Urban Information Visualization Research

City information is the carrier that records history, culture, feature of an city, it is the basic form of city expression and acknowledged by the external. The development of modern city brings about great changes to city environment, while people are proposing higher requirement on the function and service in city. With the information era's arrival, how to accelerate the propagation of city information effectively through the construction of city information, combining the present national strategy that building up a resource-saving and environment-friendly society, has a significant meaning of the research of city information.This thesis starts with information itself, and expounds information and city information, and the interrelation between visualization and city visual information, proposes the concept of city information visualization, and points out its research implication and purpose, summarizes its research approaches, and preliminarily build up the theoretical basis of city information visualization.There are six chapters in this thesis, unfolding the argumentation as the logical sequence from theory to practice, and abstract to concrete. At first, on the basis of present research and development, begins with the definition of the concept of city information visualization, and indicates it is a process that transfers city information into city visual information, and discusses its value on society, economy and culture, establishing the foundation of the visualization research of city information. Secondly, this thesis analyzes the implication of city visual information concretely, and makes classification of city visual information by different methods, indicating the mass media for city visual information, such as classified printed information, internet, information spot, and public space. Furthermore, studied deeply about the design principle of the visualization of city information, proposing the process and visual elements of city information visualization in the meantime, and investigates the related design methods about visual elements, building up the theoretical basis of this field. At last, by the analyzing of present situation about city visual information in Changsha, initiates the study of it, combing theoretical research, proposes the design idea of it, aiming at demonstration and application of theoretical research results.