USING TECHNOLOGY TO CREATE BETTER COMMUNITIES
New Study Examines Geographic Information Systems
If placemaking ever becomes a competition, Prof. Karen Hanna, ASLA,
believes landscape architects equipped with an understanding of Geographic
Information Systems (GIS) will be in the lead. All the parts are there
for enhanced decision-making: accessible data, user-friendly software,
well-trained staff. It's time landscape architects become team leaders
in a digital design world.
It is the dramatic amount of digital data that can be collected by GIS
that prompted Hanna, a landscape architecture professor and department
head at Utah State University, to author the latest addition to the Landscape
Architecture Technical Information Series (LATIS), Geographic Information
Systems: Using the Tools for Informed Growth. The study is available
online at www.asla.org , with four other
LATIS publications. LATIS - GIS is free of charge for ASLA members and
can be purchased for $50 by non-members by visiting the ASLA
Store in the For the Public section of www.asla.org.
ASLA members can access the study by logging on to ASLA's
Professional Practice Library. Each publication includes a self-study
exam that can be turned into ASLA for grading. Successful test takers
will earn 3.5 professional development hours (.35 continuing education
units).
The GIS program allows users to combine numerous layers of information
about a place to give a better understanding of an area and to facilitate
better decision-making in its development. The layers of information combined
depends on the purpose - whether to find the best location for a new store,
analyze environmental damage, view similar crimes in a city to detect
a pattern, and so on. Hanna's LATIS release consists of case studies highlighting
different GIS applications. The first case study is fairly traditional
- using GIS to make a site analysis, come up with concepts, and develop
a master plan. Another case study uses GIS in a community workshop context.
The final study is a scientific modeling approach. All three are state-of-the-art
GIS works.
"GIS can bring a lot of information to bear quickly in a common format,"
Hanna said. Traditionally, landscape architects use GIS to help determine
the natural conditions of a site. However GIS can provide demographic
and social data in a digital format that can also shape designs. "Since
more agencies are making information available, people can share more
readily," Hanna said. "This means consultants other than landscape architects
are involved in collection and interpretation of data." By enabling date
to be shared and used in multiple ways, GIS is a critical tool in addressing
community growth issues.
According to Hanna, the informed growth of communities requires good
information and can include data collected by GIS. The LATIS reveals ways
GIS can:
Find and use existing datasets in place of or in addition to field-collected
data;
Use existing datasets as a baseline on which to record additional, existing
conditions;
Use the results of GIS models for site planning, growth planning, and
implementation phasing.
Hanna's GIS study marks the first time the Landscape Architecture Technical
Information Series (LATIS) have been made available to the public for
a nominal fee. "LATIS studies are one of our most popular membership benefits,
but the data is useful many different professionals," said Ron Leighton,
ASLA Director of Education and Academic Relations. "LATIS studies are
frequently the first time cutting-edge, technical information about tools
and methods is ever published. These studies, such as Structural Soils
and Reclamation Planning for Pits and Quarries, are continually downloaded
well after they were initially posted."
LATIS - GIS can be purchased by visiting the ASLA
Store in the For the Public section of www.asla.org.
ASLA members can access the study for free by logging on to ASLA's
Professional Practice Library.
Founded in 1899, ASLA represents landscape architects nationwide. The
organization advances the profession through education, advocacy, networking
opportunities, and publications. Landscape architects integrate elements
of the natural and built environment to produce sites that are both functional
and beautiful. For more information on ASLA, visit www.asla.org.
# # # #
|
