How Disruptive Technology Automated Auckland Council's 'Capacity for Growth' StudyApril 14, 2016

Aaron KoningFME Server Product ManagerSafe Software

CanberraMelbourne

Sydney

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CanberraMelbourne

Sydney

Agenda

Auckland Council

Capacity Measurement

Residential and Commercial

Algorithms

Smart Moves

The man behind the algorithmsAlgorithms developed by:

Michael Oberdries, Oberdries Consulting

Ltd As an employee of Critchlow Ltd

Auckland City CouncilIncorporating 7 cities and districts to become a Super City.

1.5 million people, 33% of the population of New Zealand.

The ChallengeA 30 year plan that includes the addition of 1 million people and 400 thousand dwellings.

Super City incorporates 4 regional plans and 7 district plans.

Politics and Media.

Capacity of Growth StudyDetermine how many people can be added to a region given planning provisions.

Scheduled every 5 years.

Previous plan required 4 years to finalize.

The Study

Assessments• Vacant land• Vacant potential• Redevelopment

potential• Infill capacity

potential

Segmented by• Residential• Commercial• Industrial• Rural

Outputs

Developing CapacityThree methods:● Expand city limits.● Develop new land that lacks infrastructure.● Look for capacity in existing developed areas

(Infill).

Infill is the most cost effective.

Infill in the blanks

Spot the Infill: in-personLook out back of your house...● Do you have space to lawn bowl?● Is it reasonable to play AFL, rugby or football out

there?● Do you have a riding lawn mower?● Does your horse look happy?

There’s potential for people to be there instead.

Spot the Infill: from the air

Spot the Infill: from the air

Spot the Infill: from the computer

??

Inputs

Algorithm

Residential Infill

Computed

Residential Planning Provisions● Area thresholds

● Building setbacks

● Access widths

● Density controls

A story of:

triangles and circles and squares and buffers.

Oh my!

Residential Infill Algorithm

TIN the parcel

Find the big triangles

Circle the triangles

Clip the circle from the parcel

Fit an oriented bounding box

Clip the box from the parcel

Clip the building offsets from the parcels and qualify area size

Qualify road access

Results

Commercial Infill

Computed

Commercial Planning ProvisionsMaximum number of stories

Recession planes

Yard setbacks

Upper level road setbacks

Start with flat boundaries

Boxes to represent floors

Boxes for setbacks and recessions

Recessions planes looking like staircases

Clip the setbacks/recessions from the infill

Smart MovesStaging

Repeating

Staged Implementation

RepeatabilityComputation only takes 1 to 2 days for 500,000 parcels.

Enables near-real-time scenario modelling.

What-if Scenarios?Planning provisions are stored in Excel file.Planners can tweak provisions like setbacks or densities without touching the modelling algorithm.Planners can run the model themselves.

Changing the RulesSmall provision changes can result in large increases in capacity.

Current Zoning Net Redevelopment Yield = 1065 new dwelling candidates

Test Zoning Net Redevelopment Yield = 2743 new dwelling candidates

In the EndCapacity Planning Evolved

SummaryStudy took 12 months to develop instead of 4 years.Data driven, evidence based approach can be scientifically criticized. Less emotional, less political, more accurate.Modelling algorithm is self-documented and repeatable.Assessments can now be regenerated in days.Planning staff are empowered to drive the scenarios.

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