The effect of visualisation on the resource consent process: a case study in Christchurch City

Abstract

Visualisations are becoming increasingly prevalent with the growth in use and capabilities of technology. Currently visualisations can be included in the resource consent process but are without guidelines on their use. This exacerbates the tension between the potential of visualisations to inform and mislead decision-makers. The role of visualisation in environmental policy and resource consent processes may be significant areas in which this tension is apparent. Such issues were explored predominantly in the early 2000s, but the improvement in visualisations since then to create hyper-real physical renderings of space, as well as increased accessibility of visual software, may have increased the risk that they are, in fact, misleading planners who have to make decisions on the significance or other aspects of projects. This research explores and assesses how visualisations are created by architects and then interpreted by planners through a literature review and interviews within Christchurch City.