Investigating the Use of 3d Geovisualizations for Urban Design in Informal Settlement Upgrading in South Africa

Abstract

ABSTRACT:Informal settlements are a common occurrence in South Africa, and to improve in-situ circumstances of communities living in informal settlements, upgrades and urban design processes are necessary. Spatial data and maps are essential throughout these processes to understand the current environment, plan new developments, and communicate the planned developments. All stakeholders need to understand maps to actively participate in the process. However, previous research demonstrated that map literacy was relatively low for many planning professionals in South Africa, which might hinder effective planning. Because 3D visualizations resemble the real environment more than traditional maps, many researchers posited that they would be easier to interpret. Thus, our goal is to investigate the effectiveness of 3D geovisualizations for urban design in informal settlement upgrading in South Africa. We consider all involved processes: 3D modelling, visualization design, and cognitive processes during map reading. We found that procedural modelling is a feasible alternative to time-consuming manual modelling, and can produce high quality models. When investigating the visualization design, the visual characteristics of 3D models and relevance of a subset of visual variables for urban design activities of informal settlement upgrades were qualitatively assessed. The results of three qualitative user experiments contributed to understanding the impact of various levels of complexity in 3D city models and map literacy of future geoinformatics and planning professionals when using 2D maps and 3D models. The research results can assist planners in designing suitable 3D models that can be used throughout all phases of the process.

Evaluation of User Performance in Interactive and Static 3D Maps

“…Most of the recent user studies in cartography use either only static 3D maps or interactive 3D maps as stimuli, not both. Static stimuli have been used, for example, by Schobesberger and Patterson [9], Engel et al [18], Niedomysl et al [19], Popelka and Brychtová [20], Seipel [21], Popelka and Doležalová [22], Preppernau and Jenny [23], Rautenbach et al [24], Zhou et al [25], and Liu et al [26], whilst interactive stimuli have been used by Abend et al [27], Wilkening and Fabrikant [28], Treves et al [29], Špriňarová et al [30], McKenzie and Klippel [31], Carbonell-Carrera and Saorín [32], and Herman et al [33].…”

Visualizing Life in an Informal Settlement of South Africa Using Web Maps and Story Maps

“…Interactive visualization creates a more immersive experience as they tend to catch the user's attention and can improve their understanding (DiBase et al, 1992;MacEachren, 1995;Köbben and Yaman, 1996;Rautenbach et al, 2016). Users also tend to enjoy using these types of visualizations more than traditional ones.…”

Electricity Infrastructure Planning: Evaluating Solar Potential Assessments for Informal Settlements Using Grass and Freely Available Data

“…The process followed for this evaluation was informed by related work in Chaves and Bahill (2010), Freitas et al (2015), Fluri (2009), Redweik et al (2013), Liang et al (2015). It incorporates considerations for informal settlements discussed by Owen and Wong (2013), Kakembo and van Niekerk (2014) and Rautenbach et al (2016). The flowchart in Figure 1 illustrates the process.…”