Urban Mining: Visualizing the Availability of Construction Materials for Re-use in Future Cities

Abstract

This paper presents a method and case study to visualize the urban stock of materials and its availability for use in building future cities. Re-using material from existing buildings for new buildings can be seen as a source for construction materials in times of depleting natural resources. The authors explain the concept of "urban mining" and the challenges, such as "How much resources are available in a city? Today? In the near future?" We explore what data are needed to answer the questions, and then discuss how to best visualize the data in an effective and intuitive way. We apply the concept to an exemplary real-world district in Singapore that is in transformation. Then, we discuss features of a visual tool prototype and explain the thinking behind the design, e.g., how the spatial and temporal dimensions can be presented. Lastly, we conclude the paper with an outlook of future challenges. The paper presents a multi-disciplinary approach with researchers from computer science, architecture, graphic design and material science, and contributes to the discussion of how to visualize knowledge and plan sustainable future cities.