Sensory Spatial Systems Simulation (S4) Applied to the Master Planning Process: East Coast and West Coast Case Studies

Historically, the approach to community planning and the preparation of a master plan has involved a two-dimensional visual ‘land-use’ methodology. Typically, land has been treated as a surface two-dimensional plane. This traditional approach is inadequate for preparing creative solutions for existing urban problems or more importantly for strategically planning and positioning a community for the 21st century. A more visionary approach involves sensory spatial systems simulation (S 4 ) which examines a community three-dimensionally from a spatial perspective, incorporating all five senses, and simulating potential planning solutions by using multimedia technology including visualization, geographic information systems, and computer-aided design. This (S 4 ) approach is being applied for the development of an intermodal transportation planning vertical flight demonstration for the 1996 Summer Olympics to be held in Atlanta, Georgia, and for upgrading the more conventional approach to military master planning with Fort Lewis, Washington, as a 21st-century model. One research initiative is underway for the Federal Aviation Administration to develop an S 4 blueprint for the Olympics which could have applicability into the next century, by developing a comprehensive intermodal plan including vertistops and vertiports. A second research project has been initiated with the US Department of the Army to develop a three-dimensional master plan, using S 4 principles, for Fort Lewis, Washington, including joint use, multiple use, and adaptive use of space, three-dimensionally.