Urban planning and design software is used to plan urban layouts and design 3D models of urban environments. City planners and architects use urban planning and design software to conceptualize how their urban designs would look in the real world. By creating 3D visualizations, urban designers can enhance their urban planning proposals and design urban layouts that abide by city zoning rules. Urban planning and design software is often used by architects, city planners, or any creative department involved with designing the layout of an urban environment. Users can integrate GIS software into their urban planning and design software to automatically import structures that already exist in the real world. This saves users time and allows urban planners to build around the preexisting infrastructure of an urban environment.
To qualify for inclusion in the Urban Planning and Design category, a product must:
Facilitate designing urban environments in either a 3D or 2D environment
Import detailed 3D models from CAD, GIS, or web services
Provide users with the ability to collaborate and share design projects with other team members