Integrating virtual environment and GIS for 3D virtual city development and urban planning

The paper reviews virtual environment and GIS technologies available and suitable for virtual city development and urban planning, and focus on the form of 3D virtual city for representing realistic urban environment. The several fields are discussed in terms of their applicability to Web-based applications relating to the urban environment, interactive mapping and collaborative modelling, solid, geometric modelling, photospatial panoramic views, and multi-user virtual worlds. An approach integrating virtual environment and GIS to develop immersive 3d virtual cities is proposed and virtual planning applications are presented. The functionalities can achieve to practice, simulate, visualize and conceptualise issues which relate to a medium-large scale area of urban environments.