GIS: to design the city of the future

The GIS (Geographic Information System) has become one of the most useful tools for designing the city of the future, which requires the management of large amounts of data from the context. It is now common practice to rely on the use of software that allows you to keep together and manage as many territorial data as possible, to make urban planning decisions and arrive at projects ready for approval.

The systems that have been supporting designers for years now are the BIM (Building Information Modeling) and GIS (Geographic Information System). Thanks to their ability to manage large amounts of data and information, they allow you to generate models of the site and the project. This not only increases the degree of reliability of the projects themselves, but also limits errors in the construction phase.

What are GIS?

I geographic information systems (GIS) They are software capable of analyzing, visualizing and managing large quantities of data coming from the territory, therefore geolocating them. In city planning, these software therefore allow you to visualize information coming for example from a building plot. They also make it easier for the urban planner called to intervene on an urban scale often facilitating those interventions that require forecasting capabilities.

GIS has become a tool to sift, manipulate and interpret data in a way that was previously unthinkable. Thus allowing us to take smart decisions and manage it better the city's resources.

The data useful to the designer include for example: the terrain model, infrastructure information and environmental data (solar radiation data, pollution data, demographic information, etc.). By combining the use of GIS with BIM software, it is possible to obtain a greater understanding of the site and consequently a greater control of the project.

Thanks to GIS, it is therefore possible to work on contextualized models creating thematic maps that facilitate environmental and territorial planning.
These models, combined with the use of BIM, allow for the creation of projects that are consistent with the context and for understanding the related potential impacts of the future project on the territory.

Territorial data that can be inserted into a GIS software are all those data that can be represented and that have geographic coordinates. dataset (lists of data) available and usable in design practice, are almost infinite. Among the most useful are the OpenData, freely accessible spatial data that are provided by various organizations, bodies and institutions to facilitate access to information. It is also possible to create your own dataset through data collection processes (qualitative and quantitative) that analyse phenomena specific to places and which directly concern the designer.

Why is GIS the primary tool for urban planning?

• It helps to simplify the data: Visualizing spatially distributed data is much more understandable. Furthermore, by overlaying visualizations from various data, it helps the planner to make decisions (e.g. for improving the public transport system).
• Facilitates spatial analysis: allows you to study the relationship between geographical features. To identify areas with hydrogeological risk for example, or assess the impact of urban development projects.
• Allows you to view various scenarios: through simulations. To evaluate the impacts that various phenomena (such as population growth) can have on cities and territories.
• Involve citizens in decision-making processes: facilitates the inclusion of citizens in urban planning processes through the creation of interactive maps. Tools that can collect data coming from the inhabitants and communities themselves, to create projects that respond to their needs and create projects that can improve public space.

More and more organizations are realizing the importance of a GIS expert within their organizations. Among these, just to name a few, we find:

• urban planning agencies
• environmental agencies
• the transport departments
• public health organizations
• real estate companies
• agricultural organizations
• educational and research institutions.

GIS will be increasingly used in city planning also because the sources from which the data comes are growing. Furthermore, the precision of the data collected is increasingly accurate. This will pave the way for increasingly more sophisticated urban projects. livable and resilient able to respond promptly to the needs of the territory and its citizens.

Cover photo: aerial shot of Salesforce Transit Center in San Francisco, USA. Source: freepick.com (wirestock)