Developing tools for sustainable urban design
The philosophy behind sustainable urban design brings urban planning in line with the principles of economic, social and environmental sustainability. With over 80 % of the EU's population living in urban areas, green open spaces are at a premium, and their complete worth is often undervalued and unrealised. The Visibility tools project is developing new methods and tools to evaluate environmental quality. Urban planners and architects have a limited selection of three-dimensional quantitative methods and tools to support them during the actual design development process. Most of the current state-of-the-art analysis methods relate to two-dimensional reality. Visibility tools has developed three-dimensional visual analysis models and automated tools based on geographic information system technologies, in order to evaluate and balance urban environments relating to privacy and openness to the view. Visual openness to a 'view' is one of the main objectives in the sustainable development of urban areas adjacent to open spaces such as coastal regions or open green spaces. The tools and methodology developed can be used by urban designers and architects alike during the urban design and development process in order to contribute to the development of sustainable urban environments. The models developed as part of this project have been applied to different case studies in the United States; preliminary findings and conclusions have contributed to urban design and promise to lead to initial guidelines that can be applied to sustainable urban environments and contribute to existing and future urban frameworks.
