{"id":2249582,"date":"2024-08-26T08:47:59","date_gmt":"2024-08-26T15:47:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/?post_type=blog&p=2249582"},"modified":"2024-08-28T10:59:38","modified_gmt":"2024-08-28T17:59:38","slug":"arcgis-urban-and-cityengine-complete-masterplanning-solution-for-local-government","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/city-engine\/design-planning\/arcgis-urban-and-cityengine-complete-masterplanning-solution-for-local-government","title":{"rendered":"The ArcGIS Urban Suite: A complete master planning platform for local government organizations"},"author":139801,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":""},"categories":[23771,615021,37151],"tags":[773692,773702,26171,773782],"industry":[],"product":[36781,409602],"class_list":["post-2249582","blog","type-blog","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-3d-gis","category-aec","category-design-planning","tag-twinmotion","tag-urban-design-visualization","tag-urban-planning","tag-vcga","product-city-engine","product-urban"],"acf":{"authors":[{"ID":139801,"user_firstname":"Ricardo","user_lastname":"Cabrera Nyst","nickname":"Ricardo Cabrera Nyst","user_nicename":"rcabrera","display_name":"Ricardo Cabrera Nyst","user_email":"rcabrera@esri.com","user_url":"","user_registered":"2020-12-15 17:56:47","user_description":"Ricardo Cabrera-Nyst is an Architect, Building Engineer and Urban Design specialist at the Esri R&D Center in Z\u00fcrich. \r\nHe is currently involved in the development of Esri software with focus on practical applications related to Architecture, Urban Design and Planning.","user_avatar":""},{"ID":9292,"user_firstname":"Taisha","user_lastname":"Fabricius","nickname":"Taisha Fabricius","user_nicename":"tfabricius","display_name":"Taisha Fabricius","user_email":"TFabricius@esri.com","user_url":"","user_registered":"2019-03-26 08:42:10","user_description":"Taisha Fabricius is a technology leader at the Esri R&D Center in Z\u00fcrich, Switzerland. With over a decade of hands-on experience spanning product management, innovation strategy, and tech evangelism, Taisha specializes in Extended Reality (XR) and Web 3D, driving Esri\u2019s strategy for immersive geospatial technologies. With a focus on transforming spatial data into interactive experiences, Taisha is helping redefine how people explore and understand complex environments through XR and web-native 3D.","user_avatar":""},{"ID":251332,"user_firstname":"Silvia","user_lastname":"Casas","nickname":"Silvia Casas","user_nicename":"scasas","display_name":"Silvia Casas","user_email":"scasas@esri.com","user_url":"","user_registered":"2021-07-13 16:41:27","user_description":"Silvia Casas is a Senior Product Manager for ArcGIS Urban and ArcGIS CityEngine at Esri. She has a Master's in Regional and Urban Planning from California State Polytechnic University in Pomona and a Bachelor's in Architecture from Rafael Urdaneta University in Venezuela. She joined Esri in 2004 supporting Professional Services and working on diverse projects focusing on 3D content creation for cities and urban planning initiatives. She now gathers requirements from users, manages the prioritization of the features that will be productized, and supports the development team in the evolution of ArcGIS as a Planning System.","user_avatar":""},{"ID":127791,"user_firstname":"Avonlea","user_lastname":"Fotheringham","nickname":"Avonlea Fotheringham","user_nicename":"afotheringham","display_name":"Avonlea Fotheringham","user_email":"afotheringham@esri.com","user_url":"","user_registered":"2020-11-12 18:56:49","user_description":"Avonlea Fotheringham is a Product Marketing Manager for ArcGIS CityEngine and Esri's Extended Reality capability, using her passion for language and design to evangelize GIS to the world. She is based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, where she uses her free time to organize an annual international poetry festival.","user_avatar":""}],"short_description":"Great cities start with great master plans. Learn how to use the ArcGIS Urban Suite for optimal urban planning.","flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","content":"

The ArcGIS Urban Suite includes ArcGIS Urban<\/a> and ArcGIS CityEngine<\/a> as a complete solution for urban design and planning. Try a free 21-day trial<\/a> through CityEngine or purchase online<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","image_reference":false,"layout":"standard","image_reference_figure":"","snippet":"","spotlight_name":"","section_title":"","position":"Center","spotlight_image":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

To address the demands of rapid urban development happening around the world, urban planners and designers must develop increasingly complex master plans to keep improving cities. If they succeed and manage to create great<\/em> master plans, our cities will continue to evolve over the decades and transform according to citizens’ needs in the future.<\/p>\n

What defines a great master plan?<\/h3>\n

In essence, a truly great master plan requires both functionality and<\/em> aesthetic appeal; a successful master plan proposal requires the perfect balance between function and form comprising of both:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. a robust, functional concept that meets the requirements outlined by policymakers, and<\/li>\n
  2. realistic architectural detail impressions and compelling visuals that convince people of the envisioned livability on a human scale.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Why is it challenging to create such a master plan?<\/h3>\n

    Creating a great master plan is a challenging process because of the many<\/em> actors and software tools required to solve the highly complex urban design problems involved. Typically, a team of urban planners<\/em> first define goals, regulations, functions, typologies, and massing of a master plan, and then it may be refined by a team of urban designers<\/em> (architects) and\/or visualizers<\/em> (ranging from watercolor painters to 3D rendering artists).<\/p>\n

    There is also one important aspect that neither the planner nor the designer can neglect: the geography. Understanding the location and surroundings of a master plan, either at plan-scale or city-scale, is crucial to making the right functional and aesthetic decisions about what is being proposed.<\/p>\n

    Imagine if this could all be accomplished by one software system?<\/p>\n

    Well, it can! Within the ArcGIS platform we have two focused applications, ArcGIS Urban<\/a> and ArcGIS CityEngine<\/a>. The combination of these two tools bring together the unique master planning capabilities of Urban with the “magical” generative urban design capabilities of CityEngine. This integration merges urban planning and design workflows that should always be executed together. It empowers a city planner to envision a master plan down to the human scale on the ground level.<\/p>\n

    ArcGIS empowers planners and designers to shape the cities of tomorrow<\/h3>\n

    Let’s take a closer look.<\/p>\n

    In this article, we provide guidelines on how planners in local government organizations can transform their master plans created in Urban into vibrant urban landscapes using CityEngine, with minimal effort and maximum control. We describe how plans from Urban can be seamlessly opened and refined in CityEngine. Its tight integration into the Urban platform allows city planners to visualize 3D buildings, facade details, streetscapes, and greenspaces early in the master planning process, achieving unprecedented quality at minimal cost.<\/p>\n

    Note that we assume that the reader is familiar with the fundamental concepts of Urban and CityEngine. For more information on both tools, explore learning resources for Urban<\/a> and CityEngine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    Let’s get started:<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

    1. Open Plan from Urban in CityEngine<\/h2>\n

    Before you can start, you need to login to CityEngine with an account that has access to Plans from Urban. If you don’t have this, then go to the ArcGIS Urban site and get a trial account<\/a>. (If you currently have neither product, you can trial both through the ArcGIS CityEngine 21-day trial<\/a>). In the following example, we use the Boston Plan that is freely available for trial users.<\/p>\n

    To illustrate this Urban-CityEngine integration workflow, we\u2019ll use the well-known Boston Dot. Ave.<\/strong> example Plan.<\/p>\n

    Once logged in to CityEngine, we can connect to the Urban items through the ArcGIS Urban tab in the Navigator window, which displays all the Plans from ArcGIS Urban that you have access to.<\/p>\n

    Right-click on the Plan we want to integrate and select \u201cImport as new Scene\u201d:<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":2434402,"id":2434402,"title":"URban Tab_Mockup_Crop_Cursor_UPDATED","filename":"URban-Tab_Mockup_Crop_Cursor_UPDATED.jpg","filesize":317364,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/URban-Tab_Mockup_Crop_Cursor_UPDATED.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/city-engine\/design-planning\/arcgis-urban-and-cityengine-complete-masterplanning-solution-for-local-government\/urban-tab_mockup_crop_cursor_updated","alt":"","author":"139801","description":"","caption":"The ArcGIS Urban tab in CityEngine displays the Plans from ArcGIS Urban that you have access to.","name":"urban-tab_mockup_crop_cursor_updated","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":2249582,"date":"2024-07-10 16:30:51","modified":"2024-07-16 17:48:35","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1784,"height":900,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/URban-Tab_Mockup_Crop_Cursor_UPDATED-213x200.jpg","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/URban-Tab_Mockup_Crop_Cursor_UPDATED.jpg","medium-width":464,"medium-height":234,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/URban-Tab_Mockup_Crop_Cursor_UPDATED.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":387,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/URban-Tab_Mockup_Crop_Cursor_UPDATED.jpg","large-width":1784,"large-height":900,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/URban-Tab_Mockup_Crop_Cursor_UPDATED-1536x775.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":775,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/URban-Tab_Mockup_Crop_Cursor_UPDATED.jpg","2048x2048-width":1784,"2048x2048-height":900,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/URban-Tab_Mockup_Crop_Cursor_UPDATED-826x417.jpg","card_image-width":826,"card_image-height":417,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/URban-Tab_Mockup_Crop_Cursor_UPDATED.jpg","wide_image-width":1784,"wide_image-height":900}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":2434532,"id":2434532,"title":"Dot.Ave Integrated in CE_Updated","filename":"Dot.Ave-Integrated-in-CE_Updated-scaled.jpg","filesize":566315,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Dot.Ave-Integrated-in-CE_Updated-scaled.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/city-engine\/design-planning\/arcgis-urban-and-cityengine-complete-masterplanning-solution-for-local-government\/dot-ave-integrated-in-ce_updated","alt":"","author":"139801","description":"","caption":"The freely available example of the Boston Dot. Ave. Plan open in CityEngine.","name":"dot-ave-integrated-in-ce_updated","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":2249582,"date":"2024-07-10 16:48:17","modified":"2024-07-10 16:49:26","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":2560,"height":1441,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Dot.Ave-Integrated-in-CE_Updated-213x200.jpg","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Dot.Ave-Integrated-in-CE_Updated-scaled.jpg","medium-width":464,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Dot.Ave-Integrated-in-CE_Updated-scaled.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Dot.Ave-Integrated-in-CE_Updated-scaled.jpg","large-width":1920,"large-height":1080,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Dot.Ave-Integrated-in-CE_Updated-1536x864.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":864,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Dot.Ave-Integrated-in-CE_Updated-2048x1152.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1152,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Dot.Ave-Integrated-in-CE_Updated-826x465.jpg","card_image-width":826,"card_image-height":465,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Dot.Ave-Integrated-in-CE_Updated-1920x1080.jpg","wide_image-width":1920,"wide_image-height":1080}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

    Once the import is finished, the CityEngine scene will contain the following (group) layers<\/strong>:<\/p>\n