Visualization of cultural values in urban planning in a digital twin

The project is about visualizing cultural values in urban transformation and planning processes for knowledge sharing among several parties.

Today, there are many digital tools and models for measuring and displaying different types of data, but cultural values are often lacking.

The effects that culture and creative activities can have on urban development are difficult to communicate in a visually understandable way.

Therefore, cultural values often have a low priority in urban planning and come in late in the planning process and often in a format that is difficult to interpret.

This project develops and tests new visualization concepts to visualize and integrate cultural values in urban planning processes and links these to digital twins which are increasingly used by cities.

A digital twin is, in simple terms, a digital representation of a physical system or environment and the connection between the two.

Digitalization and visualisation of cultural data can provide a visual understanding of the effects of culture and thus create better conditions for collaboration between the actors who need to work together to promote culture in the development of society.

The research questions we investigate are: How can digital visualization contribute to cultural data becoming more accessible, integrated, and visible in urban development processes?  and  How can qualitative, "invisible" cultural values be interpreted, visualized and pedagogically communicated in digital models?

The project is carried out over a 3-year period where the work is based on co-creation and a design-based approach.

Project partners come from academia, Chalmers, and the public sector, the Cultural Administration and the City Planning Administration of the City of Gothenburg. The project therefore focuses on challenges that exist in the field of culture in Gothenburg.

In order to be able to develop relevant visualization parameters in a planning process, the project is linked to an ongoing process and a test bed area, Gothenburg Filmstudio at Lindholmen.The work is carried out in 4 work packages (WP).

In WP1, we develop visualization parameters for cultural values relevant to the test area, cultural data is collected, systematized and a requirement specification for visualizations is developed.

In WP2, we develop digital visualization solutions based on the requirements specification, which are evaluated and further developed in an iterative process. Visualization concepts include 2D and 3D with different views, color scales, shapes, and levels of abstraction. Interfaces, data formats and data flows are synchronized for linking to the City of Gothenburg´s digital twin.

In AP3, a process of dialogue is initiated between the administrations for better interaction between urban planning issues and cultural values. Regular thematic meetings are held with all project partners (researchers and the city).

AP4 focuses on project management and dissemination of results.Expected results are systematized and digitally visualized cultural data that is more accessible, integrated and illustrated in urban development processes, can be integrated into a digital twin and a method development with upscaling potential.The project results will provide an important input into the development of digital twins within municipalities in general and for the City of Gothenburg specifically how social and cultural values can be a part of the digital urban planning process.

Chalmers will use the results not only in research but also in educational contexts, in courses with architecture students and students in interaction design. Another recipient is the Gothenburg region.

The City of Gothenburg, which is a member of the Gothenburg Region (GR), will disseminate the results in this organization by providing direct input into GR´s work with the Culture Generator.

The channels for dissemination also include seminars within the City of Gothenburg and the Centre for Sustainable Urban Develo