This research aims to build a digital urban landscape based on as-built environmental information for cultural studies of old streets. Scans were made to the streets and facades in a famous sightseeing location, Yingge Old Street, in northern Taiwan. A 3D laser scanner was used to record buildings, plants, and open spaces in a static configuration starting from a bridge as the gateway to the city. The final urban information creates a precise description of objects with colors and textures feasible for internet browsing and infrastructure illustration and measurement. A study was made on the second contour and the micro expression of the old streets, which represents the cultural characteristics. A new design style as a new symbolic representation of the entrance to the old street was explored as a visual illustration that contrasts between modern design vocabulary and traditional old street components, or international style and traditional ceramic icons like a brick chimney and pot walls. This study considers the local cultural icon should comprise objects with 3D as-built configuration as the best representation approach. 3D scan has been proven to be one of the best approaches to achieve this goal.

1. M. Chaudhary and A. Aggarwal, “Tourist satisfaction and management of heritage sites in amritsar,” South Asian Journal of Tourism and Heritage, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 47–61, 2012
2. E. H. K. Yung, E. H. W. Chan, and Y. Xu, “Sustainable development and the rehabilitation of a historic urban districtsocial sustainability in the case of tianzifang in shanghai,” Sustainable Development, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 95–112, 2014. doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.534
   
3.  E. Eizenberg and N. Cohen, “Reconstructing urban image through cultural flagship events: The case of bat-yam,” Cities, vol. 42, pp. 54–62, 2015. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2014.09.003
   
4.  W. Shui and G. Xu, “Analysis of the influential factors for changes to land use in chinas
   xingwen global geopark against a tourism development background.” Geocarto International, vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 22–41, 2016. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/10106049.2015.1041558
   
5.  N. J. Shih and C. Y. Lin, “The evolving urban fabric and contour of old mountain streets in taiwan,” Tourism Geographies, pp. 1–30, 2017. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/14616688.2017.1388437
   
6. H. Xiang and H. Ye, “Research on the urban fabric of wuhan based on gis and mas.” IGARSS, vol. 3, pp. 1232–1235, 2008. doi: https://doi.org/10.1109/igarss.2008.4779580
   
7. K. Czynska, “Application of lidra data and 3d-city models in visual impact simulations of tall buildings,” in 36th International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment, Berlin, Germany, 2015.
   
8.  N. J. Shih, S. C. Tzen, T. Y. Chan, and C. Y. Lee, “Cross-verification of as-built point cloud and
   gis-related map data,” Open Journal of Civil Engineering, vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 219–227, 2013. doi:
   https://doi.org/10.4236/ojce.2013.34026
   
9.  S. Nebiker, S. Bleisch, and M. Christen, “Rich point clouds in virtual globes–a new paradigm in city modeling?” Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, vol. 34, no. 6, pp. 508–517, 2010. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compenvurbsys.2010.05.002
   
10. A. R. Dick, P. H. Torr, and R. Cipolla, “Modelling and interpretation of architecture from several images,” International Journal of Computer Vision, vol. 60, no. 2, pp. 111–134, 2004. doi: https://doi.org/10.1023/b:visi.0000029665.07652.61
    
11.  J. Fernandez-Martin, S. J.I, M. J., and F. J., “Multiresolution surveying of complex façades: a comparative analysis between digital photogrammetry and 3d laser scanning,” in CIPA Symposium, Torino, Italy, 2005.
    
12.  C. Früh and A. Zakhor, “An automated method for large-scale, ground-based city model acquisition,” International Journal of Computer Vision, vol. 60 no. 1, pp. 5–24, 2004. doi: https://doi.org/10.1023/b:visi.0000027787.82851.b6
    
13. K. Ikeuchi, M. Sakauchi, H. Kawasaki, and I. Sato, “Constructing virtual cities by using panoramic images,” International Journal of Computer Vision, vol. 58, no. 3, pp. 237–247, 2004. doi: https://doi.org/10.1023/b:visi.0000019686.74089.5d
    
14.  G. G. Slabaugh, W. B. Culbertson, T. Malzbender, M. R. Stevens, and R. W. Schafer, “Methods for volumetric reconstruction of visual scenes,” International Journal of Computer Vision, vol. 57, no. 3,pp. 179–199, 2004. doi: https://doi.org/10.1023/b:visi.0000013093.45070.3b
    
15. S. Teller, M. Antone, Z. Bodnar, M. Bosse, S. Coorg, M. Jethwa, and N. Master, “Calibrated,
    registered images of an extended urban area.” International journal of computer vision, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 93–107, 2003. doi: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023035826052
    
16.  J.Finat, J. Martin, L.Fuentes, M.Gonzalo, J. M. Rubio, and J. Jose. (2005) Ordering criteria and information fusion in 3d laser surveying of small urban spaces. [Online]. Available: https://bit.ly/2ROYzbr
    
17.  M. Guo, “The charm of the city the second contour line – outdoor advertising design impact on the city’s image,” Master’s thesis, Qilu University of Technology, Jinan, China, 2013.
    
18.  W. Luo, Y. Liu, and Y. Jiang, “Living heritage protection in china urban renewal planning: a case study of quanzhou west street,” in Real Corp Ghent, Belgium, 2015.

N.-J. Shih, “3D scan-based cultural study of old street architectural forms,” International Journal of Technology and Engineering Studies, vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 150-157, 2018.