Architecture and design pioneers have long thought about automating the creation of urban environments, writes an article in the online business magazine Raconteur. Now, technology is catching up with their ideas. A shift into artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted design, the article says, has “implications that could radically transform the form, feel and function of the places we inhabit”.
Raconteur cites examples of tools including Delve, owned by Google subsidiary Sidewalk Labs, and SpaceMaker, which was recently acquired by computer-aided design specialists Autodesk. These tools allow users to explore variables such as noise levels, temperature or window views, and then generate design options.
Additional benefits of AI-based city design include removing time-consuming manual labour, which allows designers and planners to focus on creativity, according to the article. AI-assisted tools also allow planners to easily explore hundreds, if not thousands, of options. Equally, they enable developers to analyse, calculate and map predicted temperatures to avoid creating urban heat islands and create cooler conditions.
However, the ways in which AI-assisted design will shape our cities remain unclear, says the article. It quotes Michele Pelino, principal analyst at Forrester Research, as saying that “although future-looking cities like Singapore had experimented with digital twin technology – where virtual copies are made of existing places and are then subject to computer simulations – applied generative design is new terrain and how it will shape our buildings and cities is yet to be determined”.
The article concludes by noting that given the efficiency gains, AI-assisted design “will play an increasingly important role in future planning, developing and building”.
