Researchers collaborating between the universities of Oxford and Newcastle have launched an interactive article to illustrate how their models can be used to evaluate development scenarios in the Oxford-Cambridge Arc. The Urban Development Model and Natural Capital Mapping toolkit give a strategic overall picture, so that anyone interested can explore the trade-offs available when planning new developments.
The interactive article explains the steps in the research, and lets readers discover some of the wide range of alternatives that can be considered. Users can explore the outputs at Arc, city, or neighbourhood scales.
Local authorities, stakeholder partnerships and other bodies, who may wish to use these models in their work, can use this explorable explanation as a starting point, to see how the analysis works.
There are some strikingly different outcomes from the choices that can be made in terms of land taken for development, natural environment and ecosystems services at risk, and joined-up connectivity of future housing development to different modes of transport.
View the interactive article at https://nismod.github.io/arc-udm-vis/
Acknowledgements
This work has been carried out by researchers at the University of Oxford and Newcastle University in the UK, funded by the Alan Turing Institute (ATI), to inform the analysis, planning and design of resilient national, regional and local infrastructure around the world.
- Heidi Mok, Visualisation design and development
- Tom Russell, Maps and visualisation, scenario development
- James Virgo, Urban development modelling
- Alison Smith, Ecosystem services assessment
- Jim Hall, Discussion, feedback and scenario development
- Alistair Ford, Discussion, feedback and scenario development
The Urban Development Model (UDM) was used to produce the results presented in the article. The Natural Capital Mapping toolkit was used to assess ecosystem services.
