Using QCity

User Interface

The QCity panel is separated into 4 vertical tabs:

1. Project areas - digitizing project areas and configuring settings for each project area.
2. Development sites - digitizing development sites and setting automatic or manual calculation of development statistics.
3. Building levels - digitizing building levels and setting floor level composition.
4. Statistics - viewing statistics for each project area and exporting statistics to csv files.

Project Areas

QCity uses GeoPackages to store layer files. GeoPackage is an open, standards-based, platform independent and portable format for geospatial information. GeoPackages are a file format that act as a container for multiple spatial layers to be stored inside. For more information on GeoPackage, see the GeoPackage Website (opens new window).

When first opening QCity, there are two options available:

1. New QCity Package.
2. Load QCity Package.

Clicking on New QCity Package will open the native save dialog from the operating system. Browse to the location where you would like to save the QCity data, name the QCity GeoPackage and click Save.

Clicking on Load QCity Package will open the native open dialog from the operating system. Browse to the location of an existing QCity GeoPackage and click Open.

Data Structure

When a new QCity GeoPackage is created, three layers are automatically created. These layers are:

1. Building Levels.
2. Development Sites.
3. Project Areas.

These layers have relationships preconfigured so that the development sites layer can aggregate data from the building levels layer and the project area layer can aggregate data from the development sites.

Base Layers

The project tab in QCity includes an Add base layers dropdown menu situated below the Load QCity Package button. Once configured, this Add base layers dropdown allows you to quickly add spatial data to your QGIS project. In order to populate this menu a QGIS project is required to be configured in a folder for each menu entry.

Each entry in the Add base layers dropdown corresponds to a separate QGIS project in the base layers folder. It is advised to store the QGIS projects and spatial data in a central location with adequate privileges to allow multiple users to access the base layers.

Note: The creation of the QGIS projects and folder in a central location will need to be completed by a person with adequate permissions such as a GIS analyst.

Once the QGIS projects are created with the spatial data, you need to point QCity to the locaton of the folder. To do this left click on Settings and then left click on Options in the menu.

Left click on Advanced in the left hand panel. Disable the check box Use new settings tree widget (some settings will be missing) by left clicking on the checkbox. Then left click on I will be careful, I promise!.

Scroll down to plugins and expand the list by left clicking on the triangle to the left of the plugins entry. Expand the qcity entry by left clicking on the triangle to the left of the qcity entry. Add the full path to the folder which contains the QGIS base layers projects.

Left click on Ok and restart QGIS. Once QGIS is restarted the Add base layers dropdown will be populated.

Should the base layers folder not be accessible, QCity will continue to load, however no base layers will be visible in the drop down list until the the base layers folder is accessible and QGIS is restarted.

Left click on the base layer you want to add to your project and then left click on the Load selected base layers button to the right hand side of the Add base layers dropdown. This will then add the layers configured in the QGIS project in the base layers folder to your project.

For system admininstrators, the base layers configuration can be automated (e.g. for use in QGIS deployment scripts) via a Python command: QgsSettings().setValue('plugins/qcity/base_project_folder', 'c:/path/to/project/folder')

Project Settings

Each project area has the following settings that can be configured:

1. Dwellings
2. Car Parking
3. Bike Parking

The dwelling sizes and parking ratios configured in the project settings will apply to all developments linked to that project area. These settings can be changed at any time by simply changing the values in each section. Changing these settings will recalculate the dwelling and parking statistics for that project area.

Creating A Project Area

To create a new project area, left click on the green + button on the right hand side of the project areas panel.

Then left click on the map area to start creating a polygon. Keep left clicking to create more points in the polygon and then right click to finish digitizing the polygon.

Once digitizing the polygon has been completed, a window will appear requiring a project area name to be provided.

Deleting a Project Area

A project area can be deleted by left clicking on the project area in the Project Setup panel and left clicking on the red minus button on the right hand side of the project areas panel.

Caution: Deleting a project area will also delete any associated development sites and building levels.

Renaming a Project Area

A project area can be renamed by left clicking on the project area in the Project Setup panel and left clicking on the pencil and paper button on the right hand side of the project areas panel.

A new window will open which will allow you to rename the project area.

Should a name already be used, QCity will warn you that the name already exists and will not allow you to reuse it.

Filtering Project Areas

The project area list can be filtered using the text field located on top of the project area list.

The project area list can also be filtered using the Filter by map canvas button with the appearance of a funnel on top of the project area list. Using this filter option will filter the project area list to only the project areas visible in the current map view. The Filter by map canvas and text filter can be used together.

The selected project area will always be visible in the project area list even if it does not match the text filter or Filter by map canvas. If the currently selected project area does not match the text filter or Filter by map canvas, the string "(selected)" will be appended to the name in the list to indicate that the project area is currently selected and shown in the list even if it doesn't match the applied filters.

Development Sites

Each development site has the following settings that can be configured:

1. General Details
2. Development Statistics
3. Car Parking Statistics
4. Bike Parking Statistics

Relation to Project Area

The Development Sites tab includes the name of the project area which it is associated with under the development sites heading. This provides you with an indication which project area you are creating the development site within.

Should you digitize a development site outside of the project area boundary, QCity will present a warning that the development site is outside of the spatial extent of the project area.

The development site is linked to the project area that is selected in the projects tab. When working with multiple project areas, always ensure you check the header of the development sites tab to see which project area it is associated with.

Creating a Development Site

To create a new development site, left click on the green + button on the right hand side of the development sites panel.

Then left click on the map area to start creating a polygon. Keep left clicking to create more points in the polygon and then right click to finish digitizing the polygon.

Once digitizing the polygon has been completed, a window will appear requiring a development site name to be provided.

Creating a Development Site - Snapping

When creating new development sites, often the boundaries correspond to existing cadastral boundaries. In order to digitize a development site to the boundaries of cadastral lots or other features, snapping needs to be enabled.

Snapping options are available in the QGIS Snapping toolbar.

If the Snapping toolbar is not visible, left click on View, hover the cursor over Toolbars and left click on Snapping Toolbar to enable the Snapping Toolbar.

To enable snapping, left click on the Enable Snapping button on the Snapping Toolbar which appears as a red magnet.

To enable snapping to a specific layer, left click on the snapping options dropdown icon situated to the right of the Enable Snapping button. Left click on the Advanced Configuration.

Once the Snapping toolbar is set to advanced configuration, left click on the Edit Advanced Configuration button which appears as an eye icon. Left click on the checkbox next to the layer you would like to snap to and from the Type dropdown, select whether you would like to snap to vertices, segments etc.

Once snapping has been enabled, when created a new development site, you will see a purple indicator on the map canvas to snap to the desired features.

For more information on using snapping within QGIS, please see the QGIS documentation (opens new window).

Deleting a Development Site

A development site can be deleted by selecting the development site you want to delete in the development sites panel and left clicking on the red minus button on the right hand side of the development sites panel.

Caution: Deleting a development site will also delete any associated building levels.

Renaming a Development Site

A development site can be renamed by selecting the development site you want to rename in the development sites panel and left clicking on the pencil and paper button on the right hand side of the development sites panel.

A new window will open which will allow you to rename the development site.

Should a name already be used, QCity will warn you that the name already exists and will not allow you to reuse it.

Filtering Development Sites

The development sites list can be filtered using the text field located on top of the development sites list.

The development sites list can also be filtered using the Filter by map canvas button with the appearance of a funnel on top of the development sites list. Using this filter option will filter the development sites list to only the development sites visible in the current map view. The Filter by map canvas and text filter can be used together.

The selected development site will always be visible in the development sites list even if it does not match the text filter or Filter by map canvas. If the currently selected development site does not match the text filter or Filter by map canvas, the string "(selected)" will be appended to the name in the list to indicate that the development site is currently selected and shown in the list even if it doesn't match the applied filters.

General Details

The general details section of the developent sites tab allows you to input the following:

1. Location (Address)
2. Status - Drop down list including:
   1. Constructed for modeling of development sites already constructed
   2. Proposed for development sites where an approval has been issued but no construction has commenced
   3. Modeled for development sites which are hypothetical developments yet to occur
3. Year - The year of construction, approval or anticipated construction date
4. Owner - Owner of the development site
5. Site base height - The relative height of the development site. This can be set to positive or negative values and will result in building levels being shifted vertically when viewed in 3D
6. Area - The area of the development site

Development Statistics

The development statistics are set to automatically calculate floorspace and dwelling yield by default. The values are calculated from the building levels associated with the development sites. Should you wish to model an already constructed or approved building, untick the Automatically calculate floorspace checkbox and input the floorspace and dwelling values for the development site manually.

Modeling the commercial floorspace and dwelling yield for already constructed or approved developments does not need the building levels to be modeled in order for QCity to aggregate the data. The building levels are only required to be created for constructed or approved development sites if you wish to visualize the development in a map.

Car Parking Statistics

The car parking statistics are set to automatically calculate the number of car parking bays for the development site by default. The values are calculated from the commercial and office floorspace and number of dwellings from the building levels and the parking ratios set in the project settings. Should you wish to model an already constructed or approved building, untick the Automatically calculate car parking check box and input the number of commercial, office and residential bays for the development site manually.

Modeling the car parking bays for already constructed or approved developments does not need the building levels to be modeled in order for QCity to aggregate the data. The building levels are only required to be created for constructed or approved development sites if you wish to visualize the development in a map.

Bike Parking Statistics

The bike parking statistics are set to automatically calculate the number of bike parking bays for the development site by default. The values are calculated from the commercial and office floorspace and number of dwellings from the building levels and the parking ratios set in the project settings. Should you wish to model an already constructed or approved building, untick the Automatically calculate bicycle parking check box and input the number of commercial, office and residential bays for the development site manually.

Modeling the bike parking bays for already constructed or approved developments does not need the building levels to be modeled in order for QCity to aggregate the data. The building levels are only required to be created for constructed or approved development sites if you wish to visualize the development in a map.

Viewing Data for Individual Development Sites

Viewing the data for each development site can done in two ways. The first is to left click on the development site in the development sites list in the development sites tab and view the data in the:

1. General Details
2. Development Statistics
3. Car Parking Statistics
4. Bike Parking Statistics

This approach is appropriate for viewing the statistics for an individual development site at a time. However, if the project area has many development sites, an alternative way to view the statistics for each development site is to use the QGIS attribute table.

To open the attribute table for the development sites layer, go to the development sites layer in the Layers panel and left click on it to select it.

If the Layers panel is not visible, left click on View in the top left hand corner of the QGIS window, then hover the cursor over the Panels entry in the menu and make sure the Layers panel checkbox is ticked. If the Layers panel is not checked, left click on it to enable the panel.

Once the development sites layer is selected, right click on the development sites layer in the Layers panel and left click on Open Attribute Table in the menu. This will open the attribute table for the development sites layer.

With the attribute table you can view the statistics for all the development sites across all project areas within the QCity Package.

If you would like to export the statistics for the development sites from the QGIS attribute table into a spreadsheet, you can do this by left clicking in the top left hand corner of the attribute table next to the field fid and using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + C and pasting into the spreadsheet using Ctrl + V.

Building Levels

Relation to Development Sites

The Building Levels tab includes the name of the development site which it is associated with under the building levels heading. This provides you with an indication which development site you are creating the building levels within.

Should you digitize a building level outside of the development site boundary, QCity will present a warning that the building level is outside the spatial extent of the development site.

The building levels are linked to the development site that is selected in the development sites tab. When working with multiple development sites, always ensure you check the header of the building levels tab to see which development site it is associated with.

Creating a new Building Level

To create a new building level, left click on the green + button on the right hand side of the building levels panel.

Then left click on the map area to start creating a polygon. Keep left clicking to create more points in the polygon and then right click to finish digitizing the polygon.

Once digitizing the polygon has been completed, a window will appear requiring a building level name to be provided.

Left click on OK and the building level will be created.

Creating a new Building Level with Snapping

When creating new building levels, often the boundaries correspond to the boundaries of existing features such as cadastral boundaries or development site boundaries. In order to digitize a building level to the boundaries of cadastral lots or other features, snapping needs to be enabled.

Snapping options are available in the QGIS Snapping toolbar.

If the Snapping toolbar is not visible, left click on View, hover the cursor over Toolbars and left click on Snapping Toolbar to enable the Snapping Toolbar.

To enable snapping, left click on the Enable Snapping button on the Snapping Toolbar which appears as a red magnet.

To enable snapping to a specific layer, left click on the snapping options dropdown icon situated to the right of the Enable Snapping button. Left click on the Advanced Configuration.

Once the Snapping toolbar is set to advanced configuration, left click on the Edit Advanced Configuration button which appears as an eye icon. Left click on the checkbox next to the layer you would like to snap to and from the Type dropdown, select whether you would like to snap to vertices, segments etc.

Once snapping has been enabled, when created a new building level, you will see a purple indicator on the map canvas to snap to the desired features.

For more information on using snapping within QGIS, please see the QGIS documentation (opens new window).

Creating a new Building Level with Advanced Digitizing

When digitizing building levels you may wish to digitize with specific measurements and angles in order to create polygons with accurate setbacks and lengths. In order to digitize with this level of accuracy, you will need to use the QGIS Advanced Digitizing Tools.

Enabling Advanced Digitizing Tools

To enable the Advanced Digitizing Tools, left click on View in the top left corner of the QGIS window, hover the cursor over Panels menu entry and left click on Advanced Digitizing to enable the Advanced Digitizing panel.

Once enabled, the Advanced Digitizing panel will usually open on the left hand side of the QGIS window.

Using Advanced Digitizing Tools

To enable the Advanced Digitizing tools, left click on the green + button on the right hand side of the building levels panel to start digitizing a new building level polygon. Then before left clicking on the map area to create the first point in the polygon, left click on the Enable Advanced Digitizing Tools button in the Advanced Digitizing Tools panel which appears as a ruler and triangle icon.

Once the Advanced Digitizing tools are enabled, you will notice that the cursor changes. Before creating the first point of the polygon, consider enabling construction mode to create a series of guides with the appropriate setbacks and wall lengths for the building level. Construction mode can be enabled by left clicking on the Construction mode button on the Advanced Digitizing panel which appears as a floor plan and hammer icon.

A drop down menu in the Construction mode button allows you to:

1. Record the construction guides
2. Show or hide the construction guides
3. Snap to the visible construction guides
4. Clear the construction guides completely

The construction mode can also be enable and disabled with the keyboard shortcut c when using the Advanced Digitizing tools.

Begin creating a new building level polygon by left clicking on the map area. With the Advanced Digitizing tools enabled, you can input the distance and angle you would like to create the first length of the polygon.

Once you had created the first point of the polygon, enter the distance and angle and left click again to create the next point. Repeat this process and right click to finish the polygon. Once you complete the building level polygon, a window will appear asking for a name of the building level polygon as outlined in Creating a Building Level.

For more information on the QGIS Advanced Digitizing tools, please see the QGIS Documentation (opens new window)

Digitizing multi part building levels

Some development sites have multiple separate dwellings on the same level such as townhouse developments. To digitize multi part building levels, begin by putting the building levels layer into edit mode by right clicking on the building levels layer in the layer panel and left clicking on Toggle Editing in the context menu.

Once the building levels layer is in edit mode, left click on the green + button on the right hand side of the building levels panel.

Then left click on the map area to start creating a polygon. Keep left clicking to create more points in the polygon and then right click to finish digitizing the polygon.

Once digitizing the polygon has been completed, a window will appear requiring a building level name to be provided.

Left click on OK and the building level will be created.

Note: To digitize with higher accuracy, consider using snapping as documented in Creating a new Building Level with Snapping and the advanced digitizing tools as documented in Creating a new Building Level with Advanced Digitizing.

Left click on the Save Layer Edits button on the Digitizing Toolbar.

The first part of the multi part building level is now created. In order to create other parts, ensure that the first part of the building level is selected and left click on the Add Part button in the Advanced Digitizing Toolbar.

If the Advanced Digitizing Toolbar is not visible, left click on View and hover the cursor over Toolbars and left click on the Advanced Digitizing Toolbar menu entry to enable it.

Then left click on the map area to start creating a new polygon part. Keep left clicking to create more points in the polygon part and then right click to finish digitizing the polygon part. This will add another part to the first polygon. Repeat this process to add as many parts as required.

Left click on the Save Layer Edits button on the Digitizing Toolbar to save the changes.

Toggle the editing mode for the building levels layer to off by right clicking on the building levels layer in the layer panel and left clicking on Toggle Editing. A multi part polygon is now created which represents multiple separate dwellings in a development site.

Creating multiple parts to polygons can also be used to digitize development sites and project areas that are not contiguous.

Deleting a Building Level

A building level can be deleted by selecting the building level you want to delete in the building levels panel and left clicking on the red minus button on the right hand side of the building levels panel.

Duplicating a Building Level

A building level can be duplicated by selecting the building level you want to duplicate in the building level panel and left clicking on the Duplicate selected building level button on the right hand side of the building levels panel.

A new window will open which will let you assign a new name for the duplicated building level.

Should a name already be used, QCity will warn you that the name already exists and will not allow you to reuse it.

Renaming a Building Level

A building level can be renamed by selecting the building level you want to rename in the building level panel and left clicking on the pencil and paper button on the right hand side of the building level panel.

A new window will open which will allow you to rename the building level.

Should a name already be used, QCity will warn you that the name already exists and will not allow you to reuse it.

Changing the order of Building Levels

The order of building levels in the building levels panel can be changed by left clicking on the up and down arrow buttons on the right hand side of the building levels panel.

Reordering the building levels in the building levels panel will also change their position in the 3D map. In the below image the ground level has been moved to the top of the list and now is at the top of the building when viewed in 3D.

Level Composition

For each building level there is a Level Composition section of the panel which allows you to specify the percentage of commercial, office and residential floor space for that building level. Each building level can have a different level composition. For the residential floorspace, this is further broken down into the percentage of the residential floorspace that is used for 1 bedroom, 2 bedroom, 3 bedroom and 4+ bedroom dwellings. A total percentage figure is provided which will turn red if the percentage exceeds 100%.

If the Automatically calculate floorspace, Automatically calculate car parking and Automatically calculate bicycle parking are enabled for the development site, changes to the level composition will automatically recalculate the floorspace, dwelling yield and parking numbers. This will use the dwelling sizes and parking rates specified in the .

The level composition section of the building levels panel also includes the following:

1. Floor number - This represents the building level when viewed in 3D with floor number 1 being the lowest floor in the 3D building. Moving the building level up and down will automatically change this value.
2. Floor level - This represents the floor level of the building level which is dependent on the floor heights and levels of the building levels beneath it.
3. Floor height - This represents the height of the building level in 3D and will impact the floor level of the building levels above it. Changing the floor height will change the floor level of building levels above.

The currently selected building level name will be shown in brackets after the Level Composition heading.

Unallocated Residential Floorspace

At the bottom of the building levels panel is the Unallocated Residential Floorspace table. Often when modeling dwellings in a building the calculations will result in some left over area. The Unallocated Residential Floorspce table shows the following information:

1. Dwelling size specified in the .
2. Yield for each dwelling type from the allocated floorspace in the building level.
3. Unallocated area for each dwelling type and a total unallocated area for the building level. If the unallocated area is more than the size of certain dwelling types (1 bedroom, 2 bedroom etc) you may want to consider adjusting the percentage allocated to each dwelling type in the Level Composition to get a more optimal dwelling yield.

Statistics

The 4th tab in QCity is the Statistics tab. This tab shows the development statistics for each project area and lets you export the data to view in an application such as a spreadsheet.

At the top of the Statistics tab is a drop down menu which lists all the project areas in the QCity package. Left click on the project area you want to see the statistics for.

Below this drop down menu are two buttons as follows:

1. Update - updates the statistics for the project area. This button will change to a red font Requires update when the data in the Statistics tab is out of date with changes to the data. Left clicking on the Requires Update button will update the statistics for the project area.
2. Export - Exports the data for the project area to a csv format which can then be imported into an application such as a spreadsheet. Left click on the Export button to export the data. This will open the operating system save dialog which will enable you to save the csv to the desired location.

Below the Update and Export buttons are the development statistics, car parking statistics and bike parking statistics. These statistics are generated from the project area, development sites and building levels data and will be automatically updated when the Update button is left clicked.

Styling Building Levels by Development Status

By default the building levels in QCity are styled with the same color for all building levels in the 3D map. In order to style building levels based on the development status (constructed, modeled or proposed), this information will need to be joined from the development sites layer.

Joining the building levels and development sites layers

The building levels layer includes a field development_site_pk which corresponds to the fid field in the development sites layer. In the below example development Site D has a fid value of 5 and the building levels associated with development Site D have a matching development_site_pk value of 5.

In order to apply the development status to the building levels, a join by field value will need to be used. Open the Processing Toolbox in QGIS by left clicking on View menu, then hover over Panels in the menu and left click on the Processing Toolbox checkbox to enable the Processing Toolbox. The Processing Toolbox will open as a new panel.

Once the Processing Toolbox is open, left click in the Search bar at the top of the Processing Toolbox panel and type Join attributes by field value.

This will reduce the list of available processing algorithms. Open the Join attributes by field value algorithm by double left clicking on it. A new window will appear.

Set the Input layer to building_levels, set the Table field to development_site_pk, set the Input layer 2 to development_sites and set the Table field 2 to fid.

Under the Layer 2 fields to copy left click on the button to the right with 3 dots.

Select the site_status field by left clicking on the checkbox to the left of the field.

Left click on Run to run the algorithm. This will create a new temporary layer called Joined layer. This Joined layer is a copy of the building levels layer but with the site_status field taken from the development sites layer.

Note that the temporary joined layer can be made permanent by right clicking on the layer in the layer panel and left clicking on Make Permanent... and saving the layer in the desired location.

Styling the building levels by site status

Left click on the Joined layer in the layer panel and Open the Layer Styling panel.

If the Layer Styling panel is not open, left click on View, then hover the cursor over Panels in the menu and left click on the Layer Styling checkbox to enable the Layer Styling panel.

Left click on the 3D view tab represented by a cube with 3 different colored sides. Set the styling to Rule-based from the drop down menu in the 3D view.

Left click on the Add rule button at the bottom of the Layer Styling panel represented by a green +.

In the Filter entry, enter the text "site_status" = 'C'.

This will filter the 3D view to just the constructed building levels.

Left click on the Data defined override button next to the Offset entry and hover the cursor over the Field type menu entry and select base_height.

Left click on the Data defined override button next to the Extrusion entry and hover the cursor over the Field type menu entry and select level_height.

Set the desired color for the 3D building levels in the Diffuse and Ambient drop downs.

Left click on the blue back arrow at the top of the Edit Rule panel to see the list of rules for the Joined layer.

In order to create the 3D styling for the proposed and modeled building levels, repeat the steps in and change the Filter entry to "site_status" = 'P' for proposed building levels and "site_status" = 'M' for modeled building levels.