A Semantic Spatial Policy Model to Automatically Calculate Allowable Gross Floor Areas in Singapore
Abstract
Urban data analytics is helping to shape current and future cities, but the process of generating urban analytical indicators is often difficult to scale and automate. For instance, planners determine allowable Gross Floor Area (GFA) on a plot by manually cross-referencing multi-domain policies. As allowable GFA governs potential future developments, it is imperative to quantify and understand its values city-wide.
This paper presents the first steps of a research effort to develop an automated semantic spatial policy model to estimate allowable GFA for plots in Singapore. We use ontologies and Knowledge Graph (KG) platforms to address regulatory data interoperability and automation challenges. We filtered regulation concepts that determine buildable area and volume at Level of Detail 1 (LoD1) and standardised these concepts across different regulatory sources. Then, we modelled concept-related policies and automated the generation of possible GFA values per plot. Finally, we developed an ontology to store these values in a dynamic geospatial KG. Our approach presents two key benefits: 1) a generated dataset of allowable GFA eliminates the need for manual calculation by field experts, and 2) a graph data structure is ideally suited for unstructured regulatory data, like planning regulations.
We conclude that semantic spatial policy models improve the interoperability between multi-domain regulatory data and plan to generate a dataset for the entire Singapore as well as integrate regulatory data for mixed-use plots. Show more
Publication status
publishedExternal links
Book title
Computer-Aided Architectural Design. INTERCONNECTIONS: Co-computing Beyond BoundariesJournal / series
Communications in Computer and Information ScienceVolume
Pages / Article No.
Publisher
SpringerEvent
Subject
Ontology; Regulatory data; Knowledge graph; Urban indicators; Oncology; Semanic web; Land use planning; Planning regulationsOrganisational unit
08058 - Singapore-ETH Centre (SEC) / Singapore-ETH Centre (SEC)08060 - FCL / FCL
03901 - Raubal, Martin / Raubal, Martin
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