1.7. Digital Tools in Urban Planning

But now, looking at the digital tools now, with the VR; the virtual reality so, one can see that now people are making the planning even by sitting at a desk, you know by the tools have been operational and how this particular city could be planned, the high way program could be planned, so that is where people are getting a different notion, anyone can become urban planners, how is it possible?

This chunk discusses how digital tools, particularly virtual reality (VR), are transforming urban planning. With VR technology, urban planners can create and visualize city designs from their desks without needing to physically visit the locations. This accessibility empowers more people to participate in urban planning.

Imagine trying to design your dream house. In the past, you would have to rely on blueprints and sketches. Now, with VR, you can walk through a 3D model of your house, experiencing how it feels to be in that space, adjusting things instantly. This is similar to how city planners can create virtual representations of entire neighborhoods.

You know this is; see, one has to understand the ground realities, the demographics of it, the sociology of it, the economics part of it, the infrastructural aspect, the procurement aspect so many other things, it is not just only from the virtual reality which one can look at it.

This chunk emphasizes that while digital tools like VR offer powerful planning capabilities, they must be used in conjunction with an understanding of real-world conditions. Urban planners must consider demographics, social dynamics, economic factors, and infrastructure when planning. VR can provide a visual understanding, but reality includes complexities that extend beyond visuals.

Think about planning a community park. While VR can show how the park will look, it’s essential to understand who lives nearby (demographics), what their needs are (sociology), how much budget you have (economics), and whether the necessary roads and utilities can support it (infrastructure).

There is many because the technology is moving. Earlier, it was all made with the hand tool technologies now, after some time they moved on to the machine tool technology and now, the condition have moved to the information tool technology so, it is focused more on the form generation.

This chunk highlights the evolution of technology in urban planning. It traces how tools have progressed from manual methods to machinery and now to software and information technologies. This shift allows for more complex designs and analyses, focusing heavily on the generation of forms and structures.

Consider how making a cake has changed over time. In the past, people mixed ingredients by hand and baked in simple pans (hand tools). Then came electric mixers and advanced ovens (machine tools), and now chefs use sophisticated baking software to predict cooking times and textures (information tool technology) when creating intricate cake designs.

And today, what we are dealing with the houses with the housing with the city development or whatever we are urban design, we are all doing with the same softwares, whether it is a peasant house, whether it is an industrialist house or it is only with the templates which we are getting from these software's we are trying to apply it but there is also how much a student is learning with these template, it is a big question.

This chunk mentions that urban planners and designers often rely on the same software to create designs for various types of buildings. While these templates simplify the design process, the question arises about how much understanding students gain when they only use templates without engaging with the unique aspects of every design context.

Using software templates in design can be compared to following a recipe strictly without understanding the cooking techniques. You might bake a cake perfectly, but you may miss the essential skills of adjusting flavors and learning to cook intuitively based on the ingredients you have.

--