A Landscape Simulation System Which Integrates Geographical Feature Data and the Building Data

Many researchers examine landscapes at the architectural scale. However, landscapes should be examined at different scales and we should include those elements in city development projects. This paper describes the results of a research project which aims at combining such data to create an image the landscape that comes close to reality. Oita City was divided into a grid of 250 meter * 250 meter. Each grid was divided into eight triangular polygons. The geographical features used include: (i) a three-dimensional image constructed by calculating the polygons altitude in relation to the altitude of the adjacent grid, (ii) the ground texture based on different land uses, (iii) coordinate values in the form of buildings in the city centre, (iv) the number of floors of buildings and patterns of elevation collected by field observation and classified into 12 patterns. The computer program was very successful in creating the desired realistic imag