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Population Estimation Using a 3D City Model: A Multi-Scale Country-Wide Study in the Netherlands

Author

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  • Filip Biljecki
  • Ken Arroyo Ohori
  • Hugo Ledoux
  • Ravi Peters
  • Jantien Stoter

Abstract

The remote estimation of a region’s population has for decades been a key application of geographic information science in demography. Most studies have used 2D data (maps, satellite imagery) to estimate population avoiding field surveys and questionnaires. As the availability of semantic 3D city models is constantly increasing, we investigate to what extent they can be used for the same purpose. Based on the assumption that housing space is a proxy for the number of its residents, we use two methods to estimate the population with 3D city models in two directions: (1) disaggregation (areal interpolation) to estimate the population of small administrative entities (e.g. neighbourhoods) from that of larger ones (e.g. municipalities); and (2) a statistical modelling approach to estimate the population of large entities from a sample composed of their smaller ones (e.g. one acquired by a government register). Starting from a complete Dutch census dataset at the neighbourhood level and a 3D model of all 9.9 million buildings in the Netherlands, we compare the population estimates obtained by both methods with the actual population as reported in the census, and use it to evaluate the quality that can be achieved by estimations at different administrative levels. We also analyse how the volume-based estimation enabled by 3D city models fares in comparison to 2D methods using building footprints and floor areas, as well as how it is affected by different levels of semantic detail in a 3D city model. We conclude that 3D city models are useful for estimations of large areas (e.g. for a country), and that the 3D approach has clear advantages over the 2D approach.

Suggested Citation

  • Filip Biljecki & Ken Arroyo Ohori & Hugo Ledoux & Ravi Peters & Jantien Stoter, 2016. "Population Estimation Using a 3D City Model: A Multi-Scale Country-Wide Study in the Netherlands," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(6), pages 1-22, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0156808
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0156808
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    1. Daniela Palacios-Lopez & Felix Bachofer & Thomas Esch & Wieke Heldens & Andreas Hirner & Mattia Marconcini & Alessandro Sorichetta & Julian Zeidler & Claudia Kuenzer & Stefan Dech & Andrew J. Tatem & , 2019. "New Perspectives for Mapping Global Population Distribution Using World Settlement Footprint Products," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-24, October.
    2. André Hartmann & Martin Behnisch & Robert Hecht & Gotthard Meinel, 2024. "Prediction of residential and non-residential building usage in Germany based on a novel nationwide reference data set," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 51(1), pages 216-233, January.
    3. Benedikt Schwab & Christof Beil & Thomas H. Kolbe, 2020. "Spatio-Semantic Road Space Modeling for Vehicle–Pedestrian Simulation to Test Automated Driving Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-25, May.
    4. Franz Schug & David Frantz & Sebastian van der Linden & Patrick Hostert, 2021. "Gridded population mapping for Germany based on building density, height and type from Earth Observation data using census disaggregation and bottom-up estimates," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(3), pages 1-23, March.
    5. Nannan Gao & Fen Li & Hui Zeng & Daniël van Bilsen & Martin De Jong, 2019. "Can More Accurate Night-Time Remote Sensing Data Simulate a More Detailed Population Distribution?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(16), pages 1-15, August.
    6. Brenner, Anna-Katharina & Haas, Willi & Krüger, Tobias & Matej, Sarah & Haberl, Helmut & Schug, Franz & Wiedenhofer, Dominik & Behnisch, Martin & Jaeger, Jochen A.G. & Pichler, Melanie, 2024. "What drives densification and sprawl in cities? A spatially explicit assessment for Vienna, between 1984 and 2018," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    7. Ming Zhong & Bilin Yu & Shaobo Liu & John Douglas Hunt & Huini Wang, 2018. "A method for estimating localised space-use pattern and its applications in integrated land-use transport modelling," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 55(16), pages 3708-3724, December.
    8. Yunfei Li & Diego Rybski & Jürgen P. Kropp, 2021. "Singularity cities," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 48(1), pages 43-59, January.
    9. Sebastian Eichhorn, 2020. "Disaggregating Population Data and Evaluating the Accuracy of Modeled High-Resolution Population Distribution—The Case Study of Germany," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-21, May.
    10. Guler, Dogus & Yomralioglu, Tahsin, 2021. "A reformative framework for processes from building permit issuing to property ownership in Turkey," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).

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