EXPERIENCING I-LULACAST URBAN PLANNING VIRTUAL SURVEY APPROACH DURING PANDEMIC COVID 19

Abstract

The COVID 19 pandemic has led to an explosion of online research approaches, particularly on the virtual survey. This paper demonstrated the Land use and Landscape Character Survey Tool (i-LULACAST) as a virtual survey tool to collect the geospatial data for the royal land database in Pekan, Pahang. Two different types of frameworks have been developed based on user and expert-oriented. It was purposely to collect data consist of land use and landscapes aspects. The findings show that using a virtual survey can capture the database regarding the resident's profile and the current database of urban design images of the study area. This application is acceptable in the current situation, making the work easy and safer since data compilation is faster than conducting an on-the-ground survey. The impact of this project helps to standardise the coordination of the land management database and landscape profile in the study area. The most challenging part of this project is switching the manual approach into the digital approach, such a switching the manual into the digital approach, such as convincing the residents to provide their personal information through i-LULACAST. Our experience suggests that virtual surveys can effectively obtain high-quality data, result in time and cost savings, and contribute to lowering the CO2 footprint associated with field-based data collection. In conclusion, the project has proved the potential as a virtual survey tool as new norms in conducting the physical survey in urban planning, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic.