In this project, we propose a reinforcement-learning-based framework for assisting urban planners in the complex task of optimizing the spatial design of urban communities.
Our proposed model can generate land and road layout with superior spatial efficiency, and improve the productivity of human planners with a human-AI collaborative workflow.
This project was initially described in the research article in Nature Computational Science :
Yu Zheng, Yuming Lin, Liang Zhao, Tinghai Wu, Depeng Jin, Yong Li. Spatial planning of urban communities via deep reinforcement learning . Nat Comput Sci (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43588-023-00503-5
Full text (PDF) is available at this link .
Tested OS: LinuxPython >= 3.8
PyTorch >= 1.8.1, <= 1.13.0
Install PyTorch with the correct CUDA version.
Set the following environment variable to avoid problems with multiprocess trajectory sampling:
The data used for training and evaluation can be found in urban_planning/cfg/test_data .
We provide all the three scenarios used in our paper, including one synthetic grid community in urban_planning/cfg/test_data/synthetic , and two real-world communities, HLG and DHM, with and without planning concepts, in urban_planning/cfg/test_data/real .
The data for the real-world communities are collected from the widely used OpenStreetMap (OSM) using OSMnx .
For each case, we provide the following data:
init_plan.pickle: the initial conditions of the community in geopandas.GeoDataFrame form, including the initial land blocks, roads, and junctions.objectives.yaml: the planning objectives (requirements) of the community in yaml form, including the required number/area of different functionalities, and the minimum/maximum area of each land use type.
The figure below illustrates the initial conditions of the three scenarios.
With the initial conditions and planning objectives, the agent will generate millions of spatial plans for the community in real-time during training, which are stored in the replay buffer for training.
You can train your own models using the provided config in urban_planning/cfg/exp_cfg/real .
For example, to train a model for the HLG community, run:
python3 -m urban_planning.train --cfg hlg --global_seed 111
You can replace hlg to dhm to train for the DHM community.
To train a model with planning concepts for the HLG community, run:
python3 -m urban_planning.train --cfg hlg_concept --global_seed 111
You can replace hlg_concept to dhm_concept to train for the DHM community.
You will see the following logs once you start training our model:
running_code.mp4
You can visualize the generated spatial plans using the provided notebook in demo .
To evaluate the centralized heuristic, run:
python3 -m urban_planning.eval --cfg hlg --global_seed 111 --agent rule-centralized
To evaluate the decentralized heuristic, run:
python3 -m urban_planning.eval --cfg hlg --global_seed 111 --agent rule-decentralized
To evaluate the geometric set-coverage adapted baseline, run:
python3 -m urban_planning.eval --cfg hlg --global_seed 111 --agent gsca
To evaluate the GA baseline, run:
python3 -m urban_planning.train_ga --cfg hlg --global_seed 111
python3 -m urban_planning.eval --cfg hlg --global_seed 111 --agent ga
You can replace hlg to dhm to evaluate for the DHM community.
Please see the license for further details.
Awesome AI Planning Support Tools With urban planning being a long-standing problem, researchers have devoted decades of efforts to developing computational models and supporting tools for it in order to automate its process.
Automated spatial layout seemed impossible until much more recently with the latest advancements in artificial intelligence, especially deep reinforcement learning.
In fact, our proposed DRL approach is inspired by, and takes a small step forward from, the planning support tools that have been available for the past few decades.
Here, we summarize these existing awesome planning support tools that utilize AI to facilitate urban planning.
paper keywords venue year
Wang, D., Fu, Y., Wang, P., Huang, B., & Lu, C. T. (2020, November). Reimagining city configuration: Automated urban planning via adversarial learning. In Proceedings of the 28th international conference on advances in geographic information systems(pp. 497-506). land-use configuration, GAN
SIGSPATIAL
2020
Wang, D., Fu, Y., Liu, K., Chen, F., Wang, P., & Lu, C. T. (2023). Automated urban planning for reimagining city configuration via adversarial learning: quantification, generation, and evaluation.ACM Transactions on Spatial Algorithms and Systems,9(1), 1-24. land-use configuration, GAN
ACM Transactions on Spatial Algorithms and Systems
2023
Wang, D., Wu, L., Zhang, D., Zhou, J., Sun, L., & Fu, Y. (2023, June). Human-instructed Deep Hierarchical Generative Learning for Automated Urban Planning. In Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence (Vol. 37, No. 4, pp. 4660-4667). land-use configuration, Transformer
AAAI
2023
Yao, J., Murray, A. T., Wang, J., & Zhang, X. (2019). Evaluation and development of sustainable urban land use plans through spatial optimization.Transactions in GIS,23(4), 705-725. land use plan
Transactions in GIS
2019
Dahal, K. R., & Chow, T. E. (2014). A GIS toolset for automated partitioning of urban lands.Environmental Modelling & Software,55, 222-234. land use partition, ArcGIS toolset
Environmental Modelling & Software
2014
Ligmann‐Zielinska, A., Church, R. L., & Jankowski, P. (2008). Spatial optimization as a generative technique for sustainable multiobjective land‐use allocation. International Journal of Geographical Information Science, 22(6), 601-622. land-use allocation, optimization
International Journal of Geographical Information Science
2008
Xu, Y., Olmos, L. E., Abbar, S., & González, M. C. (2020). Deconstructing laws of accessibility and facility distribution in cities.Science advances,6(37), eabb4112. facility location, swap-based local search
Science Advances
2020
Merrell, P., Schkufza, E., & Koltun, V. (2010). Computer-generated residential building layouts. InACM SIGGRAPH Asia 2010 papers(pp. 1-12). building layout,Bayesian network
ACM SIGGRAPH Asia
2010
Liu, Y., Luo, Y., Deng, Q., & Zhou, X. (2021). Exploration of Campus Layout Based on Generative Adversarial Network: Discussing the Significance of Small Amount Sample Learning for Architecture. In Proceedings of the 2020 DigitalFUTURES: The 2nd International Conference on Computational Design and Robotic Fabrication (CDRF 2020) (pp. 169-178). Springer Singapore. campus layout, GAN
Digital Futures
2021
Tian, R. (2021). Suggestive site planning with conditional gan and urban gis data. In Proceedings of the 2020 DigitalFUTURES: The 2nd International Conference on Computational Design and Robotic Fabrication (CDRF 2020) (pp. 103-113). Springer Singapore. site planning, GAN
Digital Futures
2020
paper keywords venue year
Zheng, Y., Su, H., Ding, J., Jin, D., & Li, Y. (2023). Road Planning for Slums via Deep Reinforcement Learning. In Proceedings of the 29th ACM SIGKDD Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (pp. 5695–5706). road network generation, DRL
KDD
2023
Xue, J., Jiang, N., Liang, S., Pang, Q., Yabe, T., Ukkusuri, S. V., & Ma, J. (2022). Quantifying the spatial homogeneity of urban road networks via graph neural networks. Nature Machine Intelligence, 4(3), 246-257. road network analysis, GNN
Nature Machine Intelligence
2022
Fang, Z., Jin, Y., & Yang, T. (2022). Incorporating planning intelligence into deep learning: A planning support tool for street network design.Journal of Urban Technology,29(2), 99-114. street network generation, GAN
Journal of Urban Technology
2022
Fang, Z., Qi, J., Fan, L., Huang, J., Jin, Y., & Yang, T. (2022). A topography-aware approach to the automatic generation of urban road networks.International Journal of Geographical Information Science,36(10), 2035-2059. road network generation, GAN
International Journal of Geographical Information Science
2022
Li, J., Lyu, L., Shi, J., Zhao, J., Xu, J., Gao, J., ... & Sun, Z. (2022, November). Generating community road network from GPS trajectories via style transfer. In Proceedings of the 30th International Conference on Advances in Geographic Information Systems (pp. 1-4). road network generation, Style Transfer
SIGSPATIAL
2022
paper keywords venue year
Zheng, H., & Yuan, P. F. (2021). A generative architectural and urban design method through artificial neural networks. Building and Environment, 205, 108178. urban design, ANN
Building and Environment
2021
Sun, Y., & Dogan, T. (2023). Generative methods for Urban design and rapid solution space exploration.Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science,50(6), 1577-1590. urban design, tensor field
Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science
2023
Duering, S., Chronic, A., & Koenig, R. (2020, May). Optimizing Urban Systems: Integrated optimization of spatial configurations. In Proceedings of the 11th annual symposium on simulation for architecture and urban design (pp. 1-7). urban design, evolutionary optimization
SimAUD
2020
Han, Z., Yan, W., & Liu, G. (2021). A performance-based urban block generative design using deep reinforcement learning and computer vision. InProceedings of the 2020 DigitalFUTURES: The 2nd International Conference on Computational Design and Robotic Fabrication (CDRF 2020)(pp. 134-143). Springer Singapore. urban block design, deep RL, CV
Digital Futures
2020
Fedorova, S. (2021). Generative adversarial networks for urban block design. InSimAUD 2021: A Symposium on Simulation for Architecture and Urban Design. urban block design, GAN
SimAUD
2021
Koenig, R., Miao, Y., Aichinger, A., Knecht, K., & Konieva, K. (2020). Integrating urban analysis, generative design, and evolutionary optimization for solving urban design problems. Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, 47(6), 997-1013. urban master-design, evolutionary optimization
Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science
2019
Ye, X., Du, J., & Ye, Y. (2022). MasterplanGAN: Facilitating the smart rendering of urban master plans via generative adversarial networks.Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science,49(3), 794-814. urban master-design, GAN
Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science
2021
Hua, H., Hovestadt, L., Tang, P., & Li, B. (2019). Integer programming for urban design.European Journal of Operational Research,274(3), 1125-1137. urban design, integer programming
European Journal of Operational Research
2019
Hidalgo, C. A., Castañer, E., & Sevtsuk, A. (2020). The amenity mix of urban neighborhoods.Habitat International,106, 102205. urban design, amenities mix, clusters
Habitat International
2020
Shen, J., Liu, C., Ren, Y., & Zheng, H. (2020, August). Machine learning assisted urban filling. InProceedings of the 25th CAADRIA Conference, Bangkok, Thailand(pp. 5-6). urban filling, GAN
CAADRIA
2020
Galanos, T., Liapis, A., Yannakakis, G. N., & Koenig, R. (2021, July). ARCH-Elites: Quality-diversity for urban design. InProceedings of the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference Companion(pp. 313-314). urban design, MAP
GECCO
2021
Xu, X., Yin, C., Wang, W., Xu, N., Hong, T., & Li, Q. (2019). Revealing urban morphology and outdoor comfort through genetic algorithm-driven urban block design in dry and hot regions of China.Sustainability,11(13), 3683. urban block design, genetic algorithm
Sustainability
2019
paper keywords venue year
Vich, G., Gómez-Varo, I., & Marquet, O. (2023). Measuring the 15-Minute City in Barcelona. A geospatial three-method comparison. In Resilient and Sustainable Cities(pp. 39-60). Elsevier. 15-minute city
Resilient and Sustainable Cities
2023
Ferrer-Ortiz, C., Marquet, O., Mojica, L., & Vich, G. (2022). Barcelona under the 15-minute city lens: mapping the accessibility and proximity potential based on pedestrian travel times.Smart Cities,5(1), 146-161. 15-minute city, network analysis
Smart Cities
2022
Allam, Z., Nieuwenhuijsen, M., Chabaud, D., & Moreno, C. (2022). The 15-minute city offers a new framework for sustainability, liveability, and health.The Lancet Planetary Health,6(3), e181-e183. 15-minute city
The Lancet Planetary Health
2022
Allam, Z., Bibri, S. E., Chabaud, D., & Moreno, C. (2022). The ‘15-Minute City’concept can shape a net-zero urban future. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 9(1), 1-5. 15-minute city
Humanities and Social Sciences Communications
2022
Noworól, A., Kopyciński, P., Hałat, P., Salamon, J., & Hołuj, A. (2022). The 15-Minute City—The Geographical Proximity of Services in Krakow. Sustainability, 14(12), 7103. 15-minute city, network analysis
Sustainability
2022
Balletto, G., Ladu, M., Milesi, A., & Borruso, G. (2021). A methodological approach on disused public properties in the 15-minute city perspective.Sustainability,13(2), 593. 15-minute city
Sustainability
2021
Moreno, C., Allam, Z., Chabaud, D., Gall, C., & Pratlong, F. (2021). Introducing the “15-Minute City”: Sustainability, resilience and place identity in future post-pandemic cities. Smart Cities, 4(1), 93-111. 15-minute city
Smart Cities
2021
Weng, M., Ding, N., Li, J., Jin, X., Xiao, H., He, Z., & Su, S. (2019). The 15-minute walkable neighborhoods: Measurement, social inequalities and implications for building healthy communities in urban China. Journal of Transport & Health, 13, 259-273. 15-minute city
Journal of Transport & Health
2019
paper keywords venue year
Lin, B., Jabi, W., Corcoran, P., & Lannon, S. (2023). The application of deep generative models in urban form generation based on topology: a review. Architectural Science Review, 1-16. review, generative models, urban topology
Architectural Science Review
2023
Miao, Y., Koenig, R., & Knecht, K. (2020, May). The development of optimization methods in generative urban design: a review. InProceedings of the 11th Annual Symposium on Simulation for Architecture and Urban Design(pp. 1-8). review, generative urban design, optimization
SimAUD
2020
Wu, A. N., Stouffs, R., & Biljecki, F. (2022). Generative Adversarial Networks in the built environment: A comprehensive review of the application of GANs across data types and scales. Building and Environment, 109477. review, GAN, built environment
Building and Environment
2023
Matthews, R. B., Gilbert, N. G., Roach, A., Polhill, J. G., & Gotts, N. M. (2007). Agent-based land-use models: a review of applications.Landscape Ecology,22, 1447-1459. review, land-use modeling
Landscape Ecology
2007
paper keywords venue year
Quan, S. J. (2022). Urban-GAN: An artificial intelligence-aided computation system for plural urban design. Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, 49(9), 2500-2515. public participation, GAN
Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science
2022
Wang, X., Song, Y., & Tang, P. (2020). Generative urban design using shape grammar and block morphological analysis. Frontiers of Architectural Research, 9(4), 914-924. shape grammar, CityEngine
Frontiers of Architectural Research
2020
Rahimian, M., Beirão, J. N., Duarte, J. M. P., & Iulo, L. D. (2019). A Grammar-Based Generative Urban Design Tool Considering Topographic Constraints The Case for American Urban Planning. In37th Conference on Education and Research in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe and 23rd Conference of the Iberoamerican Society Digital Graphics, eCAADe SIGraDi 2019(pp. 267-276). Education and research in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe. shape grammar,topological constraint
eCAADe SIGraDi
2019
Huang, C., Zhang, G., Yao, J., Wang, X., Calautit, J. K., Zhao, C., ... & Peng, X. (2022). Accelerated environmental performance-driven urban design with generative adversarial network.Building and Environment,224, 109575. environmental performance, GAN
Building and Environment
2022
Sun, C., Zhou, Y., & Han, Y. (2022). Automatic generation of architecture facade for historical urban renovation using generative adversarial network.Building and Environment,212, 108781. historical urban renovation, GAN
Building and Environment
2022
Ligmann-Zielinska, A., & Jankowski, P. (2007). Agent-based models as laboratories for spatially explicit planning policies. Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design, 34(2), 316-335. urban growth, ABM
Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science
2007
Zhang, W., Ma, Y., Zhu, D., Dong, L., & Liu, Y. (2022, August). Metrogan: Simulating urban morphology with generative adversarial network. In Proceedings of the 28th ACM SIGKDD Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (pp. 2482-2492). urban morphology, GAN
KDD
2022
Jia, P., Fu, S., Li, Z., & He, H. (2019, December). Low-carbon optimization of spatial pattern in Shenfu New District based on genetic algorithm. In Journal of Physics: Conference Series (Vol. 1419, No. 1, p. 012039). IOP Publishing. spatial pattern, genetic algorithm, low-carbon
Journal of Physics: Conference Series
2019
Balling, R. J., Taber, J. T., Brown, M. R., & Day, K. (1999). Multiobjective urban planning using genetic algorithm.Journal of urban planning and development,125(2), 86-99. urban planning, genetic algorithm
Journal of Urban Planning and Development
1999
