As the world becomes a more crowded place, the need to view data in a 3D environment grows. With the infrastructure of a modern urban area expanding both up and down as well as out, the importance of seeing what is above and below the ground is becoming critical to planning new projects, responding to emergencies, and managing the infrastructure.

ArcGIS Pro allows users to create 3D maps natively. In the past, this required users to have extensions such as 3D Analyst for ArcGIS. This ability to create 3D maps opens up a whole new world and way to view your data quite literally. You can extrude data from above or below the ground to see things such as does an existing natural gas line interfere with the new sewer line that is being planned or will the new office building obstruct the view of the mayor. This opens the door to new levels of analysis that were not always possible with traditional 2D maps.

In this chapter, you will explore the following: