Digital Urban Planning Oriented Data Warehouse Constructing Supported by GIS*

Taking Greater Beijing Regional Planning as a Case

Tianhang HUANG* Anrong DANG, Haifan Cheng, Xia Peng, Zhanqiang ZHU
School of Architecture Tsinghua University Beijing, P.R.China *orresponding author: hth08@mails.tsinghua.edu.cn
AbstractA great large of mass data has to be dealt with in the process of digital urban planning. However, the data structures of the mass data which distribute in the different fields are different from each other, and it is very difficult for the urban planner to analyze and integrate the data. How to convert the data from the different fields into a unified format, to integrate and store the data together, and to analyze the data to assist the decision-making efficiently is a big issue which every urban planner faces. The data warehouse appeared some years ago, which is a subject-oriented, integrated, steady-going, and the historical data included data set. It can be used to support the process of decision-making. To integrate GIS, Data Warehouse, Cloud Computing, and other new information technology with the digital urban planning effectively is a very valuable research field. Taking Greater Beijing (which includes Beijing, Tianjin, and the north of Hebei province) regional planning as a case, the research achievements in both china and overseas were analyzed. This paper discusses how to construct the Greater Beijing data warehouse for the regional digital urban planning in order to support the decision-making effectively based on data mining. Microsoft SQL Server database management system, ArcGIS information center are used to be the platform to construct the data warehouse. A prototype of the data warehouse about Greater Beijing is built according to the population, the land-use in the process of Greater Beijing regional planning. It can integrate the data from the different fields, multi-dimensionally analyze the data stored in the data warehouse by On-Line Analysis Processing. And the prototype can find the useful knowledge by data mining based on the special professional model, support the decision-making of Greater Beijing urban planning. Based on the research of Greater Beijing data warehouse constructing process, and by comparing with the successful warehouse application, this research analyzes the characteristics and essential of the warehouse functions, and the influence on the decision-making of data mining. According to this research, it is clear that the digital urban planning system based on the data warehouse can improve the efficiency of data-using largely, achieve the maximum information-sharing, support the basis for decisionmaking, is better than the relational database management system in the field of integrating data and collecting the
*

feedback information, and can store the different models relating with the decision-making in the special fashion. It is a valid mode of the decision-making system. Keyword: Greater Beijing, Digital Urban Planning, GIS, Data Warehouse, Decision-making Support

I.

INTRODUCTION

The concept of Digital Urban Planning was born with the development of Digital City. Although the research of Digital City has been well studied abroad, for instance, Digital City of Amsterdam, Digital City Kyoto and so forth, the researching on Digital Urban Planning is relatively rare [1].The systems developed and implemented in the field of the urban planning are usually miss to the need of planning examination and flow management. Greater Beijing, including Beijing, Tianjin, and the north of Hebei province, serves as the national political, economical, cultural, information center of China, and is the largest urban agglomeration area as well as the most advanced economical core. A large amount of the problems occur in the processing of developing Greater Beijing, can be solved well with the help of information technology, especially Geographic Information System. Nevertheless, with the development of study on applying information technology to assist Digital Urban Planning of Greater Beijing, mass data needs to be deal with and the data structures from a wide variety of fields are usually different, both of which bring city planners many difficulties to analyze and integrate data. How to convert the data from different fields to the uniform standard according to a selected theme and to make correct analysis to support the regional planning of Greater Beijing is a Gordian knot which every city planner has to face.

This study was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of P.R.China (No.50678088) and National Project of Scientific and Technical Supporting Programs Funded by Ministry of Science & Technology of P.R.China (No.2006BAJ14B08)

collecting the feedback information, and can store the different models relating with the decision-making in the special fashion. It is a valid mode of the decision-making system. II. A. ANALYSIS OF DIGITAL URBAN PLANNING ORIENTED DATA WAREHOUSE CONSTRUCTING

Figure 1. Greater Beijing region

Technological Way of Constructing Data Warehouse The purpose of Data Warehouse is taking the information out from the database exactly, and converting it to the regular, then, supporting the manager to analyzing. For the purpose above, Microsoft SQL Server2005, and its Business Intelligence was used. Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 was used to design and developing Data Warehouse. ArcGIS, Microsoft Analysis Services were used to distill, convert and upload the data. The relational database of SQL Server 2005 was used to store the data. ArcGIS, Microsoft Excel 2007 were used to analyze and exhibit the user data. The communication technology was integrated to this platform to store and analyze the information from the different fields of the urban planning, support users the useful information after processed. B. Design of Constructing Data Warehouse The traditional database is a simple information database that only stores the data, but the design purpose of Data Warehouse is contrary completely. The purpose of traditional database is depositing the data into the database system rapidly, exactly, safely and reliably, while the purpose of Data Warehouse is taking out the information from the database accurately and reliably, which has been processed after converting into the information with regulation, then support the manager to analyze. C. Logical Design of Data Warehouse The logical framework design of Data Warehouse is divided into the transverse direction and lengthways logical design. The transverse logical design is designed according to the data constructing aspect, while the lengthways logical design is designed according to the logic of application system framework. (1) Transverse logical design:The data structure of digital urban planning includes the digital map mainly, integrates various spatial data and the attribute data, such as economy, society, population and so on, is used to describe the past, now and future of the city space appearance, is an information system including the complicated data structure. Based on the large-scale database information management system, Data Warehouse is a application system, which stores the comprehensive data obtained from the urban planning management business database, and supports users the useful information after processed. The logical design focuses on the customer usage and the system administration. The data of customer usage is divided into spatial geography data and business data. The data of system

In the middle of 1980's, Data Warehouse (DW)first appeared in Building Data Warehouse written by William.H.Inmon, who is called the father of Date Warehouse. However, there has not been an acknowledged and standard definition of Date Warehouse. Generally, it is defined as the system architecture, but not a software product or application. As the system architecture, Date Warehouse includes many products, each of which has some functions other than Data Warehouse operation [2]. With the development of Data Warehouse technique, a consensus has been gradually achieved as follows: Data Warehouse is a theme-oriented, compositive, renewable, the data set continually changing according to the time, can support the decision analysis of enterprises or organizations. Building Data Warehouse for Digital Urban Planning system has been hotspot in recent years, many planning departments has begun to study it. Digital Urban Planning is a complex system engineering. When it comes to how to implement Digital Urban Planning, there are a series of technical problems. As it requires the storage, integration, management, analysis of mass spatial data, and needs the spatial information system which enables analyzing and decision-making rather than simply operating and managing. The field that whether some new technologies, such as GIS, Data Warehouse, Cloud computing and so forth, can combine with Digital Urban Planning system effectively is worth studying. It is clear that the digital urban planning system based on GIS and Data Warehouse can improve the efficiency of data-using largely, achieve the maximum information-sharing, support the decision-making, is better than the relational database management system in the field of integrating data and

administration includes the customer personal information, system operating parameter and so on. (2) Lengthways logical design. The bottom to upward with feedback mode was used to design and develop this system. The new requirement and feedback of the customers is divided into two stages. The first stage, lately demand be constantly gathered the data for section by the feedback, the section gathers the data according to the demand variety of the customer's demand itself; the second stage, section data gathers the need variety feedback to the overall data warehouse, that overall date warehouse does again to correspond variety. Included data layer, management layer, service layer, apply layer and decision layer to the comprehension of digital city planning system frame currently. 1) Data layer: Setting up the database system of the urban planning information platform, completing production and exchanging of digital map, remote sensing, social economy, population and land-use and urban planning chart, digital document file etc., carrying out database saving and giving renewal in time. 2) Management layer: Setting up the urban planning information management, integrated and comprehensive platform. Understanding the position, content, quality, expression mode, space reference and management mode of the target information by metadata. Through the data format conversion, geo-reference system standardization, geospatial object model, Geocoding and other mechanisms and techniques to achieve the spatialization of the socioeconomic and the integration of multi-source heterogeneous spatial information. 3) Service layer: Setting up the urban planning business management, design-assisted and analysis decision-making service platform. In the open planning information sharing network system, support the visit, distribution and operation function the planning information basic service, including browsing, researching, space analyzing, model analyzing, space fixed position, work flow interpret and analyze etc., provide support to develop programming information service. 4) Application layer: Setting up the professional application system used for urban planning design and management. Customization and assembly the information and services oriented urban planning which the service layer provides. Such as the urban planning Automation Office system, integrative underground pipeline information system, the present condition survey information system and urban planning design support system etc.. 5) Decision layer: Based on the urban planning professional application system, developing the integrating different application, establishing Distributed collaborative computing and support-assisted environment to support the urban synthesize planning, and urban sustainable development.[3] D. Physical Design of Data Warehouse It is designed according to the system structure. Usually, the physical design of Data Warehouse is divided into two

kinds of methods: Centralized type and Distributed type. Centralized type means that in the whole system, just the data which is in the server node of the network is used, all customers could operate the data only by linking to server. "Distribute type" is that each node in the network has a data duplicate, all the data operation must carry on with the data duplicate, and exchange data with the data center periodically or occasional to acquire the latest data[4]. The system architecture of "distributed type" is in keeping well with the requirement of the fast-developing digital urban planning system. Its system structure is flexible, the data can be shared by the network, scalability is good, can consumedly raise the usage efficiency of the data required by the urban planning, can attain an maximum information share currently, in order to provide a basis for urban planning decision, there is great advantage in integration data, collections feedback information. But limited by the technique level in nowadays, its system structure is complicated, the system expense is large, data safety and confidentiality are more difficult to handle, and make the system suffer from hidden trouble which exist in the stability and the safety. But along with the rapidly computer correspondence technique level, the related problem should gradually get solution. This research is going on according to this premise. E. General Framework Design of Data Warehouse The general framework design of Data Warehouse includes: dimension model setting up, fact data table, aggregate table, dimension table, index, data preparative section, data extraction , database setting up, data cleaning and converting, data enclosing, information displaying, data distribution and so on. Dimension modeling builds the separate model according to the scattered business. In the snowflake model, one or more dimension tables are divided into several. And every table is connected to the root table, not to the relative dimension table of the fact data table. The fact data table includes the number (the fact). The number can be gathered to support the historical information of the particular department. Every fact data table includes one index constructed by the several parts. The index includes the primary key of the correlation dimension table as the foreign key. But the dimension table includes the feature of the fact record. Aggregation table includes the total information of the fact data table. While SQL is used as the search mechanism, these tables can be used to improve the search capability. The dimension table includes the feature of the fact record about describing the fact data. Some features support the description information, others are used to designate how to gather the fact data to support the analyzer useful information. In order to support the analyzing, cleaning, and converting of the data as the preparation to enclose the data into the database, the table and other objects of the database need to be established. The data is extracted at the beginning of building the Data Warehouse, and done

periodically in the processing of updating the Data Warehouse. In the processing of extracting the data from the resource system most of data converting can be completed. But before the data is enclosed into the Data Warehouse, some other tasks need to be completed. Some typical data converting includes: (1) assembling the several appellation field to be one. (2) Dividing the date field into the separate year, month, and day field. (3) Mapping the data from one representation to another. (4) Mapping the data from several representations to just one. (5) Setting up and operating the agent key of the dimension record.
Urban planning spatial information database Digital urban planning platform database Data Warehouse management tools Client operate & search

Relational database management system

Business database

Urban planning data and document

Data extraction& transform tools Urban planning multidimension database

Standard client server

Management database

Other data resource

Data modeling tools

OLAP

Figure 2. System Architecture of Digital Urban Planning Oriented Data Warehouse Constructing

F.

Organization of Inner data In the processing of constructing Greater Beijing digital urban planning, a large number of data has been gathered. The main is the basic data layer of the urban planning, includes the land-use, roads, water and so on. According to the time and the organizing, the data in the Data Warehouse of Greater Beijing digital urban planning system is divided into: early detail level, current detail level, lightly integrated level, highly integrated level. The data is organized by the Dimension table-Fact table model of the relational database. According to the purpose, the organization function of the data is separated as: (1) Simple accumulation document: accumulate and store the data distilled and processed from the database daily. (2) Rotation synthesis document: Data storage unit is divided into day, week, month and year, and several other grades. (3) Simplify direct file: the data snapshot of a certain time interval. (4) Continuous file: generate another direct file by two continuous simplify direct files.

the population, the land-use in the process of Greater Beijing regional planning. It can integrate the data from the different fields, multi-dimensionally analyze the data stored in the data warehouse by On-Line Analysis Processing. And the prototype can find the useful knowledge by data mining based on the special professional model, support the decision-making of Greater Beijing urban planning. Based on the research of Greater Beijing Data Warehouse constructing process, and by comparing with the successful warehouse application, this research analyzes the characteristics and essential of the warehouse functions, and the influence on the decision-making of data mining. According to this research, it is clear that the digital urban planning system based on the data warehouse can improve the efficiency of data-using largely, achieve the maximum information-sharing, support the basis for decision-making, is better than the relational database management system in the field of integrating data and collecting the feedback information, and can store the different models relating with the decision-making in the special fashion. It is a valid mode of the decision-making system. 2.4 Research on Data Mining and a relevant model Data Mining is a nontrivial process of obtaining efficient, original, potentially useful, ultimately understandable patterns from mass data, which is also called Knowledge Discovery in Database (KDD) in the database. It is also regarded as a fundamental step in knowledge discovery process (KDP). KDP consists of the following steps: (1) Data cleaning, (2) Data Integrating, (3) Selecting sample (4) Pretreatment (5) Transformation (6) Data Mining (7) Interpretation and evaluation (8) Knowledge Representation. Data Mining can interact with the users or Knowledge Base. Knowledge Discovery Process illustrates as follows [4]. Data View Viewdata

Database

Objective Data

Objective Data

Data Transform

Info Extraction

Useful Knowledge

Selected Sample

Preparative Disposal

Transform

Data Excavating

Explaining Evaluating

Figure 3. Knowledge Discovery of Database (refers to [6])

G. Advantages of Constructing the System Architecture by Data Warehouse In the processing of research, Oracle data management system, ArcGIS information center are used to be the platform to construct the data warehouse. A prototype of the data warehouse about Greater Beijing is built according to

Knowledge discovery is an indispensible part of Digital Urban Planning system. Without data mining, the data stored in Data Warehouse can not be converted into useful knowledge. As the rules and methods of data mining there are many different algorithms and models to choose from. This study chooses Rough Set Theory to discover knowledge for DUP platform. Its kernel theory is knowledge simplifying. That is, through the simplifying of knowledge

and the known knowledge database, imprecise or uncertain knowledge can be characterized by known knowledge in the knowledge database. III. SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK

A. Technical Difficulties in Constructing Data Warehouse for Digital Urban Planning While building a data warehouse for digital urban planning, there are many technical difficulties. A complete Data Warehouse system requires the computer and network communication technology as the support. However, many of the key technologies lagged far beyond expectation. For instance, Grid technology based on distributed processing is hardly applied in business due to the technical limitations, although the state and many companies has made huge investments in the research and development (the first national grid project HPCE which initiated in 1999, and the subsequent CNGrid). B. Innovation of Building Digital Urban Planning Oriented Data Warehouse The digital urban planning system which the urban planning office operate chiefly concerns on the data management or the startup and approval of planning projects. The emergence of decision-making support technique with Data Warehouse and data mining as the representative supports the new idea and way to do more profound information analysis for decision-makers. Oracle data management system, ArcGIS information center are used to be the platform to construct the data warehouse. A prototype of the data warehouse about Greater Beijing is built according to the population, the land-use in the process of Greater Beijing regional planning. It can integrate the data from the different fields, multi-dimensionally analyze the data stored in the data warehouse by On-Line Analysis Processing. And the prototype can find the useful knowledge by data mining based on the special professional model, support the decision-making of Greater Beijing urban planning. Based on the research of Greater Beijing data warehouse constructing process, and by comparing with the successful warehouse application, this research analyzes the characteristics and essential of the warehouse functions, and the influence on the decision-making of data mining. According to this research, it is clear that the digital urban planning system based on the data warehouse can improve the efficiency of data-using largely, achieve the maximum

information-sharing, support the basis for decision-making, is better than the relational database management system in the field of integrating data and collecting the feedback information, and can store the different models relating with the decision-making in the special fashion. It is a valid mode of the decision-making system. C. Perspective of Greater Beijing Area Digital Urban Planning Oriented Data Warehouse Comparing with Beijing Grid Management City Platform, City Component Management, Urban components management and some other new data organization models, if integrates Data Warehouse with 3S technology and artificial intelligence, it is possible to completely integrate and optimize the existing resources, and construct the intelligent group Decision-making Support System of Greater Beijing urban planning which can support the scientific decision-making efficiently in Big Beijing regional planning. With the development and application of Artificial Intelligence (eg, ANN, cloud computing, etc.) and network communication, it will make the research and development of Digital Urban Planning oriented Greater Beijing Data Warehouse a big progress. The related technical difficulties will be gradually improved and resolved in the near future. REFERENCES
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