Towards the development of a 3D digital city model as a real extension of public urban spaces

Abstract

From 2001 to 2004 we had an opportunity to test the use of ICT in connection with an urban regeneration project in the Ní¸rrebro Park district in Copenhagen, which was completed in late 2007. The Ní¸rrebro Park district is a very mixed district, both physically and socially. The regeneration project was based on extensive involvement of local residents and representatives of trade and business. A holistic approach was adopted, including a coordinated and integrated social and physical focus. The project was based on an analysis of opportunities and problems in the area and was intended to lead to contracts in which various public and private players would commit themselves to targets to be achieved and funds to be applied. In terms of time, the ICT project1 was limited to three years at the beginning of the district regeneration period. Consequently ICT was mainly used to establish contact between residents and to identify problems and formulate goals. The district regeneration project was geographically limited, and it whas therefore necessary to establish some kind of collective affiliation and sense of belonging to the district. The main concept on which the ICT project was based was to set up an ‘electronic neighbourhood' on the Internet2. The electronic neighbourhood was not intended as an alternative website but rather as an extension of the physical neighbourhood developed in parallel with the regeneration project. The electronic neighbourhood was intended as a tool that could be used in various urban regeneration projects as well as a means to gather knowledge and points of view in relation to the various activities involved. The electronic neighbourhood was thus to be a link between, on one hand, the physical neighbourhood that was being transformed and, on the other, the Internet. Just like the actual regeneration project, the development of the electronic neighbourhood was to be based on involvement of residents, and three tools were used: websites, a geographical information system (GIS) and a 3D city model.