Local software: Integrated design and geo-computing workflows for urban design

While architects and planners routinely rely on Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) and Computer Aided Design (CAD) tools, both types of tools are infrastructurally incompatible leading to cumbersome workarounds, lack of adoption in practice, and missed opportunities to incorporate the large-scale geographic insights of GIS with the building-scale precision of CAD into a seamless design process. Local Software (LS) inquires into how bringing together CAD and GIS tools and workflows can lead to more sustainable urban design proposals. The framework introduces Site Packages (SP), a cross-platform information model based on GeoJSON that enables seamless integration between design and analysis tools and a new design methodology that connects large scale modeling with small scale design decisions. LS provides a web interface and open-source plugins for Grasshopper and QGIS, that allow designers to parametrically generate networked urban interventions while evaluating their ecological and social impacts through GIS. Case studies have demonstrated that proposals created with the LS framework can replace 88–96 % of traditional stormwater systems at 50 % lower cost of underground work, while enhancing urban resilience, reducing heat island effects, and providing community benefits.