Toward policy-informed 3D urban land-use simulations by leveraging urban planning regulations: Case studies in Zurich and Copenhagen

Urban Land-use Planning Regulations (ULPR) are key instruments for implementing urban planning policies. They shape the form and function of urban areas by defining zoning categories as well as building-form and building-function constraints. Their integration into 3D Urban Land-Use Simulation (ULUS) is therefore essential for producing realistic and policy-informed outputs. However, ULPR vary widely across municipalities and countries, and methods for their systematic integration into 3D ULUS remain limited. This study develops a conceptual framework to transform local ULPR into a standardized structure and enhance their applicability in 3D ULUS. The framework establishes a unified classification system for zoning categories and defines standardized building-form and building-function characteristics, specifying what is regulated and how these regulations are applied. Using policy instrument theory, the framework further systematizes approaches to formulating ULPR such as prescriptive, performance-based, or hybrid. Finally, it enables 3D simulations of urban land use governed by ULPR. To demonstrate its applicability, the framework was tested in two European cities, Zurich (Switzerland) and Copenhagen (Denmark), by converting their local ULPR into a standardized format and applying them in 3D ULUS. The results demonstrate that the standardization ensures consistency across jurisdictions and facilitates the integration of ULPR in 3D ULUS. The applications further highlight the framework’s adaptability across different regulatory systems, while also revealing challenges in aggregating detailed zoning categories and translating context-dependent ULPR into comparable characteristics. By providing a structured and adaptable framework, this study supports data interoperability and comparable studies, enabling more policy-relevant analyses of land-use changes.