Has anybody here been using or trying to use SketchUp for urban planning? Especially for New Urbanism?
(I see a couple of threads dated in 2017. I will have a look at them, but they might not be general enough of discussions.)
Have you tried Mindsight Placemaker extension?
This is a general inquiry. (Urban planning is not part of my job. If there are those that I could learn from, then I may get to dabble in the future.)
The challenge with New Urbansim and 3D modeling is that a lot of what New Urbanism advocates for isn’t a specific design but more so Form Based Codes and/or Architectural Pattern Books. I haven’t seen anyone exclusively use SU for either but there’s no reason that can’t be done.
I think another issue with New Urbansim is that it tends to be what we’d call ‘Traditional’ in style - meaning Italianate or Victorian houses or townhomes look better has hand sketches or watercolors where emotion gets expressed as much as architectural design. The shiny perfection of computer generated renderings these days seems to me to be partnered with contemporary design, is boxy glass and steel buildings.
It’s been on my list for a long time to create SketchUp versions of both ‘missing middle’ housing and the ‘rural to urban’ transect’ associated with Smart Code. That way one could get a lot of millage out of both from a high-level stand point and zoom in for more detailed information (ie pattern book), etc. My two cents since you asked for it.
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