GIS In Planning, Design & Development

This subject is not offered in 2013.

110 hours

Admission into any master's course offered by the Melbourne School of Design (provided it can be accommodated within the course structure).

General literacy across one of these fields: Computer Science, Ecology, Urban and Landscape Planning, Property Development and Management.

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

This subject introduces the concepts of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and its application in landscape architecture, urban planning and development. It will:

• introduce the origin and development of GIS respect to landscape architecture, urban planning and development;
• introduce basic GIS concepts, data structure, data format, and data management;
• introduce fundamental GIS operations such as digitising, overlay analysis, spatial analysis, hydrological analysis, 3D analysis, etc.;
• address key issues of applying GIS in planning, design and development, such as landscape capacity and suitability analysis, urban heat island analysis, water sensitive urban design, property management, etc.;
• place how GIS will facilitate site analysis, inform decision making and improve efficiency and productivity in planning, design and development.

The subject will be delivered through lectures/guest lectures, lab tutorials, workshops and practical sessions synthesising dominant themes in this fields of using GIS as tool to achieve sustainable design and ecological landscape planning.

On completion of this subject students should be able to:

• understand the basic concepts and theory of GIS and spatial modelling;
• understand the origin and development of GIS as a disciplinary framework for planning and design;
• conduct spatial modelling of landscape and cities using key environmental factors across scales;
• communicate and interpret cities and landscapes using GIS-based thematic mapping;
• understand that design and planning intervention can be informed and facilitated by GIS-based site analysis;
• build GIS-based property management information system;
• understand that GIS can be integrated into the design, planning, development and management of both the nature and the built environments.

• A research project (25%) due in week 4, equivalent of 1,200 words
• A design-based project (30%) due in week 8, equivalent of 1,500 words
• A final project (45%) due in week 12, equivalent of 2,500 words

M.N. DeMers, 2009, Fundamentals of Geographical Information Systems (4th edition), John Wiley & Sons.
T. Ormsby, E.J. Napoleon, R. Burke, C. Groessl and L. Bowden, 2010, Getting to Know ArcGIS Desktop (2nd edition for ArcGIS 10), ESRI Press.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

On completion of this subject students should have developed the following:

• correct use of technical terminology
• evaluation of design and planning decisions
• critical thinking skills
• scale thinking and spatial thinking skills
• analysis and synthesis of information to propose solutions
• communication of design and planning ideas verbally and graphically.