Analysis of structures, the urban and infrastructural environment and interactions between these are of great importance due to the unique character and long lifecycle of buildings and urban structures. When product models are improved, there is a tendency for aspects of related fields to be incorporated into the model definition. As a result, redundancy effects often arise between the originally disjunctive models of different domains. A "supermodel" covering all areas will not be available any time soon, and increasing model complexity simply complicates analysis and ongoing monitoring processes. In order to be able to conduct investigations of complex interactions across diverse domain boundaries, it would make sense not to blur the domain boundaries further, and to develop a method for performing cross-model analyses with reasonable effort and the necessary flexibility.

As part of the proposed project, a methodology for the integration of models into a model-type-neutral infrastructure for analyses in all city/building life-cycle phases should be developed that counters the trend towards the steady incorporation of entities from neighbouring specialized domains and instead favours the maintenance of systematic separation and thus clarity.

Newer model-driven and aspect-oriented approaches from computer science and software engineering appear to be suitable for providing the required model-neutral functionality on a meta-level. They should be examined for their applicability to product modelling and building lifecycle management. In addition, a modelling framework should be developed that provides model-type-independent basic functionality and infrastructure on the meta-level.

The German Research Foundation is supporting this project as part of its work.