Data visualisation the critical interpretation, representation, and communication of the urban image

This study is an opportunity to test the effectiveness of a method of critical reading for the redevelopment of the urban image. There are areas, which by their own nature display features of indeterminacy such as to require measures of interven- tion to enhance the resolution of flaws in the design. Among them we count those places, which, built during the development of the urban centers, show clearly the transition between the existing cores and the subsequent expansions. There are areas that represent, on a single level, the projec- tion of the stratification of different constructing realities; others that, because of the undefinedness of this process, express in themselves strong spatial tensions. An example of this is the area aside the town of Montero- tondo, which is configured as a single space on the edge of the old center and that has been consolidated over time becoming one of the main axes of the town. In this direction, we suggested a cognitive method cha- racterized by three subsequent but interrelated stages of processing: - A “cognitive moment,” consisting of the acquisition of metric data and its restitution. - A “evaluation moment”, implying that processing cri- tique of “cognitive moment” that directs and limits the range project choices. This moment, link between the objective assessment and the critical planning, represents a moment of synthesis, capable of expressing the level of knowledge acquired of a place by an inspecting subject. The easy access to the totality of information is essential for the conservation of it, as for the spreading of any cul- tural resource. - A “proactive moment”, which aiming to the formalization of guidances for the transformation of the reality itself, is the final conclusion of the whole methodological process. The fundamental target of the research was to get to an objective representation of the city or of part of it, trying to convey the result of the critical analysis in a clear and readable modality. The final result is the production of various 3D urban mo- dels, that are used to support all the possible measures in order to monitor and redevelop the city itself. The Attention has been focused on the development of analysis and consultation systems that enable the diffusion and sharing of digital representations of the city, either in the scientific and professional environment, or among the general pubblic.