Introduction As urban areas continue to grow globally they face enormous challenges in terms of land supply. The City of Parramatta has been identified as a major growth area for the Sydney Metropolitan area, with an expected population growth 68.17% over the next 20 years. Significant steps have been taken to reconsider local planning regulations for the CBD area so that the City can better accommodate this anticipated increase in demand for residential units and office space. Among the key areas of concern for the Parramatta City Council is that the urban renewal strategy for of the CBD consider the impacts of climate change related temperature increases and urban heat island effect, which has increasingly impacted the City as temperatures continue to rise annually in Australia. It is anticipated that an urban resilience-focused approach will needed to address the likely impact of the increased urbanization and densification on the urban heat island effect of the CBD, understanding how new development will impact the temperature factor (insolation, solar radiation, and heat island). For this reason, the impact of new development of the temperature factor should be among the most important issues considered by the Council when assessing the redevelopment plans for the Parramatta area. Although several studies have been conducted to explore the feasibility of increasing development intensity by assessing environmental impacts, infrastructure capacity and public consultation, these reviews and assessments were conducted using 2D Geographical Information Systems (GIS). Since the spatial distribution of land in the real world is three-dimensional, 3D GIS can help us investigate the world with a more accurate three-dimensional perspective and thereby make better informed decisions. This study aims to investigate the viability and impacts of minor relaxations of plot ratio and building height restrictions (PR/BH) for the Parramatta Square area based on the 3D models and using 3D spatial analyses, such as shadow effects and insolation factors. Three scenarios with different PR/BH were digitally simulated and compared in this study. Insolation was simulated for each scenario to understand how new developments might impact the ground temperature for city occupants in each development scenario. Findings indicate that when the plot ratio and building height are increased, less ground area experiences long-hour sunlight exposure. Simultaneously, the percentage of the total area exposed to long-hour sunlight
Introduction As urban areas continue to grow globally they face enormous challenges in terms of land supply. The City of Parramatta has been identified as a major growth area for the Sydney Metropolitan area, with an expected population growth 68.17% over the next 20 years. Significant steps have been taken to reconsider local planning regulations for the CBD area so that the City can better accommodate this anticipated increase in demand for residential units and office space. Among the key areas of concern for the Parramatta City Council is that the urban renewal strategy for of the CBD consider the impacts of climate change related temperature increases and urban heat island effect, which has increasingly impacted the City as temperatures continue to rise annually in Australia. It is anticipated that an urban resilience-focused approach will needed to address the likely impact of the increased urbanization and densification on the urban heat island effect of the CBD, understanding how new development will impact the temperature factor (insolation, solar radiation, and heat island). For this reason, the impact of new development of the temperature factor should be among the most important issues considered by the Council when assessing the redevelopment plans for the Parramatta area. Although several studies have been conducted to explore the feasibility of increasing development intensity by assessing environmental impacts, infrastructure capacity and public consultation, these reviews and assessments were conducted using 2D Geographical Information Systems (GIS). Since the spatial distribution of land in the real world is three-dimensional, 3D GIS can help us investigate the world with a more accurate three-dimensional perspective and thereby make better informed decisions. This study aims to investigate the viability and impacts of minor relaxations of plot ratio and building height restrictions (PR/BH) for the Parramatta Square area based on the 3D models and using 3D spatial analyses, such as shadow effects and insolation factors. Three scenarios with different PR/BH were digitally simulated and compared in this study. Insolation was simulated for each scenario to understand how new developments might impact the ground temperature for city occupants in each development scenario. Findings indicate that when the plot ratio and building height are increased, less ground area experiences long-hour sunlight exposure. Simultaneously, the percentage of the total area exposed to long-hour sunlight
PRRES%202017_Christensen%20and%20Guo%20-%20A%20study%20of%20building%20height%20and%20plot%20ratio%20restrictions%20in%20densifying%20cities%20using%203D%20spatial%20analysis%20technology_submitted.docx