An interactive demo showing how a research tool could be used to evaluate future development scenarios in the Oxford-Cambridge Arc has been launched in a collaboration between the University of Oxford and Newcastle University.
Based on the ITRC’s Urban Development Model (UDM), the tool has been developed to specifically support development of the Spatial Framework for the Arc – as part of a project funded through the Alan Turing Institute, with researchers at the universities of Newcastle, Oxford and Leeds. It helps users get a more strategic overall picture so that they can better analyse and visualise the trade-offs necessary when planning new developments, allowing them to make more informed decisions.
The interactive demo uses pre-calculated results from the Urban Development Model and Natural Capital Mapping toolkit and is aimed at practitioners, local authorities, academics, and other Arc stakeholders. Users can select from natural and built environment filters at Arc, city, or neighbourhood scale to visualise the trade-offs necessary when planning new developments and to get a good sense of the value of the tools in practice.
