and design of major projects. Council took out the Innovative Management Initiative category for the program at the 2006 LG Pro awards in February.
Manningham’s GIS/GPS Officer, Michael Johnstone, said GeoViz allows Council to graphically represent proposed developments and set them in the existing built environment.
“A new community centre and restaurants are proposed for a site near one of the city’s shopping centres,” he said. “GeoViz is being used to demonstrate the relationships between the proposed buildings and the existing open space, buildings and car parks in and around the shopping centre. Interested parties, including Councillors, Council officers, architects and designers can view each proposal from a variety of angles, thereby visualising how the proposal might appear on the overall site. The program has also assisted with the community consultation process as people can get a good idea of what a proposal will mean to local amenities.”
GeoViz provides a graphical representation of any potential overshadowing and line of sight impacts, greatly assisting the selection of designs most appropriate to a particular site.
“To construct the 3D model, firstly an accurate Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of the designated area must be built using recent aerial photography and airborne laser scanning,” Michael Johnstone said. “Realistic buildings and other man made structures are then added.”
Once familiar with the software, it takes approximately two weeks to produce a simple 3D visualisation of a 100 metre square site.
Michael Johnstone said that online 3D model websites provide 3D cars, plants, trees, street furniture and people free of charge. However most sites were of little value to Manningham as they are developed for American, Asian or European requirements and conditions.
“To address this, Manningham developed its own 3D library of local cars, trees, plants, and street furniture,” he said. “These features add significant realism to the site and will be used in future Manningham GeoViz models.”
Council’s GIS/GPS team are currently working with Strategic Planners to develop 3D geographical visualisations for specific planning applications for the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT). This includes development of fly through models that are recorded on video and shown at VCAT hearings.
For further information, contact Michael Johnstone on (03) 9840 9333.
