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GIS IS MORE THAN HANDSOME
MAPS
by Ken Arbogast-Wilson
Assistant Professor of Urban Planning Joe Grengs has taught the College's two GIS courses for three years. And although both UP406 and UP507 are considered electives, nearly every urban planning student takes one of the courses, and a growing number of architects and urban designers are joining in as well.
"GIS is fast becoming the most requested skill by employers today," says Grengs. "Interviewers always ask about it. I think this is what is driving the high student demand."
Geographic information systems—or GIS for short—combines a mapping tool with a database. Combining maps with data helps students better understand places by organizing and viewing data according to how variables relate to one another in space.
Grengs begins the day's session by going over the syllabus with the tiers of students situated behind their computer monitors in the Duderstadt Center's multimedia classroom. Two large screens display the course website Grengs has brought up on his laptop. As he finishes his recap of upcoming assignments, a topographic map appears on the screens, green and brown areas denoting mountains and valleys. But rather than focusing exclusively on the visual aspects of what he shows his students, Grengs launches into a discussion of the data behind the map. "A cell with a zero in it is different than an empty cell," he cautions. "It is important to clearly understand how the data work—what the data mean, before you try to use GIS to prove a point." More of a discussion than a lecture, Grengs continues with the students for another half hour before they begin working individually on their projects.
"Planners take pride in place and space—two difficult concepts to operationalize. GIS helps us do this," says Grengs. "But because of high demand for GIS skills in the marketplace, it is very easy to focus too much on the technology at the expense of the underlying issues it is helping us understand. That's why the URP Program deliberately structured these courses around the decision-making aspects of GIS—aimed at using GIS to help us make informed decisions to improve the lives of people. We're interested in more than just making handsome maps, we see GIS as a thinking tool."
In both courses, the students spend half their time on skills and techniques, and the other half on theory and concepts, bringing real planning issues into the classroom for study and discussion. In general, most course projects have studied local communities such as Ann Arbor, Flint, and Detroit. Grengs notes that he was both surprised and pleased when a student team requested to study an Oregon issue.
"Two students asked to analyze Oregon's Measure 37 for their project this semester—a very hot topic in planning nationwide right now. It didn't take me long to say 'go for it.'" says Grengs. (Measure 37 creates a "just compensation" right for Oregon property owners if a public entity enacts or enforces a land use regulation that restricts the use of private property and has the effect of reducing the value of the property.) "These students provide a great example of what we're aiming for: equipping students with powerful technical skills, but combined with a sensibility to know which interesting questions to apply them to."
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Grengs assists S.N.R.E. student Iryna
Dronova. |
Grengs cautions about the various downsides
of GIS. "A lot of small community-based non-profits are using GIS to work more closely with city government. Like any tool or technology, there are caveats to GIS. It is expensive technology with a sharp learning curve. Those who can't afford it may be left behind." He also emphasizes his efforts to teach ethics and responsibility in the course. "It is very easy to manipulate the message with GIS—maps can lie!" Grengs also mentions a more pervasive problem plaguing GIS users: Bad data. "Data, or lack thereof is the biggest impediment to getting things done," he says. "Most
of our data in the courses come from the U.S. Census, the U.S.
Geological Survey, and local governments. But sadly, the data sources
are not keeping pace with the software. At the end of the day,
if you don't have what you need, someone has to go out and measure."
As the course draws to a close, the students filter from the room in ones and twos. Some still tap away at their keyboards, absorbed in their work. As Grengs worked with several students individually throughout the session, he underscored his essential message.
"GIS is a powerful communications tool, it opens up conversations in a lot of ways—use
it wisely."
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Distribution of Services
for
Children in Ann Arbor
Students: Mindy Commins and
Betty Law (M.U.P.'04 grads)
Faculty: Joe Grengs
Submitted: April 2004
Summary: The project identified areas in the city of Ann Arbor with large populations of children and analyzed the availability of various child-specific resources, including schools, parks, and public libraries. After finding the census block groups with the best access to these resources, the project investigated relationships to household income and education level. Analyzing accessibility of resources to neighborhoods with higher populations of children can help city officials identify where to provide funding for additional resources such as more school buses or after-school activity transportation in order to reduce reliance on automobile transportation.
Download and View Student Projects in PDF
Distribution of Services for Children in Ann Arbor
North Campus Accessability
Preserving Natural Features
on North Campus
Growth in Oakland County, MI
Oregon's Measure 37
North Campus Housing
and Sustainability
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TCAUP students taking the UP406 and UP 507 courses work with ESRI ArcGIS 9 software.
ESRI was founded in 1969 as a
small consulting firm focused on the principles of organizing
and analyzing geographic information. During the 1980s, ESRI
developed a core set of application tools known today as geographic
information system (GIS) technology-launching its first commercial GIS software
called ARC/INFO in 1982. Today, the Redlands, CA-based company employs more than
2,900 employees worldwide, has sales in excess of $500 million and offers a portfolio
of GIS products that allow organizations to collect, analyze, and communicate
geographic information.
http://www.esri.com/ |
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