Evaluation of an urban design project: imagery and realistic computer models

State-of-the-art computer technology has improved the integration of different types of representations and data and has provided new possibilities for manipulating results. Consequently, the use of computers has been widespread in urban design and the planning process. The potential that computer virtual environments brought for describing future developments to the public at large is enormous. Nevertheless, when imagery and realism dominate the communication process, they may obscure important issues that relate more to the underlying logic of urban design fabric. A sample of 23 university students from nonarchitecture courses and a sample of 23 students from architecture (contrasted group design) were used for analysing differences in their evaluation on form and content of a video presentation concerning an urban design project in Lisbon. The urban design project was focused on an important avenue of the city -- Avenida da Liberdade. Several representation methods and different techniques for viewing images were used on video presentation: photography, colour film, 3D-rendered model with animation, plans, and photomontage. The results highlighted the power that imagery and realistic computer models have, when used in an unbalanced way, for overshadowing differences between subjects. This is because at the end of the questionnaire both groups had a positive opinion about the urban design project, but significant differences were found in relation to their evaluation and understanding of both content and form of video presentation.