An Integrated BIM and GIS Framework for Sustainable Urban Planning

ElBeheiry, Doaa Mohamed

doi:10.21608/jesaun.2025.358173.1422

An Integrated BIM and GIS Framework for Sustainable Urban Planning

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Doaa Mohamed ElBeheiry

Department of Architectural Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Pharos University in Alexandria, Alexandria, Egypt

10.21608/jesaun.2025.358173.1422

Abstract

Urban planning has various issues as cities expand rapidly, population density rises, and urban infrastructure becomes more complicated. Poor exploitation of resources such as land, energy, and water has contributed to environmental degradation and unsustainable development. The lack of integrated data systems for the management of building and geographical information complicates decision-making in the process of urban planning. This may result in congestion, insufficient public services, energy inefficiency, and inadequate environmental management. Such issues require an integrated solution in urban planning, from specific building-level data to wide geographical information, in order to maximize resource utilization and improve the quality of life in urban areas. The paper proposes an integrated BIM and GIS framework to take up the challenges in urban planning within high-density environments. The integration of the thorough building models of BIM with the spatial context of GIS allows comprehensive urban analysis, hence enhancing decision-making for growth in sustainable cities. It also allows the running of advanced simulations such as energy use, flow of traffic, and environmental impact studies. Furthermore, it has aided in improving collaboration between planners, developers, and other stakeholders, in order to create more comprehensive urban development strategies.

Keywords

Main Subjects

Architecture Engineering and the Engineering Architectural Interior Design.

References

[1] Zhao, P., & Li, Z. (2020). Smart Cities and Urban Innovation: Integrating New Technologies in Urban Planning. Springer.

[2] Wanga, H., Pana, Y., & Luob, X. (2019). Integration of BIM and GIS in sustainable built environment: A review and bibliometric analysis. Automation in construction, 103, 41-52.

[3] Zhang, Z. (2018). BIM to GIS-based building model conversion in support of urban energy simulation. Sweden: Lund University GEM thesis series.

[4] Bai, Y. (2016). Integrating GIS and BIM for Community Building Energy Design (Master’s Thesis). University of British Columbia.

[5] Küfeoğlu, S. (2022). SDG-11: Sustainable cities and communities. In Emerging technologies: Value creation for sustainable development (pp. 385-408). Cham: Springer International Publishing.

[6] Cohen, B. (2018). Urbanization and its implications for development. United Nations.

[7] Turvey, R. A. (2019). Urban planning and sustainable cities. International Journal of Sustainable Society, 11(3), 139-161.

[8] Ho, S., & Rajabifard, A. (2016). Towards 3D-enabled urban land administration: Strategic lessons from the BIM initiative in Singapore. Land Use Policy, 57, 1-10.

[9] Geospatial World. (2021). GIS and BIM Integration - A Higher Level Global Report. www.geospatialworld.net/consulting: Advanced Knowledge for sustainability.

[10] Amirebrahimi, S., Rajabifard, A., Mendis, P., & Ngo, T. (2015). A data model for integrating GIS and BIM for assessment and 3D visualisation of flood damage to building. Locate, 15,10-12.

[11] Zhu, J., Wright, G., Wang, J., & Wang, X. (2018). A critical review of the integration of geographic information system and building information modelling at the data level. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information 7, no. 2, 66.

[12] Ruixue, L., & Yicheng, Z. (2021). Analysis of BIM and GIS integration: results from literature review and questionnaire. Jönköping, Sweden: School of Engineering.

[13] Ding, X., Yang, J., Lingjia, L., & Huang, W. (2020). Integrating IFC and CityGML model at schema level by using linguistic and text mining techniques. Ieee Access 8, 56429-56440.

[14] Bai, Y., Zadeh, P. A., Staub-French, S., & Pott, R. (2017). Integrating GIS and BIM for community-scale energy modeling. In International Conference on Sustainable Infrastructure, pp. 185-196.

[15] Knut, J., Onstein, E., & Huang, L. (2020). IFC schemas in ISO/TC 211 compliant UML for improved interoperability between BIM and GIS. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information 9, no. 4, 278.

[16] Niknam, M., & Karshenas, S. (2015). Integrating distributed sources of information for construction cost estimating using Semantic Web and Semantic Web Service technologies. Automation in construction 57, 222-238.

[17] Xin, L., Wang, X., Wright, G., & Che, J. C. (2017). A state-of-the-art review on the integration of Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Geographic Information System (GIS). ISPRS International journal of geo-information 6, no. 2, 53.

[18] Abdul Basir, W., F., W. N., Majid, Z., & U, U. (2018). Integration of GIS and BIM techniques in construction project management–A review. The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences 42, 307-316.

[19] Zhao, X., & Liao, X. (2018). A Review of BIM and GIS Integration in Urban Energy Planning. Energy Reports, 4, 142-151.

[20] Elsheikh, A., Alzamili, H. H., Al-Zayadi, S. K., & Alboo-Hassan, A. S. (2021, March). Integration of GIS and BIM in urban planning-A review. In IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering (Vol. 1090, No. 1, p. 012128). IOP Publishing.

[21] Piras, G., Muzi, F., & Zylka, C. (2024). Integration of BIM and GIS for the Digitization of the Built Environment. Applied Sciences (2076-3417), 14(23).

[22] Marzouk, M., & Othman, A. (2020). Planning utility infrastructure requirements for smart cities using the integration between BIM and GIS. Sustainable Cities and Society 57, 102120.

[23] Dao, J., Thomas Ng, S., & Yee Kwok, C. (2024). Interlinking BIM and GIS data for a semantic pedestrian network and applications in high-density cities. Developments in the Built Environment, 100367.

[24] Yamamuraa, S., Fana, L., & Suzukia, Y. (2017). Assessment of urban energy performance through integration of BIM and GIS for smart city planning. Procedia engineering, 180, 1462-1472.