{"id":185581,"date":"2014-07-02T23:34:25","date_gmt":"2014-07-02T23:34:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/?post_type=blog&#038;p=185581"},"modified":"2018-12-18T09:59:24","modified_gmt":"2018-12-18T17:59:24","slug":"best-practices-for-creating-3d-cities","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-online\/3d-gis\/best-practices-for-creating-3d-cities","title":{"rendered":"Best Practices for Creating 3D Cities"},"author":3881,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":""},"categories":[23771],"tags":[25781,22951],"industry":[],"product":[36781,36551],"class_list":["post-185581","blog","type-blog","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-3d-gis","tag-3d","tag-arcgis-content","product-city-engine","product-arcgis-online"],"acf":{"short_description":"Many users want to go 3D with their GIS and want to know where to start. Esri has just released a set of best practices for 3D-enabling","flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<p>Many users want to go 3D with their GIS and want to know where to start.\u00a0Esri has just released a set of best practices for 3D-enabling your existing GIS to create your 3D city.\u00a0A 3D-enabled GIS provides governments and the public with a better understanding of your city, the ability to better manage your existing community, and help design future changes.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/pro.arcgis.com\/en\/3d-gis\/3d-cities\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Get started now<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<h2>Why 3D-Enable Your City?<\/h2>\n<p>3D-enabling your city will help your organization make faster and more informed decisions; thus saving money and delivering results to your community.\u00a0Here are some ways you can take advantage of a 3D city to better manage your city.<\/p>\n<h2>Visualize new developments<\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/downloads.esri.com\/blogs\/arcgisonline\/NewDev.jpg\" alt=\"New development\" \/><br \/>\nVisualize how a new development will look within the context of the existing built environment in full 3D\u2014go beyond traditional artistic drawings and bulky physical models.\u00a0Make it easy for everyone to view your 3D city using CityEngine Web Scenes to deliver lightweight 3D scenes to the browser with no plugin required.\u00a0Share these web scenes with decision makers and the public to solicit feedback via 3D-enabled comments.<\/p>\n<h2>Understand Zoning Regulations<\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/downloads.esri.com\/blogs\/arcgisonline\/ZoningReg.jpg\" alt=\"Zoning regulations\" \/><br \/>\nTransform complex regulations into easy-to-understand 3D shapes. Identify zoning violations and analyze development potential.\u00a0 Most cities have complex written documents describing the allowable development on a property. These include regulations on the buildable volume (layout and mass), form, style, and allowed use of the buildings or other functional criteria. Key elements within the regulations can be extracted and transformed into 3D zoning volumes.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/pro.arcgis.com\/en\/3d-gis\/3d-cities\/zoningreg\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Learn more about 3D Zoning<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<h2>Perform Solar Radiation Potential Analysis<\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/downloads.esri.com\/blogs\/arcgisonline\/Solar.jpg\" alt=\"Solar radiation potential analysis\" \/><br \/>\nFind rooftops suitable for solar generation for a single building or citywide. Identify potential kilowatt-hours yield for installations according to rooftop shape and orientation.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/pro.arcgis.com\/en\/3d-gis\/3d-cities\/solar\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Learn more about Solar Radiation Potential Analysis<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<h2>Get Started \u2013 Create 3D City Base Layers<\/h2>\n<p>A 3D city needs a set of base layers\u2014terrain, buildings, and vegetation\u2014to provide the foundation for design and analysis.\u00a0 The workflows provide you with a process for creating each of the foundational base layers.\u00a0 A project or template file is provided with the tools, City Engine rules, an information model, and sample data to help get you started.\u00a0 Step-by-step instructions guide you through preparing each layer using ArcGIS Desktop and CityEngine.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/pro.arcgis.com\/en\/3d-gis\/3d-cities\/build-3d-basemap\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Get started now<\/a><\/strong><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/downloads.esri.com\/blogs\/arcgisonline\/3DCitiesWorkflow.png\" alt=\"3D Cities Workflow\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Take a Tour and Get Inspired<\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/downloads.esri.com\/blogs\/arcgisonline\/3d-gis-share.jpg\" alt=\"3D GIS city example\" \/><br \/>\nSee a growing collection of example 3D cities from around the world; all built using these workflows and best practices.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/pro.arcgis.com\/en\/3d-gis\/3d-cities\/tour\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Take a 3D Cities Tour<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n"}],"authors":[{"ID":3881,"user_firstname":"Ginger","user_lastname":"McKay","nickname":"ginger","user_nicename":"ginger","display_name":"ArcGIS Content Team","user_email":"ginger_mckay@esri.com","user_url":"","user_registered":"2018-03-02 00:15:28","user_description":"","user_avatar":"<img alt='' src='https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a758ef8a99f2be937ac35b61aee8f59f902a85bd803a49f22173fdd86457dbd0?s=96&#038;d=blank&#038;r=g' srcset='https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a758ef8a99f2be937ac35b61aee8f59f902a85bd803a49f22173fdd86457dbd0?s=192&#038;d=blank&#038;r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-96 photo' height='96' width='96' loading='lazy' decoding='async'\/>"}],"related_articles":"","card_image":false,"wide_image":false},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.9 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Best Practices for Creating 3D Cities<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-online\/3d-gis\/best-practices-for-creating-3d-cities\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Best Practices for Creating 3D Cities\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-online\/3d-gis\/best-practices-for-creating-3d-cities\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ArcGIS Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/esrigis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-12-18T17:59:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ESRI\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":[\"Article\",\"BlogPosting\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-online\/3d-gis\/best-practices-for-creating-3d-cities#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-online\/3d-gis\/best-practices-for-creating-3d-cities\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"ArcGIS Content Team\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/#\/schema\/person\/4cedf42b29b09b44ff89e34e03081f9c\"},\"headline\":\"Best Practices for Creating 3D Cities\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-07-02T23:34:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-12-18T17:59:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-online\/3d-gis\/best-practices-for-creating-3d-cities\"},\"wordCount\":6,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"3D\",\"ArcGIS Content\"],\"articleSection\":[\"3D Visualization &amp; 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