A Web SDSS (Spatial Decision Support System) for the automation of the development of a multi criteria model for a user specific, regionalized housing market analyses in RLP

The aim of the project is the development of a Web-SDSS (Spatial Decision Support System) which automates the multi criteria model building for user specific, regionalized housing market analyses in the German State of Rhineland-Palatinate(RLP). In order to help governmental, economic and administrative decision makers with their assessment and evaluation of the regional and local housing market, we develop a multi functional online analysis- and information system, which exceeds all previous housing market monitoring system capabilities.

The system that is being developed will have to meet the following criteria:

• Able to administrate and aggregate all necessary statistical and spatial information in order to allow the development of the corresponding site-related factors as well as supply and demand indicators
• Highly independent from pre-defined adminstrative and aggregative levels
• Extensive configuration possibilities to support decision making processes of diverse user needs
• Conducts complex spatial analyses and displays the results automatically and user- specific in adequate forms (tables, diagrams, maps etc.)
• Freely extendable and able to process data from multiple sources
• Low budget development and transferability to other projects and areas of application

For supporting political and economic decision making a geographic information system (GIS) is used to prepare and analyze relevant data (e.g. economical- and population statistics, building permits, completion of buildings, etc.). This system must be able to manage and aggregate the necessary spatial and statistical information which is needed to develop the respective supply and demand indicators – e.g. on a meso level (regional labor market, area of planning, etc.)

In order to go beyond pure map visualization, possibilties have to be provided which ensure complex analyses of relevant parameters. Hence, it is necessary to combine statistical calculations with spatial (geometries, topologies, geostatistics, etc.) analysis functions and to incorporate the free choice of spatial units depending on thematic and spatial characteristics.

The project has the following goals:

• Analysis and characterization of the regional housing market situation in RLP
• Spatial boundaries of housing market segments
• Not solely oriented on community-, state-, or country borders
• The development of the segments on a scientific base
• Prediction of future development of the RLP housing market
• Continuous updates of the regionalized housing market monitoring

The most important outputs from the analyses will be:

• Time comparisons
• Housing market segment comparisons (e.g. communities with the same settlement structure types)

The aim of the project is the low budget development of a representative SDSS for housing and real estate market analysis in RLP by using free software packages. This should be transferable to and applicable on other projects. Further more, several components should be

re-usable and conform with the OGC (Open GeoSpatial Consortium) and the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) standards.

The GIS link enables spatial analyses and the visualization of the outcomes in form of thematic maps. One significant feature is to obtain maximum independence from pre-defined administrative- and aggregative levels.

Extensive configuration possibilities should allow different user types to perform automated spatial analyses using specified units. This provides a diverse decision making tool (investment decisions, planning schemes, etc.). On the basis of the multi criteria decision model, various relevant statistical and spatial methods will be stored in a configurable database of methods which is set up according to user specified work flows. Also, a report generator is being developed which will prepare the outcomes according to user queries in form of a user friendly assessment report.

Partner:

Immobiliengesellschaft Rheinland Pfalz (IRP)

Under the auspices of:

Bauforum Rheinland-Pfalz

Sponsor:

Stiftung für Innovation Rheinland Pfalz

Project participants:
Prof. Dr. Alexander Zipf
Dipl. Ing. (FH) Pascal Neis
(i3mainz)