GIS for Planning
Prospectus
Kheir Al-Kodmany
Kerry Brooks
Zorica Nedovic-Budic
Gary Hunter
Mark Salling
Michael Shiffer
Lyna Wiggins
and
Nancy Obermeyer (coordinator)
Department of Geography, Geology and Anthropology
Indiana State University
Terre Haute, IN 47809
812/237-4351 (office)
812/235-6788 (home)
812/237-8029 (fax)
nancyo@indstate.edu
Background and Rationale
Planning and geographic information systems (GIS) have a long history together. In fact, GIS traces its roots to Ian McHarg’s classic, Design with Nature. Even earlier, in 1912, city plans for both Dusseldorf, Germany, and Billerica, Massachusetts, extracted data from one map and added it to another. Today, planners of all types and in all functional areas (e.g., city planning, transportation, social services, etc.) around the world use GIS in their daily work.
The reasons for this are many. First, GIS is an excellent tool for planners, enabling them to integrate a variety of data from multiple sources and to perform spatial analyses that previously might have taken much more time. The close fit between the tools that planners need and the capabilities of GIS provide the strongest reason for the widespread use of GIS by planners.
However, the story would not be complete without mentioning the evolution of geographic information systems over the past ten years, and the effects of that evolution on the planning community. In the past decade, GIS has changed dramatically, from an expensive, complicated relatively limited-purpose tool that was practical (generally speaking) only for the most well-financed and technologically advanced planning agencies and firms. (We are using the world “agency” to refer to public planning organizations, and “firm” to refer to private planning consultants.) Ten years ago, in fact, a major concern of the GIS community was to identify and eliminate these impediments to the widespread adoption of this technology!
Today, evolution of every aspect of GIS -- hardware, software, data, and personnel -- has occurred. At the beginning of the new millennium, the prices of both high-end PCs and UNIX-based work-stations have declined dramatically. Planning agencies and firms that ten years ago would have wistfully admired and coveted the hardware needed to run a GIS now find it within their budgets. And while the prices have declined, the power and user-friendliness have increased exponentially as GIS has become a commodity.
But hardware improvements are just the beginning. Today, there is a wide variety of software available for both general purpose and specialized uses. For example, one can still purchase workstation- based GIS products such as ARC/INFO or Intergraph’s GIS. But one can also find many general-purpose GIS products for the personal computer, including ESRI’s PC-ARC/INFO and ArcView. Indeed, an increasing number of specialized products, such as the Caliper Corporation’s Maptitude are designed to perform spatial analyses for specific purposes; Maptitude, for example, is designed for business applications, while the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development HUD) has adapted Maptitude by adding data on HUD-funded projects to make the software more valuable to city planners.
This leads to the issue of data, which are also becoming much more readily available as vendors identify markets for this commodity. While it is true that planning organizations still must supplement and/or modify data contained in GIS software packages, there is much more data available off the shelf than there was ten -- or even five -- years ago. In the United States, the federal government often provides data at minimal costs, providing vendors the opportunity to produce “value added” commercial data products, and direct users the opportunity to acquire valuable data relatively inexpensively.
Finally, there is an ever-growing pool of people who know the ins and outs of GIS. This growing pool has developed their expertise in a variety of ways. Some have simply picked up the manuals that came with their GIS in order to learn how to use them, while others have completed the vendors’ training programs. Still others have studied GIS as a tool during their college days. GIS has become an increasingly important tool for students in planning programs around the world, thus providing a growing number of planning professionals who come to the work world with a working knowledge of GIS.
As a result of the evolution that has occurred in all these areas over the past ten years, GIS is becoming increasingly important to planners. Increasingly, GIS has become a required tool for planners, not an item on some pipe-dream wish list. For this reason, there is a great need for a text book that will address the issue of GIS as a tool for planners.
Existing Texts on Planning and GIS
Surprisingly, the number of books (either textbooks or trade publications) devoted specifically to the use of GIS in planning is small. Three immediately come to mind; two of them are more than five years old.
The first is John Antenucci’s Geographic Information Systems: A Guide to the Technology (Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1991). This book has become a classic among planners (and within the GIS community at large) because of its thorough approach to the adoption and use of GIS in planning organizations. Unfortunately, much time has passed since its writing, and it could use some updating. Similarly, William Huxhold’s Introduction to Urban GIS (Oxford University Press) is another exceptional text; in this case, it is under revision to bring it up to date. The proposed book would compete head-to-head with these texts.
The third competitor is Huxhold’s Managing GIS Projects (Oxford University Press 1995). This book provides an excellent “how to” for planners managing specific GIS implementations. (Reviewers have suggested it as a practical companion for Obermeyer & Pinto’s Managing GIS. ) Managing GIS Projects is a solid text, but it is intended primarily for managers, rather than for planning staff, or instructors in “GIS for Planners” type courses. Consequently, it has a different audience than that which we envision for the proposed text.
The most recent “Planners Book Service Catalog” of the American Planning Association, lists several books under “GIS;” two of them are relevant as potential competitors to the proposed text. The first of these is David Martin’s Geographic Information Systems: Socioeconomic Applications (Routledge 1996). The scope of this book, as its name implies, is more limited than that of our proposed GIS for Planning. Martin’s book is an accessible introduction to GIS principles, focusing primarily on socioeconomic and demographic applications. The book we propose will also include physical aspects of planning.
The second relevant book is The Local Government Guide to GIS (International City Management Association 1991). This book is designed to enable local governments to implement GIS, and covers such topics as cost-benefit justification, critical success factors, needs assessment, finance and timing, and procurement and implementation. It, too, would be a direct competitor of the proposed book, at least for local government officials (we do not plan to limit our target audience in this way). However, its 1991 publication date and the notation “limited quantity available” suggest that the book is now out of print, and so may become unavailable soon.
Although there have been some excellent books over the years that integrate planning and GIS, the fact that the best remain un-revised as their very capable authors move on to other projects leaves the market wide open for a new book on GIS for Planning. In fact, operators of the bookstore at an ESRI (Environmental Systems Research Institute) users’ conference a couple of years ago in San Diego expressed excitement about this project, and suggested that their customers have been asking for a book such as we are proposing.
Approach
The proposed text will combine a thorough review of the literature in both planning and GIS to cover a wide variety of topics relevant to the use of GIS for planning applications. In this respect, it will attempt to offer a thorough linkage of planning theory and practice with the use of GIS as a tool for carrying out the principles of planning. In addition, we will make every effort to provide practical guidance for planners and students of planning in the use of GIS. Specifically, we also plan to develop supplemental pedagogical materials at the end of each chapter that will provide case studies of common planning applications of GIS, along with guidance for using these materials to support learning.
We envision at least two targets for this book, the academic market and the professional market. Both communities will, of course, find value in the textbook itself. We will strive to present this book in a readable style that will make it accessible to students, instructors, and planning professionals alike. At the same time, we will attempt to provide comprehensive coverage of the use of GIS in planning. Our coverage will specifically address the institutional and societal issues related to GIS implementation in planning, which will be integrated into the relevant chapters, rather than handling them as a separate topic.
In order to make the book more useful to planning students and instructors, we propose to include pedagogical materials at the end of each chapter. This material will include a case study, chapter review questions, ideas for using chapter graphics, activities and exercises. Activities and exercises are cast in general terms, and are NOT software-specific. We envision using this text in tandem with a software training manual of the instructor’s choice. This text is organized in such a way that it will help the instructor take his class step-by-step through the process of building a GIS, from needs assessment through data collection and analysis, to project evaluation.
The rather long list of authors suggests an edited work; however our goal is to produce a seamless coverage of the issues, rather than a series of separate but related articles. We plan to accomplish this by allocating primary responsibility for each topic to a single author, but following up with a review of the draft chapter by 2 or 3 of other authors. This will assure a strong internal referee process that will result in an authoritative text that offers thorough coverage. Moreover, because we have contributors from Europe, Australia, and the Middle East, who will review each chapter to assure that it includes accurate information on GIS outside the U.S., this text will have applicability on several continents.
Organization
The book is organized into 13 chapters. The chapters are designed to provide thorough coverage of the use of GIS in planning applications, including issues related to acquisition, implementation, assessment and long-term follow-up. The chapters of the proposed text are as follow; each chapter description includes an short (no more than 5 page) compendium of pedagogical ideas as well. The pedagogical component will consist of several consistent items: (1)case study, (2)review questions, (3)ideas about using chapter graphics, and (4)activities and exercises. In the chapter summaries below, please assume that these 4 items will be included; we will go into detail only on the exercises and activities.
As we conceptualize these pedagogical ideas, they will provide a blueprint so that instructors can take their students through the step-by-step process of building a GIS. These ideas are general enough that the instructor may use any GIS software with which s/he is comfortable. They are specific enough to successfully take one from the conceptual stage of GIS development to the implementation phase.
This book is not intended to replace GIS software manuals. Instead, we view this book when used in a learning environment as an umbrella document that will provide a context for GIS software training. As instructors of courses with titles like, “GIS for Planners,” we would use this text in tandem with a software manual.
We would like to make the book’s graphics available either on transparency, or downloadable from a Guilford web-site so that instructors of “GIS for Planners”-type courses may have them available for their classes without having to scan and print, or photocopy them.
Chapter 1:
Introduction
Substantive content
The introductory chapter will set the stage for the rest of the book. It will begin with a discussion of the relationship between GIS and planning, beginning with the Dusseldorf and Billerica town planning maps, proceeding through McHarg’s Design with Nature, and continuing into contemporary times. The chapter will describe and discuss significant milestones in that relationship, mentioning specific projects and applications in which GIS has been a part. We will also make an effort to link these events with historical events in the larger world (such as the shift to the automobile for transportation). The introductory chapter will end with a description of the remaining chapters of the book.
Substantive content
The
second chapter presents introductory material related to the basic principles
of GIS. It describes the basic capabilities and operations of geographic
information systems, and provides information on when and how they may be
employed responsibly in the planning profession. In addition, this chapter discusses principles of spatial data
management, data standards, and interoperability issues.
Activities in this chapter will emphasize the conceptualization of the GIS from a systems perspective. Activities will be designed to illustrate the differences between raster and vector data, but will also provide a foundation that will help students develop a data model to enable them to implement a GIS.
Chapter3:
Applications (Functional areas)
Substantive content
This
chapter will discuss a variety of applications to which GIS might be put within
a planning context. These include
transportation, social services, zoning, natural resources, facilities location
and management. Because the
applications to which GIS is put continue to grow in number, a critical aspect
of this chapter will be to organize and classify the various applications in a
way that makes sense. Some
applications, such as those related to property taxes, rest primarily on the
data storage and retrieval capacity of GIS.
In other cases, such as service delivery (whether these are public or
private services), or siting decisions, the spatial analytic capabilities of
GIS take the forefront. Even more
complex are applications that handle flows (i.e., temporal data); these
applications include transportation and water systems, which inherently tap the
highly specialized spatial modeling capabilities of GIS. This chapter will discuss the basic operations
associated with these varied applications.
Because
of the wide variety of applications, and the challenge of squeezing them all
into a single chapter, we may break out general applications areas (those
emphasizing data storage and retrieval; spatial analysis; and spatial/temporal
modeling) into separate chapters. This
chapter will be expanded into three, if necessary.
Activities
in this chapter will focus on using a GIS to perform tasks associated with
specific functions. We will describe
such activities in general outline, as a part of a more comprehensive
whole. One way of handling this is to
have students handle specific functional components of a comprehensive
GIS. Although we will suggest specific
tasks that students could be asked to perform (such as queries or analysis),
these tasks will NOT be software specific.
Chapter 4: Needs Assessment (Including Benefit-Cost Analysis)
Substantive content
The purchase and implementation of a GIS, like that of any other relatively expensive decision support technology, is more than a notion for most organizations, whether they are public or private. Successful implementation of GIS requires a rather substantial commitment in organizational money, staff, time and effort. This chapter will provide guidance on developing a needs assessment for the GIS implementation, including a benefit-cost analysis. What are the organization’s responsibilities? What specific tasks may be simplified, quickened or otherwise improved by the addition of a geographic information system? This chapter will describe in specific detail how to perform a needs assessment, including a benefit-cost analysis. This chapter also discusses techniques for measuring the costs and benefits of geographic information systems. The chapter begins by describing the basics of benefit-cost analysis, including a discussion of the traditional and quantifiable costs and benefits in the GIS context. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the intangible costs and benefits of GIS implementation, including both institutional and societal issues.
This chapter on needs assessment lends itself to the development of activities based on executing a needs assessment for a hypothetical planning agency. This section will include a description of a hypothetical planning agency along with its responsibilities and resources as the basis for generating discussion on what elements a needs assessment must contain. We will also suggest comparing the hypothetical group with city and local planning agency of the local community. In this case, we would also include a checklist of cost and benefit categories to facilitate the exercise. This will give students practice with a real case as well.
Chapter 5:
Choosing a GIS
Substantive content
This chapter will discuss the process of choosing a geographic information system. The objective of this chapter is not to provide a “consumer reports” guide to the various GIS products available, but rather to discuss the more generic issues and trade-offs related to procurement. How does an organization draft a request for bids? How does it evaluate the bids -- and their authors -- once they arrive? By detailing the steps in the process while avoiding the “consumer reports” approach to procurement, we hope to avoid producing a document that will quickly become outmoded (if it isn’t, in fact, already outdated by the time it appears).
Like
the two preceding chapters, this one also lends itself to a role-playing
exercise. This time, however, we would
provide a checklist of key elements of GIS operability in order to facilitate
comparison of various GIS products; we would also provide the names of a
variety of GIS software, and suggest websites where people may find additional
information on the products.
Chapter 6: Data
Substantive content
This
chapter will focus on data sources for GIS, including physical, economic and
social indicators. This will continue
the discussion on “going digital” to include converting data the organization
already possesses to digital format, but will also address issues of acquiring
and using data from other sources as well.
Included in these issues is how to determine what data are needed versus
what are desired, and assessing trade-offs between price and level of necessity. The chapter will include a discussion of
data standards, data quality, data privacy and the sale of data as well.
This
chapter provides the opportunity to explore methods to gather. Several specific activities are appropriate: surf the net to find various data sets
(either free or for a price) that may serve a variety of purposes (city
planning, marketing, etc.); use a GPS
(global positioning system) to collect and input digital information; survey a specific area to collect
information about specific sites, which can be incorporated into a spreadsheet
that is GIS-compatible.
Chapter 7: Going Digital
Substantive content
This
chapter will discuss the problems of implementing GIS technology into an
organization. At the most basic level,
this chapter will discuss the problems associated with converting maps from
analog to digital format. However, this
chapter is based on the premise that organizations themselves may undergo a
major transformation during this
process, as new skills -- and their owners -- gain value in the
organization. Among the issues this
chapter will cover are staffing and training issues, time allocation, and
making the transition to GIS.
This
chapter, as a follow-up to the previous chapter, provides the opportunity to
convert data to digital form (if it is not in this format). Several specific activities are
appropriate: download digital data from
public or private sources; use a GPS
(global positioning system) to collect and input digital information; take digital information from a spreadsheet
and incorporate it into a GIS.
Chapter 8:
Local Geographic Information Infrastructure
Substantive content
This chapter will consider the local dimensions of National Spatial Data Initiatives NSDIs that are emerging all over the world. This chapter consciously acknowledges that policy on data vary from one country to another, and specifically discusses the differences between Australia, Europe and the United States.
Activities associated with this chapter are designed to familiarize readers with spatial data standards around the world. This topic lends itself to providing a template which students can use to help them compare and contrast data standards from various places. As well, we would provide a list of some of the organizations involved with establishing data standards. Where available, we would include website addresses to facilitate exploration of this topic.
Chapter 9: Applications (Scale)
Substantive content
This chapter will specifically address the implementation of GIS for planning at various scales or jurisdictional levels. We begin with neighborhood level strategic planning using GIS. An important component of this chapter will be the give-and-take between local planning agencies and the communities they serve, including the growing “public participation GIS” movement. This chapter will also address the use of GIS by organizations with multi-jurisdictional or large jurisdictional responsibilities, for example at the level of the region or the state. In some instances (as in the case of the Cincinnati Area GIS), the actors responsible for implementing the GIS come from both the public and private sectors. This chapter will discuss the complex issues resulting from these large-scale and multi-partner arrangements, including sharing GIS across institutional boundaries.
Activities
in this chapter will focus on using a GIS to perform tasks associated with
jurisdictions of specific sizes. We
will describe activities in general outline that would be performed at
neighborhood, local, regional, state, or the federal level. As in the activities suggested for the
previous chapter, we will suggest specific tasks that students could be asked
to perform (such as queries or analysis), these tasks will NOT be software
specific.
Chapter 10: Multi-Media GIS in Public Meetings and on the Web
Substantive content
This chapter will cover the use of GIS as a tool in public meetings. Unlike traditional analog maps, which give the impression that a project is a “done deal,” GIS allows on-the-spot modifications and therefore encourages discussion. This chapter discusses experience with the use of GIS in public meetings.
We
are fortunate to have as members of our author team two individuals who are at
the cutting edge of multi-media and web-based GIS (Michael Shiffer and Kheir
Al-Kodmany). Given the novelty of these
approaches, an important activity for this chapter is to provide students with
examples of these new approaches to working with GIS. We will identify websites (including those of the authors) that
readers may visit to learn more.
This
chapter also provides an opportunity for activities designed around creating GIS
for the web. This is probably overly
ambitious at this time, however.
Students could, however, discuss how they could use multi-media and
web-based GIS in their own situations.
Chapter 11: Outcome and Impact Evaluation
Substantive content
This chapter will discuss the means and processes by which an organization evaluates the outcomes and impacts of its GIS implementation. This is particularly important as organizations seek to maintain (and perhaps even increase) their annual budgets.
Like
several early chapters, this one also lends itself to a role-playing
exercise. This time, however, we would
provide a checklist of items to consider during a final evaluation of the
success of a GIS, and the performance standards against which they should be
evaluated. If desired, a role-playing
scenario could be used, with the instructor playing the official to whom they
must report.
Chapter 12: Societal Issues and Community GIS
Substantive content
This chapter addresses larger societal issues that arise in GIS applications by public planning organizations. Issues such as privacy, public participation, disenfranchisement, and social and regional equity will be covered in this chapter. This chapter will also cover explicitly and in some detail, the growing “public participation GIS” (“PPGIS”) or “community GIS” trends.
Activities
in this chapter would focus on providing information which would enable
students to explore the evolving issues related to GIS and society, especially
those that are within the realm of the “Community GIS” efforts. We would encourage students to visit
websites of community groups and other organizations using GIS for neighborhood
or group empowerment. Role playing
activities may also be of some use.
Specifically, we could describe one or more hypothetical group that
might use GIS as a tool for empowerment, and suggest that students discuss how
the group might use GIS. Similarly,
students might also be encouraged to identify groups in their own communities
who could make such use of GIS, and propose a strategy that would enable them
to do so.
Authors
The proposed text brings together a dynamic and well-known group of experts in GIS, all of whom have a background in planning, having studied planning, taught planning and/or worked as a planner. All have published in either planning or GIS (most have published in both fields).
Kheir Al-Kodmany, Ph.D.
Kheir Al-Kodmany teaches geographic information
systems, urban data visualizations, Web-based applications and urban
design. Previously, Al-Kodmany worked
for the company of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in Chicago where he designed
projects in the U.S., Europe, and the Middle East. Al-Kodmany’s recent research
focuses on reshaping planning and design through powerful computerized
visualization including Geographic Information Systems, 3D modeling, Hypermedia
and Virtual Reality. Al-Kodmany advances foundational urban design theories and
integrates multiple traditional and computerized visualization tools to create
synergetic interactive visualization environments that inform urban planning
decision making processes and enhance public participation.
Kerry Brooks is Associate
Professor in the Department of Planning & Landscape Architecture at Clemson
University. His primary teaching
responsibilities are in the areas of land use and environmental planning,
computerized geographic information systems (GIS), planning research methods,
planning studio, and introduction to
planning. Research interests include GIS-based modeling, applications and
technology issues including public access, open space and environmental
planning, image processing and visualization, and land use planning and
planning outcomes. He earned the Ph.D. in Urban Design and Planning at the
University of Washington.
Professor Brooks’s areas of
expertise include land use and environmental planning, computerized geographic
information systems, image processing and remote sensing, planning research
methods and computer applications. He has served as principal investigator and
consultant in land use planning and modeling, and GIS/remote sensing for
numerous state, local, and federal agencies. His current research focuses on
grassroots use and applications of GIS for conservation planning, public
participation GIS and water quality and land use. Other work includes GIS
modeling of infrastructure investments and economic structure, open space
implementation evaluation, image processing applications, community master
planning and land use planning, and land use economic analysis. Brooks is a
major GIS resource for all departments across the University, and has
collaborated on GIS based projects with many disciplines, including
environmental toxicology, resource planning, environmental engineering, civil
engineering, forestry and regional economics.
Gary
J. Hunter, Ph.D.
Gary Hunter is a Senior
Lecturer and Deputy-Head of the Department of Geomatics, and Deputy-Director of
the Center for Geographic Information Systems and Modeling at the University of
Melbourne, Australia. He teaches
undergraduate and graduate courses in cadastral surveying, land law and
administration, land development, spatial data algorithms, introductory GIS for
environmental science, and GIS management and implementation. Before joining the university in 1987, he
worked for 17 years on topographic mapping projects throughout Australia and
South East Asia, and on a variety of engineering and cadastral survey projects
for local and state government agencies in Victoria, Australia. He earned his Ph.D. in 1994 from the
University of Melbourne.
Professor Hunter has authored
over 90 local and international conference and refereed journal papers, and in
1993 spent 7 months at the National Center for Geographic Information and
Analysis pursuing research on the topic of managing uncertainty in GIS. He was awarded the Gerald McCalden Prize for
the best research papers at the AURISA conferences in 1990 and 1994, and the
Horwood Prize for the best research papers at URISA’s 1993, ’95, and ’99
conferences. Professor Hunter is a
licensed surveyor, a member of the Surveyors Board of Victoria, and he served
as President of the Australasian Urban and Regional Information Systems Association
in 1996.
Zorica
Nedovic-Budic, Ph.D.
Professor Budic is Assistant
Professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of
Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. She
earned the Ph.D. from the Department of City and Regional Planning at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1993. She has also been a visiting member of the National Center for
Geographic Information and Analysis.
Professor Budic’s research
focuses on the impact of GIS technology on the planning process, and ways to
achieve the most effective use of the technology. Extending her study of human, organizational, and
management-related determinants of GIS implementation success, Dr. Budic is
directing her research toward the critical factors for coordinated development
and use of geographic databases, along with evaluation of benefits from
introducing GIS technology in planning agencies.
A physical planner by
training, with an international background and love for cities, Professor Budic
is also interested in processes, factors, and tools that determine the quality
of urban environments. She teaches a
graduate course on urban structure and functions with a comparative view on
institutional and cultural frameworks, resulting land development patterns, and
planning practice in the U.S. and in Central and Southern Europe. Professor Budic has published extensively in
the planning and GIS literature.
Mark
J. Salling, Ph.D.
Mark Salling is Director of
the Northern Ohio Data and Information Service (NODIS), as well as being a
member of the faculty of the Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State
University. NODIS is one of three
regional data centers in Ohio, and provides census data, GIS, mapping, and
other information and data-base services to public, private and non-profit
clients. In this capacity, Professor
Salling works with a variety of planners at the state, regional, local, and
neighborhood levels.
Professor Salling earned his
Ph.D. in Geography at Kent State University. He has experience as planner and
Senior Data Specialist for NOACA (Northeast Ohio Area Coordinating Agency) and
as a director of database services in the private sector. Professor Salling
manages the collection and dissemination of data including the development and
application of GIS (Geographical Information System) products. He chairs the
region's Census Statistical Areas Committee and has been the editor of the
URISA (Urban and Regional Information Systems) Conference Proceedings since
1986. He chairs the Ohio Data Managers Network and leads the Ohio GIS-Net, a
consortium of Ohio's urban and rural universities collaborating in GIS
development and applications across the state.
Michael
J. Shiffer, Ph.D.
Michael J. Shiffer is
Director of the Computer Resource Laboratory, and Principal Research Scientist
and Lecturer in the Department of Urban
Studies and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He earned his Ph.D. in Regional Planning in
1991, and the Master of Urban Planning in 1987 at the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign. His research focuses
on how information technologies (such as multimedia representational aids,
video conferencing, and world-wide networking) can better inform deliberation,
decision-making, and public debate with a specific focus on geographic
information.
Professor Shiffer teaches
graduate level courses in analytic methods and new and emerging technologies
for planning and decision support. He
is a member of the editorial board of several major planning journals, and
consults with a variety of public and private agencies on information
technology and communications issues.
Professor Shiffer is an active professional speaker and author on the
application of information technology in the area of city planning and
development. In the distant past, he
has worked in the transit industry, and the Chicago’s Museum of Science and
Industry.
Lyna Wiggins, Ph.D.
Professor Wiggins earned the Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning from the University of California, Berkeley in 1981, a M.S. in Statistics from Stanford University in 1972, and a B.S. in Mathematics from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, in 1971. She taught at Stanford University (civil engineering) from 1981 to 1989, at MIT (Urban Studies) from 1989 to 1993, and is currently at Rutgers where she is an Associate Professor of Urban Planning and Policy Development, and Chair and Graduate Director of the Department. Her teaching responsibilities include courses in planning methods, computer applications in planning, and Geographic Information Systems.
Professor Wiggins' research interests focus on planning methods and computer applications in planning, particularly expert systems and urban Geographic Information Systems. She is the co-editor of two books on expert systems applications in planning (Expert Systems: Applications in Urban Planning, Spinger-Verlag, 1990; Expert Systems in Environmental Planning, Springer-Verlag, 1992). A book on GIS applications in transportation planning is forthcoming. Recent funded research includes work on GIS applications in transit planning (University Transportation Center, MIT; National Transit Institute, Rutgers University), in housing and crime analysis (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development), hazards modeling (NJ State Police) and urban brownfields redevelopment (Office of State Planning, New Jersey) and historical and cultural resources (State Historic Preservation Office, New Jersey). She has also conducted a number of GIS user needs assessments for local governments and state agencies in California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York.
Professor
Wiggins is a member of the Mapping Science Committee of the National Academy of
Sciences/National Research Council. She
is on the editorial boards of Geo Info
Systems. She is the President-Elect
of the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association, and a Board member
of the International Geographic Information Foundation.
Nancy Obermeyer, Ph.D.
And finally, Nancy Obermeyer is Associate Professor of Geography at Indiana State University. Her professional experience includes assignments as a planner in the Illinois Office of Planning, the Illinois Department of Energy and Natural Resources, and the suburban bus service of the Regional Transportation Authority of Chicago, and as a project manager with the Illinois Department of Transportation. A geographer by training, Professor Obermeyer earned her Ph.D. at the University of Chicago in 1987.
In her academic assignments, Professor Obermeyer served as a research associate at the National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis at the University of Maine immediately after the establishment of the NCGIA. She has been a member of the Geography faculty at Indiana State since 1990. Her research includes work on certification of GIS professionals, public participation GIS, and benefit-cost analysis for GIS. She is co-author (with Jeffrey Pinto) of Managing GIS . She was the 1992 winner of URISA’s Horwood Critique prize for best paper in its annual conference. She has also won grants from the National Science Foundation, and has studied in Istanbul, Turkey, under the auspices of the Fulbright Foundation.
Target date
It
is our goal to have the draft manuscript prepared by November 1, 2001.