Digital Innovation for (Urban) Design

The Fourth Industrial Revolution, formed by Internet industrialization and industrial intelligence, is profoundly affecting and changing our cities with a series of disruptive emerging technologies, especially information and communication technologies (ICTs). Conventional design approaches such as spatial intervention will not be capable enough to deal with the spatial needs of people’s daily life. In this context, a new future-oriented design concept of "Spatial Intervention, Place Making and Digital Innovation (SIPMDI)" is proposed, aiming to integrate ICTs into designs, and shape high quality living environment. The concept, process, application scenarios and characteristics, as well as related cases are illustrated in this paper.

技术发展对公共空间及其设计的智慧化产生了深刻的影响。研究通过对于智慧化公共空间设计案例的系统性收集，构建结构化案例库，发掘此方面的多维度规律特征，为未来的智慧化公共空间设计提供参考与启发。

研究以案例的核心设计主体为主要线索进行收集工作，以不同设计主体相对权威的世界排名榜单为主要参考依据，通过官方媒体平台等多元渠道检索相关的关键词，寻求符合要求的案例信息。案例库经过多轮筛选整理与更新迭代，目前包含600个智慧化公共空间设计案例。部分案例已在北京国际设计周专题网站（https://www.futurecities.org.cn/projects）对外开放共享。

The development of technology has had a profound impact on public spaces and their smart design. The study systematically collects smart public space design cases, constructs a structured case base, and explores the multi-dimensional rules and characteristics in this area to provide reference and inspiration for future smart public space design.

The study collects cases mainly based on the core design subject of the case, using different authoritative world ranking lists of design subjects as the main reference basis, and searches for relevant keywords through official media platforms and other diverse channels to seek case information that meets the requirements. The case base has undergone multiple rounds of screening, sorting, and updates. It currently contains 600 smart public space design cases. Some cases have been shared on the Beijing International Design Week website (https://www.futurecities.org.cn/projects).

[Objective] The transformation of urban landscape in the fourth industrial revolution is crucial under the impact of disruptive digital technologies. Thechanging public recreational demands require a mix of online and offline interactions and public-private collaboration. Urban landscape can be transformed with the integration of digital technologies, which adds an information dimension to the existing social and physical dimensions. The urban landscape driven by digital technology ushers in the development characteristics of “transforming from subjective design to objective response, from static display to dynamic interaction, and from real space to virtual-real symbiosis”. Designers need to use urban landscape as a platform to facilitate new forms of social interaction through digital technology. While the application of digital technology in urban landscape has been discussed, most discussions mainly focus on specific practice in landscape planning and design. In view of this, this research aims to propose a systematic approach to identifying the specific development characteristics and application scenarios of digital landscape technology and the practice path for merging digital landscape technology with landscape space design schemes.

[Methods] With a focus on urban landscape space directly related to the public’s daily life, this research sorts out relevant theoretical research and practical progress worldwide in combination with “digital landscape layer” project that serves as the basis for practical planning and design.

[Results] First, this research provides a systematic summary of digital landscape technologies, focusing on their functioning process of “sensory acquisition – analytical calculation – adjustment interaction”. Such technologies involve both physical and virtual landscape spaces and consider both physical elements and social humanity. Second, the research constructs the application scenarios of urban landscape driven by digital technology. Considering the differences in the forms of landscape spaces and elements and in the selection and application scenarios of digital landscape technologies, the research divides the application scenarios into “ physical landscape space intervention” and “virtual landscape place making”, which respectively focus on physical and virtual landscape spaces and elements, but both follow the technical functioning process of “sensory acquisition – analytical calculation – adjustment interaction”. The process of physical intervention involves analyzing the natural ecological conditions of landscape elements and the usage patterns of physical spaces, summarizing multi-source heterogeneous data, and analyzing and diagnosing the collected data through intelligent computing to identify objective laws or predict spatial changes. The ultimate aim is to obtain the best optimization strategy for physical landscape elements and spaces, and to implement targeted interactive adjustments to improve the quality of landscape elements and enhance the efficiency of space use. The application scenario of “ virtual landscape place making” emphasizes the use of digital landscape technology to create virtual landscape elements, giving birth to a new type of landscape space that seamlessly integrates reality and virtuality to meet the changing digital needs of the public. The making of virtual landscape place is based on the form of public participation in virtual landscape interaction and various technologies involved, which can be categorized into “virtual experience” with physical participation and “reality enhancement” through mobile participation. Third, the research proposes a practice path for digital landscape technology, which involves aggregating structured information for application of each technology, determining their application priority in the spatiotemporal dimension, and reducing the number of digital technologies through integration to minimize operational difficulty and spatial occupation. Therefore, a proposed practice path for the implementation of digital technologies is “information aggregation – priority screening – technology integration”. Finally, the research analyzes and summarizes the current challenges faced by the application and practice of digital landscape technology. For the costly implementation of some digital landscape technologies in practice, priority should be given to the application of existing basic technologies, the improvement of the compatibility of hardware and software in the implementation process, etc. For the low feasibility of large-scale application of some digital landscape technologies in practice, it is supposed to fully consider local needs, and screen and apply such technologies in combination with specific spatial attributes and temporal conditions. For the ignoring of the needs of special groups by some digital landscape facilities in practice, it is supposed to simplify the interactive process and improve the interface friendliness of such facilities.

[Conclusion] This research provides a systematic summary of the development characteristics of digital landscape technologies and their application scenarios for urban landscape space. It highlights the practice path for integrating such technologies with landscape space design schemes, and addresses the challenges faced. With the continuous advancement of technology, landscape design mechanisms are expected to shift towards data driving and active mining, design behavior will become more dynamic, and the creation of landscape spaces will integrate both reality and virtual reality. The implementation process of digital landscape technology will also become more precise, automatic and standardized through interdisciplinary cooperation and practice. Ultimately, these advancements will contribute to the creation of a more intelligent and humane urban landscape environment