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This book is a selection of the best papers presented at the CUPUM conference at Aalto University, Helsinki, Finland in June 2021. CUPUM stands for Computational Urban Planning and Urban Management and is a once every two years conference, held somewhere in the world. This chapter is the introductory chapter to this book. It introduces the title and central theme of the book: ‘Urban Informatics and Future Cities’. Therein, three cross cutting themes can be identified: big data, disasters and resiliance, and walkability and tourism. Besides, the chapter provides an overview of the content of the volume by presenting briefly each of its consituting chapters, their titles and authors and their main content. In total 30 chapters have been included in this volume.

In dealing with the global COVID-19 pandemic, China has achieved reasonable success in governing COVID-19 within two months with the help of technologies. This study specifically focuses on how these massive technologies have been implemented to facilitate the smart governance of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China. By discursively analyzing existing data from multiple sources, the results obtained in this chapter show that the real ‘smartness’ of the smart governance of COVID-19 in Wuhan is the innovative use of technologies to develop different types of governance approaches to control COVID-19 in an effective and targeted way. As the pandemic continues to evolve worldwide, lessons learned from Wuhan, China can be beneficial to other countries in different institutional contexts to build their own, context-specific governance for controlling the pandemic.

The discussion on urban metabolism has been long dominated by natural scientists focussing on natural forces shaping the energy and material flows in urban systems. However, in the anthropocene human forces such as industrialization and urbanization are mobilizing people, goods and information at an increasing pace and as such have a large impact on urban energy and material flows. In this white paper, we develop a combined natural and social science perspective on urban metabolism. More specifically, innovative conceptual and methodological interdisciplinary approaches are identified and discussed to enhance the understanding of the forces that shape urban metabolism, and how these forces affect urban living and the environment. A challenging research agenda on urban metabolism is also presented.

This paper ended an initial period of wide enthusiasm in attempting to realise the potential of computer innovations to revolutionise urban planning (Harris, 1960). It was an era when both the planning and the computer domains were strongly influenced by strong positivist ideas about the nature of scientific progress. Planning was mainly a comprehensive�rational, linear but also cyclical process in which experts examined all possible (or politically defined) problems and relevant solutions, which in turn would lead to optimal decisions (Faludi, 1973). Even then this was extensively questioned in academic research that emphasised the limits of human cognitive capacity: that is, information processing (Simon, 1969).

Many Chinese cities are in a transition from industrial to post-industrial urban economies. In this process of urban restructuring, land use becomes polycentric and fragmented. More sophisticated models are needed to estimate the amenity effects of this complex residential environment. This article assesses the relative housing price effects of neighborhood characteristics and accessibility in Nanjing, China. This is achieved with a hedonic price model that incorporates detailed spatial measures, geographical contingency, and a modified version of Alonso’s (1964) general theory of land rent. A crucial finding is that the effect of job accessibility on house price varies depending upon the specific sector of employment. Accessibility to jobs in the public and private service sectors has strong positive effects. However, housing proximity to heavy industries has a spatially nonlinear effect: negative in close proximity, but positive at a larger distance. Second, when we control for job accessibility, access to public transport has an added positive effect. Finally, neighborhood “quality” (defined in terms of nearby amenities) is also relevant, but far less than access to service employment. This research shows that Nanjing’s housing prices are affected by different residential characteristics than those with dominant price effects in Western cities.

Contains fulltext : 141084.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) Citizen participation is a cornerstone of urban planning. One common criticism is that the process can be cumbersome and slow. However, in the face of recent advances in information and communication technologies (ICT), those problems can be easily overcome, making it possible to extend public participation to a wider sphere of urban planning matters. But what do we know of how ICT-based public participation affects urban form? What does a city shaped by social networks and other ICT-tools look like? We develop an agent-based model of urban growth to improve our understanding of these issues. Our model consists of a spatially disaggregated, micro-economic-based, real estate market model coupled with an ICT-based planning process. In the model, public participation is based on social network affiliation and preferences over the height of buildings.

This chapter contributes to the literature on the dyad creative design versus analytical assessment. It describes the challenges of creating a planning support system acceptable by designers, and reports the success of combining two planning support tools: Phoenix, an easy-to-use natural user-interface (using multitouch and physical objects input) for spatial design and Urban Strategy, a framework for integrating advanced environmental and socio-economic models for urban sustainability analysis. The systems were developed in different circumstances, contexts, by and for different groups, but their combination unlocked the key to user acceptance and adoption. Their extremely low learning curve attracts even the most technophobic stakeholders and makes use of recent advances in cloud computing for storage and processing to deliver immediate feedback. It allows anyone (especially designers) to sketch their solutions with natural movements and immediately receive feedback on key indicators of the sustainability performance, enabling iterative improvements of designs.

Recent research has emphasized the importance of workshops as a venue where planning support systems (PSS) are used in planning processes. Empirical studies of these workshops have previously largely overlooked facilitation, in particular the role of a moderator (steering the discussion) and/or a chauffeur (steering the PSS). Drawing on existing facilitation research, we identify four main categories of facilitation interventions: substantive, procedural, relational, and tool-related. We use these categories to develop a novel conceptual framework for facilitation at PSS workshops. We test and develop this framework through semi-structured interviews with eight experienced facilitators of PSS workshops in the US and the Netherlands . The interviews confirm the validity of the intervention categories, but also revealed a wider range of PSS-specific workshop outcomes. We conclude that successful facilitation of PSS workshops requires two different types of facilitation interventions: some to encourage PSS use, and others to prevent PSS domination of the group discussion. Facilitating PSS workshops is mainly about finding the delicate and context-dependent balance between these two extremes.

The Chinese government promotes green construction as part of the strategy to reduce energy consumption. In practice, green construction can be impeded because various stakeholders valuate green attributes in different ways. This paper uses the analytic hierarchy process to analyse the extent to which developers and planners understand the valuation of green apartment attributes by residents in Nanjing. Results show that buyers of green apartments rank green attributes lower than safety and accessibility, and rank healthy construction materials and comfort much higher than thermal isolation or reduced energy costs. Green developers tend to focus on aspects that define their margin, such as green attributes and locational benefits and overlook the social needs, which are not addressed in building codes and not under their control. They have better understanding of green residents' priorities with health issues; planners are more familiar with the social needs of residents and lack green marketing knowledge.

Faced with the challenge of developing sustainable cities, the Chinese government sets green construction as part of the national strategy to reduce energy consumption. However, the consumer market has shown limited response to such policies. To upscale green building, it is crucial to understand the market demands for green apartments. This article employs a conjoint model to estimate the willingness to pay for green dwellings versus accessibility to metros and jobs and neighbourhood quality by different socio-economic groups in Nanjing, China. Results show that the socio-economic status of homebuyers determines their willingness to pay for green attributes. Only the rich are prepared to pay for green apartments to improve their living comfort. To all, the notion of health is appealing as consumers are willing to pay for an unpolluted environment and for non-toxic construction materials used in buildings in good locations.

Since its introduction, geographic information science has witnessed a tremendous growth and can build on enormous achievements (e.g. Cheng et al. 2012). Current geographic information systems and the decision support systems and models that have been accompanying these systems have a strong ‘geography’ identity, typical of the era in which geographic information system were introduced. Systems are mostly based on spatial entities (mostly grids or polygons). To the extent that commercial and open source geographic information systems have been enriched with models, a similar strong geographic flavor can be discerned. Most models of spatial choice behavior are related to the aggregate spatial interaction models, models of land use change are often based on cellular automata. The question then becomes whether dominant spatial decision support systems, fundamentally based on aggregate spatial interaction, cellular automata and similar models, are suitable for adequately predicting consumer response. We content that in light of the increasing complexity of the decision making process and increasing personalization of decisions and lifestyles, these systems and their underlying models have increasingly become inadequate and obsolete. The field should shift to the development of more integral microscopic models of choice behavior, allowing more integral policy performance assessments. Moreover, mobile computing should allow and stimulate the development of real-time information and decision support systems that support the management of urban functions and include persuasive computing. Uncertainty analysis should play an integral role in these developments.

This review considers previous researches that dealt with energy modelling in the built environment at different urban spatial scales. Up to now, modelling approaches focus on energy flow simulation in urban area from generation to distribution and finally consumption. Dependent on the energy flow direction and focus of these models in urban energy system, they are categorized in three distinct groups: supply, demand and integrated models. A critical evaluation of each category of these models based on the same criteria is provided. As a result, some of the main aspects that are missing in the existing models are highlighted, including: integrated multilayer models, spatial implications of renewable energy technologies and integration of simulation and optimization methods.

Urban villages are widespread in many Chinese cities, providing affordable and accessible housing for rural migrants. These urban villages develop rapidly over time to create more housing units and accommodate increasing numbers of residents. This article provides systematic analyses of urban village development in Shenzhen in the period 1999-2009. It reveals that the development of urban villages was driven by the overall planning and urban growth of the city, which resulted in significant variation in urban village development at the city scale. Three distinct but overlapping phases were observed: expansion, densification and intensification. The growth of urban villages was spatially clustered and changes over time in the distribution of growth centres suggest the possible diffusion of migrant employment out of the Special Economic Zone into two outer districts. In the recent urban regeneration process, the pattern and trend of urban village development is shown to contradict the city's urban village redevelopment programmes. This not only helps to explain the slow progress of the policy implementation, but also implies severe risks of jeopardizing the migrant housing market in certain urban sections.

Het RIVM beschikt over twee instrumenten om ruimtelijke processen in de fysieke leefomgeving te modelleren: de Leef Omgevings Verkenner (LOV) en de Ruimtescanner (RS). Uit overwegingen van efficientie streeft het RIVM ernaar beide systemen te integreren, waarbij de specifieke eigenschappen van de modellen moeten worden gehandhaafd. Deze integratie zal leiden tot een toolbox, die onder de naam LUMOS (Land Use MOdelling System) verder door het leven zal gaan. In opdracht van het RIVM heeft Nexpri/Universiteit Utrecht een definitiestudie uitgevoerd, resulterend in een Globaal Functioneel Model (GFO). De Leef Omgevings Verkenner en de Ruimtescanner vertonen veel overeenkomsten als het gaat om de gebruikte basisgevens en de presentatie van resultaten. De belangrijkste verschillen tussen RS en LOV zijn gelegen in de allocatiemechanismen. De RS maakt gebruik van een logitmodel, terwijl de LOV voor het simuleren van ruimtelijke processen gebruik maakt van cellulaire automata. Deze mechanismen zijn fundamenteel verschillend en kunnen niet zonder meer als uitwisselbaar worden beschouwd. Een ander belangrijk verschil tussen beide instrumenten is de mate waarin gebruik gemaakt wordt van expertoordelen tijdens het modelproces. Het Globaal Functioneel Ontwerp voor LUMOS beschrijft op hoofdlijnen de vorm waarin integratie tussen RS en LOV kan plaatsvinden. Uitgangspunt bij het GFO is dat de allocatiemechanismen van RS en LOV in hun huidige vorm gehandhaafd blijve, gezien hun zeer specifieke karakter. Integratie is vooral mogelijk bij de invoer van gegevens, en de nabewerking en uitvoer van de resultaten. Daarnaast dient een gemeenschappelijke gebruikersinterface en beheertool te worden ontwikkeld. Op basis van het Globaal Functioneel Ontwerp voor LUMOS is een heel scala aan vervolgstappen mogelijk. Het rapport geeft daarom per functioneel onderdeel van de toolbox de belangrijkste keuzes en bijbehorende argumentaties weer. Deze keuzes worden sterk bepaald door de mate van integratie die wordt nagestreefd en door de systeemomgeving waarin de toolbox moet gaan functioneren.

Dynamic urbanization in China during the reform period has led to the emergence and proliferation of so-called urban villages in many cities. The development of urban villages, based on a self-help approach of indigenous villagers, has been satisfying great demand for migrant housing and space for other activities. Consequently, urban villages are characterized by rapid growth of housing units and the mix of various land uses including residential, industrial, commercial, and public amenities. This paper uses GIS applications and Municipal building surveys as instruments to analyze the physical development of urban villages in the period 1999-2009 and their land use diversity in 2009 in Shenzhen, one of the most dynamic cities in China. Using measurements drawn from different disciplines, analyses reveal significant variation of urban village development across the city. The development of housing units and other functions in an urban village is found to be linked to its location in the urban fabric. This suggests that the development of urban villages is likely to be driven by the overall planning and urban development, which can provide informative guidance for local policy making associated with urban village (re)development.

Simulation models of land use predict or describe land-use change over space and time. Recent overviews of land-use simulation models show an overwhelming amount of different types of models and applications (Heistermann, Muller & Ronneberger, 2006; Koomen, Stillwell, Bakema & Scholten, 2007; Verburg, Schot, Dijst & Veldkamp, 2004). Obviously, such models are simplifications of reality, but increasing computing power over the years has made it possible to incorporate more and more complexity in such models. This increased complexity, however, tends to obscure the theoretical foundations of land-use simulation models. This theoretical foundation relates to the core principles that are used to explain land-use change and the concepts that are applied to translate these principles into a functioning model of land-use change. An in-depth review of land-use change concepts, their underlying principles, applicability and translation into actual models does not exist to our knowledge. In this chapter we aim, therefore, to analyse the application of various theoretical concepts of land-use change that are used in modelling. This analysis is a first step to better understand the conceptual background of land-use change and the application of these concepts in computer simulation models. Based on this review we present some observations on important research issues in land-use modelling and suggest possible ways for further model improvement.

In this paper, we aim to present a complete conceptual work flow for the assessment of user generated geographic content, or volunteered geographic information (VGI), for the use in a crisis management context. We provide an example on forest fires, but the modular workflow is adaptable to other types of crisis events.

This paper describes the Sensor Interface Descriptor (SID) model and focuses on presenting and evaluating the SID creator, a visual approach to create instances of the SID model. Those SID instances comprise the knowledge required to integrate a sensor with the Sensor Web. This integration is done by an SID interpreter which uses an SID instance to translate between a sensor protocol and the Sensor Web protocols. An SID instance, designed for a particular sensor type, can be reused in multiple applications and can be shared among user communities. The SID creator enables users to describe the interface, commands and metadata of their sensors. In a user study, we evaluated the simplification of the sensor integration process through the SID concept. The study incorporated four user groups, ranging from high school students to expert users, who were challenged to integrate weather station sensors with the Sensor Web by utilizing the SID creator. While the common approaches of integrating such sensors with the Sensor Web involve manual coding and extensive adaptation efforts, this new visual approach significantly simplifies the integration process.

To explore how people will live and work in Europe, what the landscape will look like and what the environmental consequences will be in some 35 years from now, the PRELUDE project (EEA 2007) of the European Environment Agency developed five different land-use scenarios for Europe. The project was carried out according to a Story And Simulation (SAS) approach in which, iteratively, storylines developed in participatory sessions are underpinned by land-use models. Storylines in this context are defined as narratives about future developments in Europe. They provide qualitative information on a broad range of issues in an integrated context.

Some 25 years after the introduction of the first geo-information technologies in public organizations, strategies to manage their diffusion are still inadequate. This is problematic in light of the new generation of geo-information technologies that has become available and aims to invest in these new information technologies in order to advance e-government. This study questions how strategies for diffusion of geo-information technologies in public planning organizations can be improved. It shows that classic top-down management often enhances informal diffusion activities that deviate from the formal diffusion strategy. A knowledge management approach, in which geo-information specialists and planners participate in the formation of diffusion policies, can enhance the quality of the formal strategy, thereby preventing deviation and informal diffusion activities. The authors recommend that public planning organizations use this knowledge to improve their diffusion strategies for geo-information technologies.