A rant about 3D modeling

I have lately been spending a lot of time thinking about photogrammetry and remote sensing. These are not really my interest areas but they sort of force themselves upon you in a place where informationization is currently underway in concert with urbanization, globalization, and industrialization.

Today’s global realities demand effective use of our land and resources. Planners confront pressing issues stemming from explosive population growth, urbanization and a changing ecological landscape. By 2030, the world's population will likely increase 8.2 billion. By 2030, most of whom will be concentrated in urban areas. China is at the forefront of this wave of urbanization.

One hundred million people migrated to China’s large cities from areas that are more rural within the past twenty years.  China’s growth is unlike anything seen before; China is a perfect case study of how planners, decision makers and technology developers are responding to these realities.

To meet the challenges and opportunities of the massive urbanization currently underway, new approaches must be innovated.  Smart City technologies, integrated solutions and better ways to visualize complex systems and massive data flows intuitively might be a part of the solution to the problems of rapid urbanization.

CAD-GIS, aerial photography point and cloud data are a powerful combination capable of capturing spatial data from both objects and surfaces. These technologies support infrastructure design and analysis and are a foundation for solutions to the challenges. Modeling data, placing data in context enhances situational awareness, improving agility when dealing with explosive change especially when visualized in 3D.

As an evolving set of digital design and visualization tools, they will contribute to the construction of the next generation of cities. Modeling and visualization of city scale models gives planners and decision makers the power to see realistically the existing and the anticipated environment. as 3 D models add an element of realism.

The growing move toward 3D models and visualization in the third and fourth dimensions helps us better understand and plan .infrastructure, incorporating visualization and data. Planners and the public can see the city in a realistic way as a model not just a photo. Models simplify, revealing and highlighting key elements and processes. Models permit greater understanding.

I think China is a leader in these advanced modeling technologies, out of necessity as much as desire. With massive concrete experience in large scale development projects and appropriate technological solutions, Chinese companies have the know-how to address similar issues facing other countries in the global South.