Jorge Gil was one of the invited speakers at the workshop “Towards an extended network-based description for BIM and Smart Cities” organised by the Space Syntax Laboratory from the Bartlett, UCL. At this event, Jorge addressed the topic of “City Information Modelling”.
Abstract: Smart Cities require knowledge-based and performance oriented approaches to urban design and planning, involving stakeholders from different backgrounds and domains of expertise, using and sharing multiple levels of information, at multiple scales of analysis and intervention. While Building Information Modellling (BIM) presents a new paradigm in building design, offering an integrated platform for the delivery, monitoring and long term maintenance of sustainable buildings, City Information Modelling (CIM) is just emerging as a new operational concept in urban design and planning practice.
CIM is more than an amalgamation of all the BIM models in an urban area. CIM represents the higher level networks of infrastructure, governance and human activity that make up the urban environment; and ultimatelly it forms the structure that holds all BIM models together and supports their interactions. CIM allows the description, visualisation, quantifcation, analysis and monitoring of the urban environment to support urban planning and design from the very local to the regional. CIM meets the needs of the various stakeholders with specifc design and decision support tools, with different types of interface and output, but one information base. The backbone of a CIM is an integrated, cross-disciplinary, spatial data model, with granular and relational information based on open standards.
In this presentation I will illustrate the CIM concept applied to urban design with current examples from industry and research. In particular, I will present prototype implementations integrating network data models and analysis in CAD and GIS platforms, for neighbourhood design and evaluation of the Randstad region in the Netherlands, with a focus on sustainable mobility objectives.
The slides of the presentation can be downloaded here.
