From disparate 2D data to a single 3D foundation: how Rotterdam tackles its urban challenges
- Future Insight
- Jul 27
- 9 min read
The challenges facing cities are becoming more complex by the day. Heat stress, the energy transition, increasing congestion underground: traditional 2D maps simply fall short for these types of issues. Christian Veldhuis, 3D and Digital Twins Advisor at the Municipality of Rotterdam, explains how the city is laying the foundation for the smart city of tomorrow with a high-quality 3D city model and an Open Urban Platform.
It starts with a vision: From technology to adoption
A successful digital transformation does not start with the software, but with a clear long-term vision. In Rotterdam, the vision of Roland van der Heijden ( Chief Citiverse Officer) serves as the guiding principle. He brought the overarching narrative to the departments and provided the concepts, after which the Veldhuis team followed with the practical implementation and the tooling for these challenges.
According to Veldhuis, that interplay between vision and technology is essential to get colleagues and departments on board: "In the beginning, it is literally missionary work: talking to people and showing examples. The trick is to understand the technical side of the 3D city model, but also the colleague you are talking to. What is their problem? What gets someone excited?"
To truly succeed, the time must be ripe for change. People need to experience sufficient “pain.” The questions they have, the challenges they face, have become too complex to solve with existing techniques. Work processes are becoming increasingly branched. As a result, you can no longer process them in a silo, communicate analogously, or stash data away in separate, personal folders. You need a shared three-dimensional environment where data and people from different fields and disciplines come together. An environment where information is visualized in context, enabling people to truly collaborate.
When Christian and his team are subsequently brought in to give practical form to this vision, they adopt a very pragmatic approach. Veldhuis explains: "For us, it always starts with 'Show & Tell'. We create small Proof of Concepts (PoCs) that demonstrate the potential, without immediately fixing them completely. That gives the colleague room to provide input."
Clearly.3D City: The foundation for urban analysis and imaging
The societal challenges and solutions facing municipalities today are rapidly becoming more complex. Issues surrounding climate adaptation, the energy transition, and intensive land use require a complete picture of reality. Christian Veldhuis explains why the basic registers must evolve accordingly: "They require high-quality and comprehensive data, both above and below ground. The existing 2D registers simply fall short in this regard; they do not provide a complete picture of reality." Therefore, to make smart strategic decisions, you need a complete and intelligent view of the reality.
The traditional 2D plan of an intersection. The intersection in the 3D City Model The same location in a photorealistic 3D environment.) Insight into underground cables and pipes
A high-quality 3D city model ( Clearly.3D City ) forms the fundamental basis for reliable urban analysis and visualization. By processing data from the BGT, BAG, and BOR into 3D and combining them with the Core Registration of the Subsurface in a 3D environment, a smart digital representation of the city is created. Veldhuis outlines the ambition: "We therefore aim for a current and accurate 3D version of Rotterdam in which all geo-information is given a place. The 3D BGT is an important addition in this regard: it transforms an elevation model into a smart terrain model." This comprehensive foundation, in which the individual datasets are merged, is essential for diverse urban challenges such as area development, housing construction and urbanization, energy transition, climate adaptation, greening, and sustainability.
Fundamentally, Rotterdam observes that displaying data in a 3D environment yields significantly more insight than the same data on a flat map. Veldhuis: "I actually notice this in every pilot and development we are currently working on." The model is now proving its value in a wide range of complex analyses:
The WAT Map (Energy Transition): Rotterdam is already making real use of the model for the WAT Map . This map shows which alternative to natural gas is the best solution for existing buildings.
The WAT Map in Planspace: immediate insight into natural gas-free alternatives at the district, neighborhood, and building levels. Insight into the subsurface: At the spatial development department, they regularly use the 3D city model. Veldhuis: "They look at the impact that new designs and developments have, specifically when searching for space underground. You don't see that when you walk around outside, after all. You need other tools to see where, for example, there is still room to place an underground container."
What impact will a new footbridge have on the surrounding area? To assess this, the above-ground designs are superimposed directly onto the existing underground infrastructure. Heat stress (Climate adaptation) : To calculate heat stress, it is essential to map the physical city. Veldhuis explains: "Calculating heat stress requires 3D data, such as buildings, trees, and material usage. You need this data to perform shade analyses."
Shade analysis is used as part of the calculation of heat stress. Flooding during extreme downpours (Climate Adaptation) : "What is the effect of a heavy rain shower? Where does the water collect, or where does it not? Does it drain neatly into the sewer or do deep puddles form? You need 3D data for these kinds of questions. To do this, you need to know where the manholes and the sewer system are located, what their capacity is, and where the water flows (i.e., how the terrain model runs). The surface material is also important: water in a lawn sinks away, but not on a paved road."
The results of a water analysis are immediately visualized in Unreal: advanced software that transforms designs into an interactive and lifelike 3D environment.
Clearly.Hub: The foundation enriched with various external data sources
You can already imagine: many of these diverse analyses use the same data, but often run in their own closed systems. When each discipline sets up its own application and database, an enormous proliferation of data arises behind the scenes. The real transformation therefore takes place when you connect the 3D foundation to an Open Urban Platform (OUP), the Clearly.Hub.
Veldhuis explains where the real strength of this platform lies: "The added value lies primarily in solving a growing management problem. Currently, you often still see a one-to-one relationship between data and a specific application. As the number of datasets and applications grows, the number of connections increases exponentially. At some point, that becomes unmanageable. That is why we want to offer those datasets once in the Open Urban Platform (OUP) and have the applications connect to them. The OUP acts as the central hub here."
Thanks to this structure based on international open standards, data no longer needs to be copied or converted to communicate with each other. Veldhuis explains the benefits of this central source approach: "Within the Open Urban Platform, this data is registered and made searchable based on international open standards, so that everyone can easily use it. Incidentally, this applies not only to 3D data, but also to 2D and BIM data. The major advantage is that, according to the FAIR principle, the data remains at the source." As a result, data can actually reinforce each other. "You can have your source data retrieved and analyzed by a specific application, and then return the results to the platform as a new, enriched source."
According to Veldhuis, managing your data in an Open Urban Platform yields, among other things, two enormous operational benefits:
Always up-to-date: "Because you have access to the source information, you can always see the most current status, and as a user, I always have the most recent version from the provider."
Complete data control: "As a provider, you retain control over who has access to your data. As soon as you email a file, you lose control as the data owner or source holder." Thanks to the OUP, the municipality can immediately revoke authorization after the completion of a project with, for example, an external contractor.
Moreover, the platform is designed to completely unburden the end user when starting a specific analysis. Veldhuis concludes: "Another major advantage is that you can prepare a bundle of datasets for specific applications. A user therefore no longer has to search for the right data themselves; the complete, relevant bundle is loaded with a single click. You set it up once and can then reuse it endlessly."
Why Rotterdam chose Future Insight
Veldhuis explains the choice of supplier: "The solution from VCS, for which Future Insight is the reseller in the Netherlands, is based on the open CityGML standard. For us, this is the only path that is scalable and sufficiently maintainable in the long term. Thanks to the underlying open CityGML database, we can keep the data structurally up-to-date and seamlessly link it to our own work processes."
In doing so, he emphasizes the importance of a managed database, in which processes regarding data access, authorization, and the ability to ask questions about the data are tightly regulated. Veldhuis: “A managed database is an absolute requirement. Only then is 3D data truly usable for other departments and stakeholders. When you have a database that is not managed, you see that data is collected anew time and again. After all, people do not know the quality or currency. The consequence is that they fall back on traditional 2D data, or even start collecting their own data.”
Moreover, this specific software solution aligns seamlessly with the municipality's broader IT vision. Veldhuis explains: " What makes the solution from Future Insight and VCS unique is the shell they have built around this data standard and the 3D CityDB. This handles matters such as database import and updates, and makes the data immediately available as OGC 3D Tiles. In theory, we could build this ourselves, but that requires very specific knowledge and skills. By working with them, we are completely unburdened in this regard. This approach fits perfectly within our cloud strategy."
Veldhuis concludes regarding the partnership: "In addition, the expertise was decisive: together with VCS, they are the globally leading experts actively helping to build these standards. Communication lines are short and the approach is personal."
Tips for getting started: Practical steps for other municipalities
For municipalities considering a 3D city model or an open urban platform, Veldhuis's message is clear: " A great deal has already been researched and there are many lessons learned. There is already a lot available to get started. The technology is there, and there are countless national datasets available as open standards that you can draw from. You don't have to reinvent the wheel."
To take action today, he shares a concrete step-by-step plan:
Look beyond the municipal boundaries: Visit another organization. "For example, go and take a look at another municipality. Start a conversation with fellow municipalities about how they handled it, which suppliers they have had good experiences with, and what they use it for. That way, you won't immediately have smooth-talking salespeople knocking on your door."
Demonstrate and focus on the pain: Quickly build a small Proof of Concept for your own municipality to convince decision-makers. Then focus on the place where you can make the biggest impact. "Afterwards, look at and think about where you can make the biggest impact: what gives you the most energy, or where is the biggest problem that this could solve?"
Use what is already available: Just get started: "You can start today with a 3D city model or Digital Twin of your own municipality. This is possible, among other things, thanks to the work of the Kadaster, which provides the 3D BAG as open data and in an open standard. Additionally, there is national elevation data from Het Waterschapshuis (Actueel Hoogtebestand Nederland), and you have your own management data for your municipality." Should that own data still be flat, according to him, that is not a barrier: "Every municipality has management data. It might still be in 2D and needs to be converted to 3D, but that is not the biggest problem. There are already sufficient solutions for that. Drop by a colleague with a handy GIS or file manager. They can often provide excellent guidance on taking the very first steps. And otherwise, there are companies that can help you with that."
Conclusion: The city continues to change
The transformation into a data-driven smart city is not a one-off project, but an ongoing journey. With a solid 3D foundation and a platform based on open standards, Rotterdam is ready for the future. For, as Veldhuis aptly summarizes: "We are nowhere near there yet. We have barely touched the tip of the iceberg in terms of potential, let alone the opportunities we still see lying beneath the surface. We are not finished; in fact, we are never finished. The city continues to change, and to assess the impact of those changes, a 3D platform is necessary.”
Would you like more information about how Clearly.3D City and the Clearly.Hub form the basis for data-driven urban development? Contact our team for a no-obligation consultation. Rick Klooster: | ✉️ [email protected] | 📞 +31 (0)6 - 46 90 97 79
