Mapping the urban building stock for a circular economy by integrating GIS and BIM. A case study from Belgrade, Serbia

Assessing the rapidly expanding building stock, particularly at a large urban scale, remains challenging for the circular built environment. The growing use of digital technologies in new building designs has partially addressed it, but estimating existing stock is still a concern. Although numerous models are based on cadaster, building typologies, material intensities, and spatial analysis, their limiting factor is the level of detail. This study presents an innovative methodology that combines the existing estimation models and exploits the potential of remote sensing, 3DGIS, and BIM. The methodology is tested and validated in a municipality district in Belgrade, Serbia, characterized by different building types and fast urban regeneration. The results reveal better estimations of the existing stock at building, element, and material levels. As such, they may serve as a valuable base for pre-demolition audits, resource cadaster, and a support tool in creating a more feasible circular economy and decarbonization strategies.