Back to Top

Add and edit parcels

In this topic

  1. Add a parcel
  2. Select parcels
  3. Merge parcels
  4. Split a parcel
  5. Subtract path
  6. Split a parcel into a grid
  7. Retire parcels
  8. Edit parcel edges
  9. Copy parcels to a scenario

The Edit parcels tool allows you to do the following:

  • Add a parcel
  • Merge parcels
  • Split a parcel
  • Subtract a path from a parcel
  • Split a parcel into a grid
  • Retire parcels
  • Edit parcel edges
  • Copy parcels to a scenario

With the exception of adding parcels, you first have to select the parcels that you want to edit. This is described in the Select parcels selection below.

Add a parcel

To add a parcel by drawing its geometry, complete the following steps:

  1. Open the plan editor.
  2. Click the Development button Development in the header to access development mode.
  3. Click the Edit parcels button Edit geometry on the workflow toolbar at the right of the view, and from the Edit parcels tools in the header, click the Add button Add geometry.

    A drawing interface appears.

  4. Click the map to draw the boundaries of the new parcel. Double-click when you are finished.

    The OK button becomes available and the new parcel turns orange.

    5. Note:
    • Parcels cannot overlap. Overlapping parts are automatically trimmed.
    • This tool supports snapping. To disable snapping temporarily, press the Ctrl key while drawing.
  5. Click OK.
  6. Click Done to close the Edit parcels tools.
Note:

Instead of drawing parcels manually, you can add them as a layer in the data manager or in the plan configuration. This allows you to import all parcels in a city from a hosted feature layer. See Add parcels and Configure a plan for details.

Select parcels

Click a single parcel to select it in the view. To select multiple parcels, press the Shift key while clicking the parcels or use one of the Advanced Selection tools. To deselect a parcel from a group selection, press the Alt key while clicking it in the scene view.

Use freehand selection

To select parcels using the Freehand selection advanced selection tool, complete the following steps:

  1. Open the plan editor.
  2. Click the Advanced selection button Select on the vertical toolbar between the view and the side panel.
  3. Click the Freehand selection button Freehand selection on the blue header bar.
  4. Drag the pointer to draw freehand in the view.
    • Draw a line to select all parcels intersecting that line.
    • Draw a polygon to select all parcels intersecting that polygon.
  5. Click Done to close the Freehand selection tool and continue working with the selected parcels.

Use rectangle selection

To select parcels using the Rectangle selection advanced selection tool, complete the following steps:

  1. Open the plan editor.
  2. Click the Advanced selection button Select on the vertical toolbar between the view and the side panel.
  3. Click the Rectangle selection button Rectangle selection on the blue header bar.
  4. Drag the pointer to draw a rectangle.
    • Drag the pointer from right to left to select parcels that intersect the rectangle.
    • Drag the pointer from left to right to select parcels in the rectangle.
  5. Click Done to close the Rectangle selection tool and continue working with the selected parcels.

Use select by feature

To select parcels using the Select by feature advanced selection tool, complete the following steps:

  1. Open the plan editor.
  2. Click the Advanced selection button Select on the vertical toolbar between the view and the side panel.
  3. Click the Select by feature button Select by feature on the blue header bar.
  4. Select a polygon feature in the view to use to select the parcels.

    Tip:
    Distinguish overlapping polygons by clicking their edges. You can also use the options menu to turn off polygon layers that you don't want to use for selecting parcels.

    Parcels that intersect with the selected polygon feature are selected.

  5. Click Done to close the Select by feature tool and continue working with the selected parcels.

Merge parcels

To merge parcels, complete the following steps:

  1. Open the plan editor.
  2. Click the Development button Development in the header to switch to development mode.
  3. Click the Edit parcels button Edit geometry on the workflow toolbar at the right of the view.
  4. Select two adjacent parcels.
  5. Click the Merge button Merge from the Edit parcels tools in the header.
  6. Click the blue merge button on the Merge selection dialog box to confirm the merge.
  7. Click Done to close the Edit parcels tools.

Split a parcel

To split a parcel, complete the following steps:

  1. Open the plan editor.
  2. Click the Development button Development in the header to switch to development mode.
  3. Click the Edit parcels button Edit geometry on the workflow toolbar at the right of the view.
  4. Select a parcel.
  5. Click the Split button Split from the Edit parcels tools in the header.
  6. Draw a polyline to split the parcel.
  7. Click the OK button in the header.
  8. Click Done to close the Edit parcels tools.

Note:
  • The start and the end of the polyline must be outside the target parcel while viewing the parcel from above. Click the 2D button at the lower right of the view to do so.
  • This tool supports snapping. To disable snapping temporarily, press the Ctrl key while drawing.

Subtract path

Complete the following steps to divide a parcel using a defined path width. This workflow is useful for parcels that are spilt by a street or other geometries that cause a single parcel to appear in two pieces.

  1. Open the plan editor.
  2. Click the Development button Development in the header to switch to development mode.
  3. Click the Edit parcels button Edit geometry on the workflow toolbar at the right of the view.
  4. Select a parcel.
  5. Click the Subtract path button Subtract path from the Edit parcels tools in the header.
  6. Define the width of the path on the blue header bar.

    The width is the amount of space that will be left between each portion of your parcel after splitting.

  7. Draw a path to subtract from the selected parcel.
  8. Double-click to complete and click OK.
  9. Click Done to close the Edit parcels tools.
Note:

This tool supports snapping. To disable snapping temporarily, press the Ctrl key while drawing.

Split a parcel into a grid

Complete the following steps to split a parcel into a grid:

  1. Open the plan editor.
  2. Click the Development button Development in the header to switch to development mode.
  3. Click the Edit parcels button Edit geometry on the workflow toolbar at the right of the view.
  4. Select a large parcel.
  5. Click the Grid button Grid from the Edit parcels tools in the header.
  6. Split the selection.
    • Square cells—Split into squared cells.
    • Honeycomb cells—Split into hexagonal cells.
  7. Specify the grid cell size on the blue header bar.

    As you type a cell size, the grid pattern preview changes accordingly in the view.

    Note:

    For performance reasons, the minimal grid cell size is restricted. It depends on the size of the study area.

  8. Specify the grid cell orientation on the blue header bar.

    As you edit the cell orientation, the grid pattern preview changes accordingly in the view.

  9. Click OK.

    The selected parcel is split into smaller parcels according to the specified grid configurations.

  10. Click Done to close the Edit parcels tools.

Retire parcels

You can delete parcels by retiring them. To retire a parcel, complete the following steps:

  1. Open the plan editor.
  2. Click the Development button Development in the header to switch to development mode.
  3. Click the Edit parcels button Edit geometry on the workflow toolbar at the right of the view.
  4. Select the parcel you want to retire.
  5. Click the Retire button Delete from the Edit parcels tools in the header.

    A confirmation message appears.

  6. Click Retire to delete the parcel.
  7. Click Done to close the Edit parcels tools.

Edit parcel edges

You can calculate the orientation and street adjacency attributes of parcel edges in ArcGIS CityEngine or manually define them while editing a plan. These attributes are used when developing a parcel—for example, when adding tiers and setbacks or skyplanes. To edit them while editing a plan, complete the following steps:

  1. Open the plan editor.
  2. Click the Development button Development in the header to switch to development mode.
  3. Click the Edit parcels button Edit geometry on the workflow toolbar at the right of the view.
  4. Select the parcel you want to edit the edges.
  5. Click the Edge orientation button Orientation from the Edit parcels tools in the header.

    The Editing parcel edges options appear at the top of the view.

  6. Click the edge you want to assign an orientation to, or select multiple edges using the Lasso select or Rectangle select tool or press the Shift key while you click the edges.
  7. Select the orientation (front, side, or rear) and specify whether it is an interior or street edge.
  8. Click Done to finish the edge orientation definition.
  9. Click Done to close the Edit parcels tools.
Note:

To learn more about calculating the orientation and street adjacency attributes in ArcGIS CityEngine, see the corresponding topic in the CityEngine documentation.

Copy parcels to a scenario

To copy parcels together with their spaces, overrides, edge orientation attributes, and custom ID, complete the following steps:

  1. Open the plan editor.
  2. Click the Development button Development in the header to switch to development mode.
  3. Select the parcels you want to copy. See the Select parcels section above to learn more.
  4. Click the Edit parcels button Edit geometry on the workflow toolbar at the right of the view.
  5. Click the Copy parcels to scenario button Copy to scenario from the Edit parcels tools.

    The Copy to scenario dialog box appears.

  6. Select the target scenario from the drop-down list.
  7. Choose the method to handle overlaps in the target scenario:
    • Preserve—All parcels in the target scenario are preserved. The copied parcels will be clipped if necessary.
    • Replace—All copied parcels are preserved. The parcels in the target scenario are clipped if necessary.
  8. Click OK to copy the parcels.

    The parcels are copied. The target scenario opens and the copied parcels are selected.

  9. Click Done to close the Edit parcels tools.
Note:

  • You cannot copy to the existing scenario.
  • If the source or the target parcels need to be clipped, review your edits carefully. Use undo if you encounter unexpected changes. The following situations might occur:
    • If the clipped parcel contains spaces, only spaces with their centroid still on the parcel are preserved.
    • The parcel edge orientation will be reset to side interior on clipped parcels. See the Edit parcel edges section above to learn how to review and modify parcel edges after copying.
    • If the clipped parcel is split into multiple parts, a multipart feature is created. Applying building types, showing envelopes, and editing parcel edges is currently not fully supported on those parcels. Use the split tool to split multipart parcels after copying. See the Split a parcel section above to learn more.

Feedback on this topic?

In this topic
  1. Add a parcel
  2. Select parcels
  3. Merge parcels
  4. Split a parcel
  5. Subtract path
  6. Split a parcel into a grid
  7. Retire parcels
  8. Edit parcel edges
  9. Copy parcels to a scenario