From heuristics to data: A parcel-level representation of site planning layouts from multimodal urban evidence
Site-planning layouts are difficult to compare computationally because many planning-relevant relationships are understood through professional judgement, heuristic rules, and regulatory practice rather than directly measurable variables. This study develops the Site Planning Layout Indicators (SPLI), a parcel-level framework that translates selected site-planning concepts and multimodal urban evidence into structured spatial indicators. SPLI links building-level morphology and functional hierarchy with parcel-level spatial organization, functional diversity, accessibility conditions, and land-use intensity. A reproducible workflow harmonizes statutory land use, parcel and building geometry, points of interest, street networks, and building-function information; supplements incomplete building attributes through relational graph-based inference; and distinguishes observed, derived, inferred, and interpreted fields while retaining their provenance and processing status. The framework is applied across statutory land-use categories and planning subzones in Queenstown, Singapore. An evidence-first classification procedure, threshold perturbation tests, implementation in a second planning area, and independent professional blind coding are used to examine the reproducibility and interpretive limits of the spatial-organization rules. Comparative analyses identify contextual differences in several SPLI fields, most clearly in accessibility and development intensity. SPLI provides a traceable operational basis for storing, comparing, and revising selected products of planning reasoning without treating professional judgement as universal ground truth.
Authors
- Qian Cao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-2308-7800)
- Rudi Maria Frans Anne Stouffs (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4200-5833)
- Jielin Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0666-8725)
- Junchao Zhao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-2386-4541)
Institutions
- National University of Singapore (SG)
- Sichuan Provincial Architectural Design and Research Institute (China) (CN)
- The Cambridge Centre for Advanced Research and Education in Singapore (SG)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Computers Environment and Urban Systems
- Published
- 2026-09-28
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compenvurbsys.2026.102530
- Primary Topic
- Urban Design and Spatial Analysis
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00