ArcGIS Urban

By Ishaan Anavkar

Maps & GIS Assistant

ArcGIS Urban is an exclusive software created by ESRI to help model 3-dimensional structures in order to design construction zones in cities, towns, and villages. Its primary function is transforming urban planning and design, but it comes equipped with all sorts of easy-to-navigate tools that allow the user to visualize projects citywide, design 3-dimensional scenarios, guide changes and measure impacts, and enable digital engagement. For a licensed user such as the Pennsylvania State University, access to ArcGIS Urban can be found through Content>Create>Create layers and more>Urban Model.

There are five case studies that are provided on the website as an example of the computing power that Urban can achieve through its tools. These case studies cover United States locales like Seattle (Washington), Hardeeville (South Carolina), Honolulu (Hawaii), San Francisco (California), and Boston (Massachusetts). It was interesting to gain an insight into the intended purposes of the program. Each scenario highlights a special capability of the software in an eye-opening manner.

Most tutorials on ArcGIS’s website are from the original version of Urban, titled 1.1, and as of July 2020, ESRI is moving Urban to a cleaner, sleeker new style titled Version 2.0. For this purpose, anyone who has previously used ArcGIS Urban to create models will need to undergo a quick process wherein Urban undergoes its migration from its old to new user interface.

Projects is where you view your future building projects, sorted by status (Under Review, Approved, Under Construction, and None). Using this list, one can also change the statuses of all their building projects. The Plans menu lets you view future zoning and development plans and sort by Type (Zoning Plan and Land Use Plan).

My existing project for Mission Bay, San Francisco is listed here. Mission Bay is a 303-acre neighborhood on the east side of San Francisco, and is an emerging industrial hub, which is why it makes perfect sense to use it as a demonstration of Urban’s capabilities. Lastly, we have the Indicators list, which allows you to select for statistical indicators based on Type (Capacity, Living Atlas, and Custom). These statistics include datasets such as Projected Change in Jobs, Projected Change in Households, and Projected Change in Population. There are a few more significant datasets, such as indicators on Education, Personal Crime, Population Change, Population Density, Diversity, Housing Vacancy, and Public Land Parks, however these are applicable to the United States alone.

The first step to establishing the Urban model is by clicking the + icon and the choice of selection, and then drawing the required area to build either the Zoning Plan, Land Use Plan, Project or Indicator. These can be drawn, edited, described, and detailed like regular polygons and allow the user to allocate the different areas on the map to different uses, i.e. whether the planner wants to use the land for a building or leave it unchanged for other future purposes, maybe a park or monument.

Here it is worth noting that Urban uses the terminology ‘Parcel’ to describe a package for the 3-dimensional models. Therefore clicking on the Parcel button while zoning the area allows the user to understand where the existing buildings are.