Spatial multi-criteria evaluation in 3D context: suitability analysis of urban vertical development

Urban densification is often seen as a process that aims to limit the negative environmental impacts of urban sprawl in rapidly growing cities by prioritizing planning policies stimulating vertical growth (or high-rise development) over expansion along the urban fringe. Densification of major Canadian urban areas has led to the proliferation of high-rises with an increasing proportion of residents occupying these buildings rather than traditional individual housing. Thus, there is a need for analytical methods that can evaluate the suitability of different residential units in vertical urban developments based on unique criteria for different stakeholders such as prospective residents, developers, or municipal planners. Multi-criteria evaluation (MCE) analysis with weighted linear combination (WLC) is frequently implemented in geographic information systems (GIS) to identify the appropriate solution(s) for a decision problem. However, there are currently no available MCE methods for spatial analysis that can provide evaluation in a three-dimensional (3D) GIS environment, such as for urban vertical development. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to propose a 3D WLC-MCE suitability analysis method for suitability of high-rise residential units in a dense urban area. Five preference scenarios were developed and applied to data from City of Vancouver, Canada. The results indicate that south-facing units and units on higher floors generally exhibit higher levels of suitability as they are less affected by the noise and pollution of the urban road network and receive more sunlight and ocean views. The proposed 3D MCE approach can be used for urban planning and property tax assessment.

Automated summary

Urban densification aims to limit negative impacts by prioritizing vertical growth over expansion, and the proposed 3D WLC-MCE approach is valuable for evaluating suitability of high-rise residential units in urban development.