COMMUNITY AND REGIONAL PLANNING STUDENTS, CENTER FOR SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES EXPLORE WORLD IN NEW WAYS WITH GIS TECHNOLOGY
Unfold
the map in your glove compartment. It might be able to tell you how to get
from point A to point B, but not a great deal more.
With
state-of-the-art technology at their fingertips, students in Temple
University Ambler’s Community and Regional Planning undergraduate and
graduate degree programs could develop a comprehensive map that tells you
not only where you’re going but what you’ll find when you get there
— everything from population densities to pizza places to the best
traffic route in the event of an emergency.
Want
to discover how many jobs are moving from the cities to the suburbs of the
region you’re visiting? With the right data, Geographic Information
System (GIS) technology makes it a simple process.
“GIS
is a dynamic and versatile technology capable of providing critical
spatial information to a wide range of users for multiple applications. It
allows users to mimic real-world situations to address policy issues or
solve problems,” said Dr. Jeffrey Featherstone, Chair of the Department
of Community and Regional Planning and Director of the Center for
Sustainable Communities at Temple University Ambler. “GIS applications
are made using computer software and digital data files. These
applications allow users to manipulate, create, analyze, model, and
predict information that has a geographic location.”
According
to campus GIS program coordinator A.S.M. Abdul Bari, there is often a
misconception among people who have heard of GIS that it is simply a
mapping tool. Because it is based upon the real world, however, “GIS is
never a static map.”
“It’s
mapping that answers questions, mapping that can guide you to a solution.
It can present scenarios that answer not only what is, but what if and
what could happen,” he said. “A three-dimensional texture map of a
watershed could determine the most likely location for flooding in the
future. It could answer the question ‘yes, your property is downstream
and yes it is in danger from flooding,’ something that would be
difficult to tell from a two-dimensional map. It’s an excellent visual
tool.”
The
Center for Sustainable Communities at Temple University Ambler is
presently using such technology to create comprehensive maps of the
Pennypack Creek Watershed, an area that has suffered from devastating
floods in recent years. According to Bari and Dr. Featherstone, a key
aspect of utilizing GIS software is gathering the most up-to-date data —
such as building locations and ground elevations — in order to
extrapolate future conditions. In some respects, the planner using GIS has
to be a bit of a detective.
“There
is a great deal more information available with global positioning and
digitized information on properties,” said Dr. Featherstone. “If the
data are good, you can do great things with GIS but sometimes not all of
the information are readily available. You need to be able to seek it out
or, if need be, create new data sets.”
Data
sets, Bari said, set up boundaries for the GIS program to work within —
a given school district or municipality has built-in boundaries — and
provides the criteria for the answer you are trying to discover.
That
real-time model created from combining such data can be used to glimpse
both the past and the future. Using census data, a planner could examine
population migration from the 1930’s to today from a given city and
overlay it with job locations. The result — an animated series of maps
showing the progression of population movement, the movement of jobs to
the new population centers, and the potential for continued sprawl as
people move even further outward.
“It
can visually show the ripple effect, the development of retail stores,
grocery stores, supply stores to meet the needs of the new population
areas,” Bari said. “That information can be used to help determine how
to stop sprawl, how to provide accessibility to jobs, how to plan
better.”
Learning
how to utilize GIS technology is an integral part of the Community and
Regional Planning Program at Temple University Ambler. According to Dr.
Featherstone, all CRP students must take an introductory GIS course. Many
go on to take advanced GIS courses as well.
“Individuals
with a working knowledge of GIS are highly sought after in the job market
today. There is a demand for planners with GIS training in everything from
transportation, evaluating development and redevelopment, environmental
analysis and habitat studies, emergency preparedness, and basic homeland
security,” he said. “GIS allows you to assess future conditions,
project impacts, and determine alternative courses of action.”
For
more information on Temple University Ambler’s Community and Regional
Planning Program, call 215-283-1286. For more information on the Center
for Sustainable Communities at Temple University Ambler, call
215-283-1540.
CONTACT:
James Duffy, (215) 283-1290, duffyj@mail.temple.edu,
release available by e-mail
