As a proactive pioneer, Qingdao has seized the opportunity to ride the surging wave of data development, becoming the first city in China to complete the creation of mountains, seas, cities, islands, and bays integrated with high-precision 3D real-scene data.

In order to promote the opening, sharing, and innovative application of 3D real-scene data, the Information Office of Qingdao Municipal People’s Government held a conference on November 14th, releasing the White Paper on Promoting Qingdao’s High-Quality Development (2023-2024) (hereinafter referred to as the White Paper).

It is worth mentioning that this is the first city-level 3D real-scene application white paper in China, which not only serves as the milestone achieved by Qingdao, but also will provide demonstration references for the construction and application of 3D real scene in other cities.

New Expectations for Qingdao as a Pioneering City in 3D Real Scene

The 3D real scene, in simple terms, involves building a digital city that mirrors the physical world, plotting a three-dimensional digital map of real environments.

At the national level, in February 2022, the Ministry of Natural Resources issued the Circular of Comprehensively Advancing the Establishment of 3D Real-Scene China, laying out an all-round plan for its implementation.

With the release of this pivotal circular, the most crucial piece of the puzzle has fallen into place, setting a clear course for the future of 3D real-scene China.

Qingdao has taken the lead, starting the 3D real-scene Qingdao construction project in March 2021. By leveraging advanced technologies such as oblique image and 3D laser scanning, the entire city was digitized with a precision of 15 centimeters.

In March 2022, Qingdao became the first city to build the first domestic high-precision 3D real-scene city with full coverage of land and sea. This milestone marked the full digital replication of Qingdao in the digital space, and the city’s geographic information data has been upgraded from a two-dimensional plane to a three-dimensional one, initially building the digital twin Qingdao.

Today, 3D real-scene Qingdao serves as the core support platform for the city cloud brain, providing the sole and authoritative 3D digital spatial support, which has been widely applied across various aspects of economic and social development.

To further review and consolidate past achievements, the Qingdao Natural Resources and Planning Bureau, in collaboration with the Qingdao Research Institute of Surveying and Mapping, systematically summarized the experiences of the 3D real-scene Qingdao project from July to October 2024. This effort culminated in the publication of the White Paper, showcasing Qingdao’s exploration and practices in building and applying 3D real-scene technology.

At the recent White Paper conference, Xue Hongli, Party Member, Deputy Director, and Spokesperson of the Qingdao Natural Resources and Planning Bureau, highlighted that as the nation’s first city-level white paper on 3D real-scene applications, the document has been endorsed by Li Deren, Recipient of the State Preeminent Science and Technology Award and Academician of both the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, who also wrote the foreword of the White Paper.

Li Deren believes that the release of the White Paper will strongly promote the popularization and application of 3D real scene, and can provide a reference for the construction of 3D real scene and the application of spatial and temporal information for more cities, and Qingdao, as a pioneer city of 3D real scene, is expected to continue scaling new heights in innovation, contributing greater insights to the development of Digital China and high-quality economic and social progress.

Leading the Way in Seizing Opportunities, Qingdao’s Actions Carry Profound Significance

Striving to become a pioneer city in 3D real-scene technology is not only Qingdao’s mission but also its proactive initiative.

Being the first, taking the lead, and pioneering—Qingdao has seized visible opportunities, showcasing its development strength and contributing the Qingdao model and Qingdao experience to the advancement of 3D real-scene China.

What lies behind Qingdao’s confidence?

The Confidence Comes from Data Support and Application Scenarios

In today’s digital wave, Qingdao is leveraging 3D real-scene technology to build a twin city in the digital world, embarking on a new journey toward AI governance.

Adhering to the principle of a high starting point and high-standard construction, the plan can be summarized as four major base maps, one platform, and one set of standards. Specifically, the four major base maps include: a city-proper 3D topographic base map, a high-precision 3D base map of key areas, a city-proper 2D base map, and a LiDAR point cloud base map of key mountain forests.

The city-proper 3D topographic base map covers 11,000 square kilometers, including all land areas and seven inhabited islands, with a resolution of 15 cm. It realistically recreates Qingdao’s integrated urban landscape of mountains, seas, cities, islands, and bays, achieving the digitization and spatialization of the city’s topography and constructions.

The high-precision 3D base map of key areas covers approximately 1,800 square kilometers of urban construction land, with a resolution of up to 3 cm. It creates detailed models of nearly 280,000 key buildings in the main urban area, 293 highways, major and secondary roads, streetlights, signage, and more, supporting refined urban management.

The city-proper 2D base map is more intuitive than previous 2D maps, better meeting the needs of various application scenarios.

The LiDAR point cloud base map of key mountain forests covers around 800 square kilometers, including the Laoshan, Dazeshan, Xiaozhushan, Cangmashan, and Tiejuanshan mountain ranges. It visually reflects the terrain and vegetation coverage, providing data support for forest fire prevention, geological disaster management, forestry resource surveys, and carbon peaking and carbon neutrality accounting.

At the data processing and modeling stage, advanced algorithms and technologies play a key role. Surveyors transform collected data into vivid, realistic 3D models. From the vast stretches of the Laoshan mountain range to the intricate brick textures of historic districts, everything now has its own digital twin.

Each 3D model accurately presents features such as appearance, height, and structure. The city proper is modeled with a precision of 0.15 meters, while the main urban area reaches an exceptional precision of 0.03 meters. Urban elements like roads, parks, and ports are also fully replicated, creating a digital space closely aligned with the real Qingdao city.

The platform refers to the Smart Qingdao Spatial-Temporal Big Data Platform, which is used for the publication, aggregation, and management of spatial-temporal data. It provides services to users and managers of spatial-temporal data, capable of integrating 2D and 3D, above and below land and water, indoors and outdoors, into a unified eight-dimensional framework.

Understanding that stability and order only come with rules and standards, Qingdao has also developed a series of local standards, including the Technical Specifications for the Construction of 3D Real-Scene Qingdao, covering the entire process of 3D real-scene construction, updates, quality control, and publication.

In parallel with the rapid development of breakthroughs, 3D real-scene technology is becoming increasingly visible and tangible in everyday life.

Currently, Qingdao has implemented data-sharing applications in over 40 fields and more than 100 digital application scenarios across the city. These efforts support areas such as government decision-making, digital economy, citizens’ daily lives, digital culture, ecological civilization, and natural resource management, driving the city’s digital transformation as well as green and sustainable development.

For example, the deep integration of 3D real-scene digital space with convenience, such as the intelligent property management and service platform, allowing for panoramic roaming and vision-based positioning in 3D, enabling users to check the four-dimensional attributes of buildings, units, floors, and residents. It connects to IoT perceived devices for personnel, vehicles, fire safety, and security, assisting property management in ensuring safety.

According to Zhang Zhihua, Director of the Qingdao Research Institute of Surveying and Mapping, 3D real-scene technology has already become a typical example of technological innovation in the process of urban digital transformation. It is not only applied in urban management but will also be more widely used in economic, social development, and citizens’ lives in the future.

Cutting-edge technology strengthens the city, while a people-centered approach makes it great. With this hardcore strength backing it, Qingdao’s title as the 3D Real-Scene Pioneer City will continue to gain recognition.

3D Real-Scene Technology: Complementing Qingdao’s Development

For Qingdao, 3D real-scene technology is a mutual enabler of growth.

The abundant achievements have provided a vast foundation for urban management and services, while the long-term future of development lies in its application across industries and diverse business scenarios, which will ultimately determine the upper limits of 3D real-scene technology’s potential.

Previously, the Qingdao Port in Shandong province, in collaboration with the Qingdao Research Institute of Surveying and Mapping, established the world’s first Port Information Modeling (PIM) foundation platform. This platform supports a series of digital transformation applications for the port, injecting new momentum into the development of the port’s digital economy.

Based on the PIM platform, the Qingdao port’s oil pipelines spanning over a hundred miles, millions of cubic meters of crude oil tank areas, and million tons of grain silos—every detail comes to life on screen.

Currently, 3D real-scene technology, as the digital support of the port, has been fully applied across the five major port areas of the Qingdao port, which will undoubtedly accelerate Qingdao port’s development into a world-class maritime hub.

Additionally, 3D real-scene technology, as a beneficiary of the low-altitude economy, also serves as the provider of the low-altitude digital support.

The Qingdao Research Institute of Surveying and Mapping is leveraging the advantages of 3D real-scene technology on the basis of research into low-altitude digital airspace and air route network planning, actively developing low-altitude 3D navigation maps, allowing drone flights to be as precise as driving, with accurate navigation guidance.

It is foreseeable that with the continuous development and expansion of 3D real-scene technology, Qingdao’s low-altitude economy will also usher in broader development prospects.

As Qingdao opens its doors to the world, it has also raised China’s voice in advancing international development cooperation.

Ding Penghui, Deputy Director of the Qingdao Research Institute of Surveying and Mapping, stated that based on Qingdao’s practical experience, the institute has partnered with the Chinese Academy of Surveying and Mapping and the University of Melbourne to launch the China-Australia International Cooperation Project on 3D Real Scene Innovative Technology, developing a comprehensive 3D real-scene technology solution, covering aerial data collection, high-precision modeling, and the sharing and application of results.

It is reported that this solution was unveiled at the first United Nations Geospatial Knowledge and Innovation Week 2024 and was donated to the United Nations Global Geospatial Information Knowledge and Innovation Center. It will be featured in the global geospatial leadership training course and launched at the 2025 International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) working week.

Looking ahead, the data collection, processing, and updating of Qingdao’s 3D real-scene technology will become more intelligent and automated, achieving dynamic updates. Meanwhile, the integration and applications of 3D real-scene technology across industries will deepen further, expanding from a single field to a wide range of industries and sectors.

Everything has already begun, but it is far from over. Through Qingdao’s steady and solid progress in 3D real-scene technology and its unwavering efforts, it is foreseeable that the city’s 3D real-scene practices will inject powerful momentum into Qingdao’s AI governance in a unique manner and drive the city forward on its path to digitalization and intelligence.

Source: The 21st Century Business Herald
Link: https://m.21jingji.com/article/20241117/herald/438f2501ae2c177b9a3e508eb50dc9e0.html