Evolutionary multi-criteria optimization for building layout planning: Exemplary application based on the PSSA framework

When working on urban planning projects there are usually multiple aspects to consider. Often these aspects are contradictory and it is not possible to choose one over the other; instead, they each need to be fulfilled as well as possible. Planners typically draw on past experience when subjectively prioritising which aspects to consider with which degree of importance for their planning concepts. This practice, although understandable, places power and authority in the hands of people who have varying degrees of expertise, which means that the best possible solution is not always found, because it is either not sought or the problem is regarded as being too complex for human capabilities. To improve this situation, the project presented here shows the potential of multi-criteria optimisation algorithms using the example of a new housing layout for an urban block. In addition it is shown, how Self-Organizing-Maps can be used to visualise multi-dimensional solution spaces in an easy analysable and comprehensible form.