A Model of Building Changes to Support Comparative Studies and Open Discussions on Densification

Densification is a widely used concept, but there is a lack of terminology and tools to facilitate discussions among data scientists, policy makers and citizens. This paper proposes a model of building changes based on building surveys undertaken in past decades to connect discussions about densification with shared evidence. A specific challenge is to process buildings in city regions and areas in a replicable way across different building data sources. Another challenge is to manage the quality of the representation, i.e., how well the maps represent changes to buildings and how well they can support discussions of densification. Building data and real buildings are different things that sometimes change in an independent way. Addressing these factors requires different forms of expertise, i.e., expertise about the realities depicted in the areas studied, about local data sources, and about advanced matching tools and state-of-the-art densification concepts. We present a collaborative dashboard through which to engage corresponding experts in the production of building change maps and the clarification of related concepts.