3D GIS Semi-automatized Modelling Procedure for the Conservation of the PHiM: Heritage Municipal Buildings of Seville (Spain). A New Dimension for Urban Cultural Data Management

Abstract

This research explores the possibilities resulting from the use of three-dimensional (3D) models designed in GIS environments for their application to the management and conservation of historical architectonic heritage. This 3D modelling work is one of the strategic actions of the recently finished Master Plan for Conservation of Heritage Municipal Buildings (PD-PHiM) for the City of Seville (Spain). This plan deals with the analysis of a group of 115 municipally owned buildings of high heritage interest that include different typologies, chronologies scales, and uses. This investigation has complemented and continued the initial work begun by the Seville Spatial Data Infrastructure (ide.SEVILLA) in the field of 3D mapping of urban environments and its publication as institutional open data. The implemented improvements started on an initial diagnosis of a preliminary urban model, which reached a level of detail (LOD) of 2, as defined by the CityGML standard, in only 20% of the registered assets in the PD-PHiM database. The proposed methodology has achieved the automation of most of the process of building 3D geo-referenced models to increase the percentage of assets that reach the LOD2 to 75%. The initial information comes from the use of institutional spatial data of different types and sources: Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), Spanish Cadastre Office, and so on. Additionally, the generated entities have been linked to a complex, multidisciplinary and multiscale database, designed within the framework of the strategic actions of the PD-PHiM. The contributions of the proposal, especially in the automation of processes, imply a considerable saving of resources in comparison with other methods in which the modelling is eminently carried out manually. Thus, they are complementary to those that are related to the use of 3D modelling software intended for other purposes, with the consequent incompatibilities and hard interoperability procedures with GIS environments that this implies.