GIS

Geographic information systems are important tools for defining the social and environmental contexts of urban design, planning, and architecture.

By Bill McGarigle

 

This article provides great information about GIS (Geographical Information Systems), this is a software tool that helps to define the context in which we build structures and cities. It also allows users to create interactive searches, analyze spatial information, demographics, edit data and create maps using a layer system (2D or 3D just like AutoCAD Software). This information is later distributed as interactive maps via the Internet or any other electronic media.

 

This article points out different case studies where GIS has been implemented and its successful outcomes in those projects.

This system has been used for the City of Los Angeles-California to conduct an environmental-justice analysis; these analyses were focused on excessive noise, traffic congestion and decreased air quality in order to decipher how city areas were affected by these variants.

For the Seattle’s Safeco Field, Project scheduler Patrick Moore has successfully implemented the GIS Software as a visual model for collaboration and shared basis where all project participants could understand the project and its development in a 2d- 3d layer sequences.

Another example was the Master Plan of the city of Glendale-Colorado, where the project utilized GIS thinking, also architectural, 3D and flash software to animate and analyze proposed land use, planning and development schemes.

 

I believe that this tool is a great invention of technology, thanks to this, sociologist, urban planner, designers, geologist, architects and more fields can get a very precise and organized environmental data that is linked to any location around the world.